Global warming threatens 80 million jobs by 2030

The United Nations International Labor Organization (ILO) predicted Monday that global warming, caused by rising heat stress in agriculture and other industrial sectors, would lead to a loss of productivity of 80 million jobs by 2030.

In 2030, 2.2% of the world's total working hours may be lost due to high temperatures, according to a forecast based on global warming of 1.5 ° C by the end of the century.

The impact will be greater in South Asia and West Africa, where 5 percent of working hours could be lost in 2030, according to the authors of the report, Working on a Warmer Planet: The Impact of Thermal Stress on Productivity at Work and Decent Work.

Overall, economic losses represent $ 2400 billion globally.
"This is generally equivalent to the UK economy," said Catherine Sage, assistant to the report.

Thermal stress refers to a temperature higher than the body can tolerate without physiological damage, the organization said. "This generally happens when the temperature reaches above 35 degrees with strong humidity," she said.

"The impact of thermal stress on productivity at work is a serious consequence of climate change," she said. "We can expect to see an increase in the disparity between high-income and low-income countries and the deteriorating working conditions of the most vulnerable groups, as well as population movements," she said.

The two most vulnerable sectors are the agriculture sector, which employs 940 million people in the world and is expected to account for 60% of lost working hours by 2030 and the construction sector with 19% of productivity loss.

"If South Asia and West Africa are the hardest hit by the heatwave, Europe will not be spared," said economist Nicholas Mitter.

"We should look more and more at (free) periods like those we have seen recently, which are increasingly frequent and more intense," he told reporters.

In order to deter the risk of heat stress, the organization encouraged "the establishment of appropriate infrastructure and better early warning systems during periods of heatwaves".