From blacksmiths to street food vendors, the country’s informal workforce fears it is being left behind by the green transition. Five workers tell their stories.
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'We are losing not only work, but survival': India’s informal workers on the green transition
Abatify Summary
Nature & Climate Perspective
**The lack of inclusive social safeguards in India's rapid green transition threatens to disrupt local micro-ecosystems and the informal human infrastructure that supports them. **
- Traditional micro-enterprises and informal workers rely on localized, legacy energy sources, lacking the capital to transition to sustainable, low-carbon alternatives.
- The rapid deployment of clean energy infrastructure risks displacing informal labor communities, creating localized ecological and social imbalances where land-use changes occur.
- Without targeted biodiversity and community-led restoration programs, the transition of heavy informal sectors (like blacksmithing) can lead to unmanaged waste and soil degradation during local site closures.
Market & Policy Outlook
**Excluding the informal workforce from decarbonization strategies poses systemic risks to international carbon finance, failing to meet crucial social criteria under the ICVCM Core Carbon Principles (CCPs). **
- Projects failing to demonstrate equitable 'Just Transition' pathways risk losing ICVCM CCP alignment, which strictly mandates robust social safeguards and sustainable development co-benefits.
- Global corporations sourcing from India face heightened Scope 3 supply chain risks and SBTi compliance hurdles if their decarbonization efforts inadvertently displace vulnerable informal labor.
- Financing mechanisms, including Article 6.2 and 6.4 ITMO transactions, must integrate strict social equity frameworks to avoid greenwashing allegations and protect capital flows into emerging markets.
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