On a sweltering afternoon in Savar, during a training session for RMG workers, a sewing operator confided in me that she avoids drinking water throughout her 10-hour shift. Because every bathroom break she takes costs her a percentage of her wages and also risks reprimand.
In another discussion circle, many working mothers asked for something equally vital: A day-care facility within the factory premises and a secure and safe breastfeeding station within the reach of their working station.
These requests are not luxuries. These women who stitch the clothes that fuel global fashion are at the frontline of Bangladesh’s climate transition, yet they remain absent from the narratives of “green” factories.
Heat and declining productivity
Bangladesh’s RMG sector employs approximately four million workers, nearly 80% of whom are women who form the backbone of the national economy. In an era of extreme climatic conditions such as heatwaves, this workforce faces acute climate vulnerability.
For a country that is dependent on relentless labour efficiency, this is not a distant threat but a present crisis. As workers are forced to adapt in ways that are invisible to policymakers, their health suffers devastating consequences.
For example, many of them ration water to minimize bathroom breaks, endure headaches, fainting spells, and push their bodies beyond safe limits to meet production targets.
Hydration, something so fundamental, has now become a contested labour right. At the same time physical, mental, and sexual harassment by supervisors and managers further compounds the stress of daily work, making the workplace not only physically demanding but also psychologically unsafe.
In addition, workers who protest or refuse to tolerate abuse often face severe retaliation: Some garment companies misuse power by sharing their personal information, including fingerprints, with other factories, effectively blacklisting them and preventing them from securing employment elsewhere.
Childcare as a component of climate adaptation
The intersection of care-work and climate change is an overlooked dimension of climate vulnerability. When floods disrupt transport or heatwaves close schools, women carry a triple burden: Domestic work, caregiving, and wage-earning.
Without safe and accessible childcare, absenteeism rises, wages fall, and factories lose experienced workers. Hence, childcare is not a charity. It is the infrastructure for productivity and resilience. In a sector dominated by women, sustaining their ability to work under climate pressure must be central to adaptation planning.
The blind spot
Bangladesh has become a global leader in green building certifications, with over 200 “Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)”-certified factories. Yet, many of them lack enforceable indoor heat standards or guaranteed hydration breaks. If legislation followed the Rana Plaza tragedy to mandate fire safety; similarly, why not do the same for protections from heat, and for safe working environments?
Despite many achievements, the gap between factory walls and factory floors is stark. These sustainability badges celebrate energy efficiency, reduced carbon footprints, and resource conservation, but they say nothing about workers fainting from heat, leaving children unattended to maintain employment, or being subjected to harassment by supervisors.
A factory can be carbon-neutral and still hostile to women’s bodies. This is the paradox of a transition that looks green in donor reports but feels brown and exhausting to those who stitch its success.
Rethinking climate transition from policy to practice
To make just transition meaningful, specific policy steps must begin with prioritizing workers’ needs and family care.
Firstly, hydration should be recognized as a basic right by mandating guaranteed breaks, workplace cooling measures, and continuous access to safe drinking water.
Secondly, on-site childcare facilities should be seen as a shared investment between factories and buyers. International brands must share responsibility for these investments rather than leave the costs to suppliers alone.
Finally, all sorts of harassment should be addressed through robust reporting mechanisms and ensuring a psychologically-secure workplace, so that workers can feel safe and supported.
These reforms are not only moral imperatives. They are strategic. As Bangladesh prepares for graduation from LDC status and faces new European due diligence rules, ensuring dignified working conditions will be essential for preserving export competitiveness and the credibility of the “Made in Bangladesh” label.
Dignity as adaptation
The resilience of Bangladesh’s garment sector lies not in certifications or foreign accolades, but in the strength of its workforce who keep the machines running under intensifying climate stress. True resilience cannot mean suffering in silence.
Climate transition begins not in boardrooms or climate finance plans but in the bodies and families of those most exposed. If we fail to protect them, the global green future will be built on a fragile foundation of parched throats, worried parents, and unsafe workplaces.
Nishat Tasnim is a Research Officer at the International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD). Her work focuses on the nexus of climate change, labour rights, and social vulnerability. Email: nishat.tasnim@icccad.org.