The Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD (TUAC) published its policy brief Responsible Business Conduct for a Just Transition (September 2026), drawing on the OECD report and examples of collective bargaining and global framework agreements to support workers and trade unions in negotiating company-level transition action.
Human Level’s take:
- Climate transition plans are also plans for people’s jobs and livelihoods. For example, while decarbonisation can create employment, new jobs may also be in different places, require different skills or offer different wages and protections. How companies manage those changes matters for workers and for the delivery of the transition itself.
- The brief highlights a gap between references to just transition in company reporting and plans that set out how workers will be protected, involved and supported, highlighting that corporate commitments are growing faster than implementation.The question for companies is what those commitments mean for the people affected.
- TUAC puts social dialogue and collective bargaining at the centre of transition planning, with unions involved in shaping decisions and tracking implementation. They specify that other forms of worker consultation cannot substitute for engagement with legitimate trade unions and that worker engagement begins while choices are still open.
- For companies, this brings climate planning and human rights due diligence closer together. Identifying risks to jobs and working conditions, planning for reskilling and redeployment, and assessing results with workers can build the social dimension into existing processes. That takes coordination between climate, human rights, procurement and workforce teams.
- Supply chain decarbonisation can also put supplier relationships under pressure. Ending a relationship may reduce a buyer’s reported emissions while leaving workers exposed to job losses and communities to losing livelihoods. The brief points towards working through alternatives with suppliers and unions, with disengagement as a last resort and support for those affected.
- Finally, the brief makes clear that progress needs to be visible beyond the emissions figures. Measurable targets, transparent reporting and access to remedy can help companies understand whether transition plans are delivering for workers. For investors, these offer concrete questions about how companies are managing the human impacts of their climate strategies.
Some key takeaways:
- Just transition commitments are increasing, but implementation remains limited: TUAC’s brief translates the OECD’s May 2026 guidance into practical areas for trade union engagement with companies and their supply chains. It highlights a gap between commitments and action: the Net Zero Company Benchmark 2025 found that only 1% of assessed companies fully committed to just transition principles and disclosed plans to deliver and monitor them. A separate assessment of 399 companies in 2024 found that only 6% were partially planning for a just transition, with none meeting the full criteria. New jobs will not necessarily arise where others are lost, require the same skills or offer equivalent wages and protections, with particular risks for groups including informal workers and people in regions with few employment alternatives. TUAC argues that addressing these impacts through social dialogue can also help companies manage labour disputes, skills shortages and operational disruption.
- Social dialogue and measurable plans can bring workers into transition decisions: The brief places collective bargaining at the centre of transition planning, stressing that other forms of consultation cannot replace engagement with legitimate trade unions. It calls for plans developed early with unions, supported by measurable targets and ongoing dialogue. Companies can integrate this work into due diligence, identifying risks to jobs and working conditions, planning for reskilling and redeployment, and tracking and communicating results with workers. This requires coordination between human rights and climate teams, with existing resources such as Shift’s just transition metrics supporting measurement. Examples include Bosch Mobility’s agreement with IG Metall on worker involvement and job security, and an agreement between Cerrejón and Sintracarbón enabling worker participation in mine closure planning.
- Responsible supplier disengagement and remedy are part of transition planning: TUAC treats disengagement as a last resort, following efforts to assess and support improvement. It identifies three minimum conditions: prior consultation with workers and their representatives, assessment of alternatives, and negotiated compensation and remedy where exit is unavoidable. Alternatives include retrofitting facilities, improving operations or repurposing activities alongside reskilling. Where companies cause or contribute to adverse human rights impacts through their environmental actions, the brief calls for remedy developed with affected rightsholders, including compensation and support during job transitions. It also highlights worker-informed grievance mechanisms and the OECD’s National Contact Points as an avenue for complaints concerning labour rights violations during the transition.
