I have met the workers who make your clothes. The climate crisis is slowly killing them

The fashion industry has a bigger carbon footprint than all international flights and maritime shipping combined. But as companies scramble to rebrand themselves as “sustainable,” why aren’t brands investing in protecting the workers they rely on from a crisis they helped create?

As sustainable consumption quickly becomes the next frontier of consumer activism, Millennials and Gen Z’ers are turning toward eco-conscious fashion as the next it-girl trend. Minimalist wardrobes and “de-influencing” hauls are dominating the zeitgeist, and major fast-fashion brands are beginning to take note. But as multinational corporations attempt to distract shoppers with expansive collections of “low carbon” cottons and upcycled designer linens, the factory workers their business models rely on are being left to burn in the heat.  

Behind the curated cool of your “climate conscious” wardrobe are the millions of garment workers who support the fashion industry’s global supply chains, many of whom live in the developing countries least responsible for, yet most vulnerable to, the impacts of the climate crisis. As temperatures rise, these workers are facing the true horrors of climate injustice, forced to work long hours in factory infernos, without safe water or effective cooling systems, to churn out seasonal trends for buyers in the high-income countries that caused this crisis. 

I’ve seen these realities first-hand over two recent summers in Bangladesh, where I’ve been studying the effects of extreme heat on labor rights and human health for Climate Rights International, and as part of my doctoral research at the University of California, Berkeley. During the hot season, temperatures in Dhaka, the capital city, regularly exceed 100°F, and humidity levels hover around 85%. (For context, the humidity level in a greenhouse is usually kept between 60 and 80%.)

Many of the biggest players in the global fashion industry source from factories across Bangladesh, including brands and corporations like H&M, C&A, Inditex, Walmart, Primark, New Yorker, and VF. All have a responsibility to ensure that workers in their supply chains are protected from occupational risks. But in the course of my research, I’ve heard directly from garment workers across the city about the harrowing workplace conditions that plague the industry, and I’ve seen first-hand the emerging crisis unraveling at the intersection of labor exploitation and extreme heat. 

The stories workers shared with me are what I can only describe as accounts of physiological breakdown. These are otherwise healthy young people, mostly under 35 years old, experiencing symptoms like vomiting, infection, and temporary vision loss from the heat. In desperate need of income, many spoke of pushing themselves until they could physically no longer move, some in exchange for less than $80 USD per month. Several workers described the burning sensations they felt as they labored over hot irons, even during heatwaves. Others told me that they often passed out and lost consciousness on the job. Many said this was a regular, if not normal, occurrence. 

Yet these stories provide only a snapshot of heat-related risks. Emerging science is increasingly linking prolonged heat exposure to painful and long-term chronic health conditions, depression and suicidality, violence, and even death.

In Dhaka’s factories, even the most vulnerable aren’t spared. In May of 2024, during a severe heatwave, I met with Raina, who was seven months pregnant at the time. In an extremely hot, tin-roof home, she told me about her factory job sewing pockets onto trousers, where she worked 10 to 14 hours per day, six days per week … even through pregnancy. She said her daily production targets were so intense that she rarely drank enough water, afraid the additional bathroom breaks would prevent her from meeting her quotas. As a result, she repeatedly suffered from severe dehydration, urinary tract infections, and a range of other health problems.

Raina told me that during the hot season, five to seven people in her factory faint every day. She explained that when she fainted, there was nowhere to rest, and that she could not afford to see a doctor or take time off. So she would simply lay beneath her desk for a few minutes, and then get back to work. 

These conditions are even more alarming in light of growing evidence linking heat exposure during pregnancy to serious maternal health complications and adverse birth outcomes, including stillbirth.

Though factories often attempt to manage the heat with windows and fans, workers explained that these systems were simply not enough to keep them cool, and that the electricity in their factories sometimes shut off due to financial constraints, leaving workers inside with no airflow.

Rampant labor rights abuses across the textile industry only make matters worse. Workers told me they were yelled at and even threatened when trying to drink water or take short breaks to cool down, and that they were often refused medical leave when they fell ill from the heat. Many felt powerless to speak up, afraid of losing the jobs that already had them struggling to afford food.

Climate Rights International has documented similar conditions in Karachi, Pakistan, pointing to an emerging pattern across the fashion industry.

While some governments, and an even smaller number of brands, have developed workplace heat policies, workers around the world continue to roast in sweatshops, trapped in a system that has chosen profit over people. In a recent analysis of major fashion labels, the Business and Human Rights Resource Center found that not a single company set an ESG target for minimizing climate impacts on workers.

Ultimately, the sustainability of the industry relies on the health of workers like Raina, and so it will be up to brands to climate-proof their supply chains to address these risks. But with over three-quarters of Bangladeshi garment exports ending up in closets across the United States, United Kingdom, and European Union, buyers in these regions can and should demand better.

Together, a generation of mindful consumers and sustainable fashion advocates can help steer the industry away from performative pledges and toward accountability, including by advocating for worker-centered responsibility. The path forward will require enforceable heat protections, fair labor standards, and climate adaptation funding for countries like Bangladesh that are on the front lines of climate change. Because if the sustainable fashion movement fails to include the workers who make it possible, it risks becoming part of the environmental injustice it set out to fight.

Cara Schulte is a Researcher at Climate Rights International and a doctoral candidate at the University of California, Berkeley.