A groundbreaking PhD research partnership between Northumbria University’s Centre for Global Development, the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI), and Women Working Worldwide (WWW) is set to explore how gender-just transitions can be strengthened across global food supply chains. The project, led by doctoral researcher Aishath Green, emerged from ETI’s work on advancing just transitions in the food, farming, and fisheries sectors through social dialogue, alongside WWW’s mission to support and empower women workers in global supply chains to secure stronger rights and protections.
As climate change intensifies, interest in the concept of just transitions has grown across policy, academic, and practical spaces. A just transition aims for a fair shift away from fossil fuels toward low-carbon societies, one that creates new opportunities for decent work and ensures no one is left behind. While widely referenced, the concept remains open to interpretation, varying significantly across regions and social groups. Much still needs to be understood about what just transitions look like in practice and what impacts they will have on different communities.
Although most research to date has focused on the energy sector, food systems—responsible for roughly 12% of global greenhouse gas emissions—have received far less attention. The food sector sits at the intersection of vulnerability and responsibility: highly exposed to climate impacts while also contributing significantly to environmental degradation. A food system can reduce emissions yet still reinforce inequality, making it critical to address climate mitigation within the broader context of social justice. The research will build on existing work by ETI and WWW to better understand what just transitions mean for workers within agricultural supply chains.
Women are central to the global food sector, with 36% of working women employed across agri-food systems, yet they remain largely absent from decision-making processes that shape the future of their livelihoods. Policies promoting sustainable agricultural practices have sometimes increased women’s workloads and deepened gender inequities, demonstrating the urgent need for their perspectives to be heard. This project will explore how social dialogue and collective organising among women workers can ensure that their priorities and rights are embedded in just transition planning across global commodity chains.
Women have long organised collectively to improve working conditions, and research shows that collective action—formal through trade unions or informal through safe community networks—can effectively challenge structural barriers. WWW’s work on ‘Safe Spaces’ highlights how informal organising in trusted environments, ranging from homes to community centres, enables women to voice concerns openly. This research seeks to understand the diverse spaces in which women mobilize and how such organising can shape more equitable climate and labour futures.
Over the next three years, the project will engage actors across multiple levels of global agricultural supply chains, working with women workers and companies in the Global South as well as stakeholders in the UK food sector. It aims to identify spaces where women are included or excluded from organising efforts, examine how social dialogue can drive equitable just transitions grounded in human rights, and highlight examples of best practice supporting gender-just approaches. Funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council through the Northern Bridge Consortium, the project will use interdisciplinary and creative research methods including oral histories, archival research, and participatory photography. Findings will be shared through blogs and policy briefs throughout the research period.
Researcher Aishath Green brings extensive experience in climate justice, gender equality, and labour rights. Prior to joining Northumbria University, she worked as a Research Associate at University College London on a UKRI-funded project examining how politics shapes global climate adaptation measurement frameworks. Her academic background in History and Environment, Politics and Development informs her interdisciplinary feminist approach. She has previously researched street traders’ rights and is passionate about connecting historical labour struggles with contemporary climate challenges through participatory and community-based research.
ETI, a leading alliance of trade unions, NGOs, and companies, prioritises just transitions within sectors highly vulnerable to climate change yet often overlooked within broader transition debates. Social dialogue is central to their approach, treating workers as both rights holders and experts in shaping the future of work. Women Working Worldwide partners with grassroots organisations and unions globally to empower women in global supply chains—from garments to horticulture—to claim their rights and earn decent wages, while advising companies committed to improving gender equality. The project is supervised by Professor Katy Jenkins, Dr Sarah Peck and Dr Paul Griffin, who together bring deep expertise in women’s activism, labour geographies, and socially engaged research.
This collaborative initiative marks an important step toward ensuring that women’s voices and leadership are central to the transformation of global food systems and that the transition to a climate-resilient future is both just and genuinely inclusive.
