A recent UEES study, published in the Journal of Public Health Policy, reveals a serious contradiction in Ecuadorian policy: while the country faces increasing challenges from rising temperature extremes due to climate change, the new Executive Decree No. 255 on Occupational Safety and Health, enacted in May 2024, deliberately excludes workers in the informal sector from its protections. This legislative decision leaves more than half of the national workforce in a situation of extreme vulnerability, specifically 52.5% of workers operating in informal conditions, according to national survey data analyzed by researchers Antonio Gómez, Andrea Cevallos and Raúl Gutiérrez.
The magnitude of the problem intensifies when examining specific sectors where informality reaches alarming levels and exposure to climate risks is at its highest. In agriculture and construction, more than 80% of workers lack formal protection, precisely the work activities most exposed to extreme temperatures, direct solar radiation and adverse weather conditions that are being intensified by climate change. These workers face a dangerous intersection between pre-existing social inequalities and new environmental risks, creating what the authors call a “double vulnerability”: systematic exclusion from formal social protection combined with disproportionate exposure to the impacts of global warming.
The study stresses that this legislative exclusion is not simply an administrative omission, but represents a form of structural discrimination that perpetuates existing social inequities. The researchers argue that Occupational Safety and Health policies must transcend traditional approaches focused solely on labor formalization to adopt a broader social justice perspective. The proposal includes the mandatory integration of climate resilience measures into future National Occupational Safety and Health Policy, the immediate expansion of social security coverage to include informal workers, and the development of regulatory frameworks that actively recognize and protect the most vulnerable labor populations in the face of the growing challenges of climate change.
Read this scientific article at the following link: https://research.uees.edu.ec/es/publications/social-inequities-climate-change-and-informal-employment-in-ecuad
