【Nature Communications】孟渤：Inequitable distribution of risks associated with occupational heat exposure driven by trade
【摘要】The exposure to extreme heat at workplaces poses substantial threat to human effort and manual labour. This becomes more prominent due to the global dispersion of labour-intensive production activities via trade. We combine a climate model with an input–output model to quantify the risks associated with trade-related occupational extreme heat exposure. Here we show an 89% surge in trade-related labour exposure to extreme heat, escalating from 221.5 to 419.0 billion person-hours between 1995 and 2020. Lower-middle-income and low-income economies constituted 53.7% and 18.3% of global exposure but only 5.7% and 1.0% of global labour compensation. In countries highly susceptible to extreme heat conditions, workers perform tasks in heated conditions for up to about 50% of their working hours. The disproportionate trade effects in redistributing global benefits and costs leads to the inequality in heat exposure between developed and developing economies. In striving for equitable and safe work conditions, workers vulnerable to heat extremes in developing economies should be protected by climate adaptation infrastructure, given their critical roles in the global production system.
工作中的极端高温暴露对劳动者构成了重大威胁。由于全球贸易将劳动密集型生产活动通过产业链分散到全球，这一问题愈加凸显。我们结合气候模型与投入产出模型，量化与贸易相关的劳动极端高温暴露风险。研究发现，1995年至2020年间，全球与贸易相关的劳动高温暴露增加了近九成，低收入和中低收入经济体占全球高温暴露的七成以上，却仅获得全球劳动报酬的极小部分。在极易受高温影响的国家，工人在高温环境下工作的时间可能高达其总工作时间的一半。贸易在全球收益与成本分配中的不均衡效应，加剧了发达国家与发展中国家间的高温暴露不平等。为实现公平且安全的工作环境，应优先为发展中国家在高温条件下工作的劳动者提供气候适应型基础设施保障，充分考虑其在全球生产体系中的关键作用。
全文链接：https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-55483-5
