Migrants working on renewable energy projects in the United Arab Emirates say they are the victims of abusive conditions that could amount to forced labour, an investigation by a human rights group has found.
Equidem interviewed 34 migrant workers from South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa employed in the supply chain of 10 major renewable energy developers mostly from Europe and the Gulf States, which operate solar and wind projects in the UAE.
They worked for 14 local subcontracting companies, including renewables specialists such as solar installers and technicians, and firms providing services such as transport, security and cleaning.
Two-thirds of interviewed workers said they experienced wage theft, through unpaid, delayed or irregular wages. Half reported working illegally-long hours and as many said they were charged recruitment fees – a practice widely deemed exploitative because it can lead to debt bondage. It is illegal in the UAE. Some workers also said their passports had been illegally withheld.
Mustafa Qadri, chief executive of UK-based Equidem, told Climate Home News the findings were “shocking” for a “high-tech sector” responsible for “some of the most sought-after investment opportunities in the global market”.
The labour rights advocacy group found violations in breach of UAE labour law and international standards that matched 10 of the 11 International Labour Organization’s indicators of forced labour.
This “create[s] conditions of forced labour for migrant workers in the renewables sector in the UAE,” Equidem concluded in a report released on Tuesday.
Treated ‘like animals’
The Gulf States continue to produce and export high volumes of oil and gas but have seen a rapid rollout of renewable energy infrastructure in recent years, reaching 5.6 gigawatts in 2022 from close to zero a decade earlier. The UAE – which hosted the COP28 climate summit last year – is one of the region’s fastest-growing renewable markets but it has “been rapidly built on the back of exploitation”, Qadri said.
Interviewees reported workplace discrimination, violence and harassment, especially targeted at new workers. One said he was living in overcrowded and unsanitary accommodation with 18 others, while half said their food allowances weren’t enough to meet their needs.
“The company treats all the workers like animals,” Suaid, an Indian worker subcontracted to pack solar equipment for a European renewable energy developer, told Equidem. “I work for 12 hours a day. If I do my work comfortably, the work will not be finished and if the work is not finished, the supervisor will shout at me. Even my salary can be cut. There is so much work that I do not get even a minute’s rest.”
Equidem chose not to identify projects and employers linked to rights violations because of the risk of reprisals for workers. “These workers are facing terrible conditions and suffering in incredible silence,” said Qadri.
The UAE government did not respond to Climate Home’s request for comment.
Double climate impacts
Migrant workers account for a vast proportion of private-sector employment in Gulf countries.
Mass public events such as the 2022 Qatar World Cup and the 2020 Dubai Expo have exposed some of the risks and abuses faced by migrant workers in the region. The Business & Human Rights Resource Centre (BHRRC), which co-authored the report, has recorded 490 allegations of migrant worker abuse across Gulf States since 2022.
But some of the alleged abuse unveiled by Equidem is unique to the renewable energy sector, said Qadri, citing the extent of illegal working hours and workers’ isolation from urban centres while employed at renewable energy projects located in the desert, which also exposes them to heat stress.
Ten workers told Equidem they suffered health impacts after engaging in physical work in extreme temperatures without adequate water and breaks.
“Sometimes I am made to stand more than 10 hours in the scorching sun,” said Akira, a Kenyan worker employed as a security guard for a multinational energy company.
Fractious COP29 lands $300bn climate finance goal, dashing hopes of the poorest
Climate change is expected to make the UAE even hotter and more humid between June and September – a combination that can be deadly.
The interviewed workers originated from developing countries such as Kenya, India and Pakistan, where extreme weather impacts fuelled by climate change, from heatwaves to droughts and floods, are intensifying. Equidem previously found evidence of migrant workers seeking jobs in the UAE after losing their livelihoods to flooding in their home country.
Opaque supply chain
The investigation unmasks a sector characterised by multiple layers of outsourcing, where contractual ties between workers, subcontractors and major renewable energy developers are rarely disclosed.
This “blind spot” increases the risk of abuse, Isobel Archer of BHRRC told Climate Home.
BHRRC reviewed publicly available governance policies of the 27 largest renewable energy developers in the Gulf region, including French companies EDF and TotalEnergies, Chinese firm Jinko Power, the UAE’s state-owned Masdar and Shell.
It found that just 12 companies recognised risks specific to migrant workers and only eight prohibited recruitment charges.
“Given the Gulf region’s record on human rights abuses, companies operating in this field must conduct heightened human-rights due diligence, assess and mitigate the risk their operations pose to migrant workers in their value chains,” said Archer.
“We have to push for a fast transition to renewables. But the so-called creation of green jobs doesn’t give [companies] a free pass to ignore the rights of the most vulnerable in the supply chain,” she added.
BHRRC contacted all 27 companies about its findings. At the time of publication, Masdar was the only company to respond. It said it was “deeply committed to safeguarding the rights and wellbeing of all individuals, including migrant workers”, with “relevant risk mitigation measures… fully embedded” in its policies.
(Reporting by Chloé Farand; editing by Megan Rowling)
The post Rights group finds abusive conditions for migrants working on UAE renewables appeared first on Climate Home News.
Rights group finds abusive conditions for migrants working on UAE renewables
Climate Change
DeBriefed 15 August 2025: Raging wildfires; Xi’s priorities; Factchecking the Trump climate report
Welcome to Carbon Brief’s DeBriefed.
An essential guide to the week’s key developments relating to climate change.
This week
Blazing heat hits Europe
FANNING THE FLAMES: Wildfires “fanned by a heatwave and strong winds” caused havoc across southern Europe, Reuters reported. It added: “Fire has affected nearly 440,000 hectares (1,700 square miles) in the eurozone so far in 2025, double the average for the same period of the year since 2006.” Extreme heat is “breaking temperature records across Europe”, the Guardian said, with several countries reporting readings of around 40C.
HUMAN TOLL: At least three people have died in the wildfires erupting across Spain, Turkey and Albania, France24 said, adding that the fires have “displaced thousands in Greece and Albania”. Le Monde reported that a child in Italy “died of heatstroke”, while thousands were evacuated from Spain and firefighters “battled three large wildfires” in Portugal.
UK WILDFIRE RISK: The UK saw temperatures as high as 33.4C this week as England “entered its fourth heatwave”, BBC News said. The high heat is causing “nationally significant” water shortfalls, it added, “hitting farms, damaging wildlife and increasing wildfires”. The Daily Mirror noted that these conditions “could last until mid-autumn”. Scientists warn the UK faces possible “firewaves” due to climate change, BBC News also reported.
Around the world
- GRID PRESSURES: Iraq suffered a “near nationwide blackout” as elevated power demand – due to extreme temperatures of around 50C – triggered a transmission line failure, Bloomberg reported.
- ‘DIRE’ DOWN UNDER: The Australian government is keeping a climate risk assessment that contains “dire” implications for the continent “under wraps”, the Australian Financial Review said.
- EXTREME RAINFALL: Mexico City is “seeing one of its heaviest rainy seasons in years”, the Washington Post said. Downpours in the Japanese island of Kyushu “caused flooding and mudslides”, according to Politico. In Kashmir, flash floods killed 56 and left “scores missing”, the Associated Press said.
- SOUTH-SOUTH COOPERATION: China and Brazil agreed to “ensure the success” of COP30 in a recent phone call, Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported.
- PLASTIC ‘DEADLOCK’: Talks on a plastic pollution treaty have failed again at a summit in Geneva, according to the Guardian, with countries “deadlocked” on whether it should include “curbs on production and toxic chemicals”.
15
The number of times by which the most ethnically-diverse areas in England are more likely to experience extreme heat than its “least diverse” areas, according to new analysis by Carbon Brief.
Latest climate research
- As many as 13 minerals critical for low-carbon energy may face shortages under 2C pathways | Nature Climate Change
- A “scoping review” examined the impact of climate change on poor sexual and reproductive health and rights in sub-Saharan Africa | PLOS One
- A UK university cut the carbon footprint of its weekly canteen menu by 31% “without students noticing” | Nature Food
(For more, see Carbon Brief’s in-depth daily summaries of the top climate news stories on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.)
Captured
Factchecking Trump’s climate report
A report commissioned by the US government to justify rolling back climate regulations contains “at least 100 false or misleading statements”, according to a Carbon Brief factcheck involving dozens of leading climate scientists. The report, compiled in two months by five hand-picked researchers, inaccurately claims that “CO2-induced warming might be less damaging economically than commonly believed” and misleadingly states that “excessively aggressive [emissions] mitigation policies could prove more detrimental than beneficial”80
Spotlight
Does Xi Jinping care about climate change?
This week, Carbon Brief unpacks new research on Chinese president Xi Jinping’s policy priorities.
On this day in 2005, Xi Jinping, a local official in eastern China, made an unplanned speech when touring a small village – a rare occurrence in China’s highly-choreographed political culture.
In it, he observed that “lucid waters and lush mountains are mountains of silver and gold” – that is, the environment cannot be sacrificed for the sake of growth.
(The full text of the speech is not available, although Xi discussed the concept in a brief newspaper column – see below – a few days later.)
In a time where most government officials were laser-focused on delivering economic growth, this message was highly unusual.
Forward-thinking on environment
As a local official in the early 2000s, Xi endorsed the concept of “green GDP”, which integrates the value of natural resources and the environment into GDP calculations.
He also penned a regular newspaper column, 22 of which discussed environmental protection – although “climate change” was never mentioned.
This focus carried over to China’s national agenda when Xi became president.
New research from the Asia Society Policy Institute tracked policies in which Xi is reported by state media to have “personally” taken action.
It found that environmental protection is one of six topics in which he is often said to have directly steered policymaking.
Such policies include guidelines to build a “Beautiful China”, the creation of an environmental protection inspection team and the “three-north shelterbelt” afforestation programme.
“It’s important to know what Xi’s priorities are because the top leader wields outsized influence in the Chinese political system,” Neil Thomas, Asia Society Policy Institute fellow and report co-author, told Carbon Brief.
Local policymakers are “more likely” to invest resources in addressing policies they know have Xi’s attention, to increase their chances for promotion, he added.
What about climate and energy?
However, the research noted, climate and energy policies have not been publicised as bearing Xi’s personal touch.
“I think Xi prioritises environmental protection more than climate change because reducing pollution is an issue of social stability,” Thomas said, noting that “smoggy skies and polluted rivers” were more visible and more likely to trigger civil society pushback than gradual temperature increases.
The paper also said topics might not be linked to Xi personally when they are “too technical” or “politically sensitive”.
For example, Xi’s landmark decision for China to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060 is widely reported as having only been made after climate modelling – facilitated by former climate envoy Xie Zhenhua – showed that this goal was achievable.
Prior to this, Xi had never spoken publicly about carbon neutrality.
Prof Alex Wang, a University of California, Los Angeles professor of law not involved in the research, noted that emphasising Xi’s personal attention may signal “top” political priorities, but not necessarily Xi’s “personal interests”.
By not emphasising climate, he said, Xi may be trying to avoid “pushing the system to overprioritise climate to the exclusion of the other priorities”.
There are other ways to know where climate ranks on the policy agenda, Thomas noted:
“Climate watchers should look at what Xi says, what Xi does and what policies Xi authorises in the name of the ‘central committee’. Is Xi talking more about climate? Is Xi establishing institutions and convening meetings that focus on climate? Is climate becoming a more prominent theme in top-level documents?”
Watch, read, listen
TRUMP EFFECT: The Columbia Energy Exchange podcast examined how pressure from US tariffs could affect India’s clean energy transition.
NAMIBIAN ‘DESTRUCTION’: The National Observer investigated the failure to address “human rights abuses and environmental destruction” claims against a Canadian oil company in Namibia.
‘RED AI’: The Network for the Digital Economy and the Environment studied the state of current research on “Red AI”, or the “negative environmental implications of AI”.
Coming up
- 17 August: Bolivian general elections
- 18-29 August: Preparatory talks on the entry into force of the “High Seas Treaty”, New York
- 18-22 August: Y20 Summit, Johannesburg
- 21 August: Advancing the “Africa clean air programme” through Africa-Asia collaboration, Yokohama
Pick of the jobs
- Lancaster Environment Centre, senior research associate: JUST Centre | Salary: £39,355-£45,413. Location: Lancaster, UK
- Environmental Justice Foundation, communications and media officer, Francophone Africa | Salary: XOF600,000-XOF800,000. Location: Dakar, Senegal
- Politico, energy & climate editor | Salary: Unknown. Location: Brussels, Belgium
- EnviroCatalysts, meteorologist | Salary: Unknown. Location: New Delhi, India
DeBriefed is edited by Daisy Dunne. Please send any tips or feedback to debriefed@carbonbrief.org.
This is an online version of Carbon Brief’s weekly DeBriefed email newsletter. Subscribe for free here.
The post DeBriefed 15 August 2025: Raging wildfires; Xi’s priorities; Factchecking the Trump climate report appeared first on Carbon Brief.
DeBriefed 15 August 2025: Raging wildfires; Xi’s priorities; Factchecking the Trump climate report
Climate Change
New York Already Denied Permits to These Gas Pipelines. Under Trump, They Could Get Greenlit
The specter of a “gas-for-wind” compromise between the governor and the White House is drawing the ire of residents as a deadline looms.
Hundreds of New Yorkers rallied against new natural gas pipelines in their state as a deadline loomed for the public to comment on a revived proposal to expand the gas pipeline that supplies downstate New York.
New York Already Denied Permits to These Gas Pipelines. Under Trump, They Could Get Greenlit
A “critical assessment” report commissioned by the Trump administration to justify a rollback of US climate regulations contains at least 100 false or misleading statements, according to a Carbon Brief factcheck involving dozens of leading climate scientists.
The report – “A critical review of impacts of greenhouse gas emissions on the US climate” – was published by the US Department of Energy (DoE) on 23 July, just days before the government laid out plans to revoke a scientific finding used as the legal basis for emissions regulation.
The executive summary of the controversial report inaccurately claims that “CO2-induced warming might be less damaging economically than commonly believed”.
It also states misleadingly that “excessively aggressive [emissions] mitigation policies could prove more detrimental than beneficial”.
Compiled in just two months by five “independent” researchers hand-selected by the climate-sceptic US secretary of energy Chris Wright, the document has sparked fierce criticism from climate scientists, who have pointed to factual errors, misrepresentation of research, messy citations and the cherry-picking of data.
Experts have also noted the authors’ track record of promoting views at odds with the mainstream understanding of climate science.
Wright’s department claims the report – which is currently open to public comment as part of a 30-day review – underwent an “internal peer-review period amongst [the] DoE’s scientific research community”.
The report is designed to provide a scientific underpinning to one flank of the Trump administration’s plans to rescind a finding that serves as the legal prerequisite for federal emissions regulation. (The second flank is about legal authority to regulate emissions.)
The “endangerment finding” – enacted by the Obama administration in 2009 – states that six greenhouse gases are contributing to the net-negative impacts of climate change and, thus, put the public in danger.
In a press release on 29 July, the US Environmental Protection Agency said “updated studies and information” set out in the new report would “challenge the assumptions” of the 2009 finding.
Carbon Brief asked a wide range of climate scientists, including those cited in the “critical review” itself, to factcheck the report’s various claims and statements.
The post Factcheck: Trump’s climate report includes more than 100 false or misleading claims appeared first on Carbon Brief.
https://www.carbonbrief.org/factcheck-trumps-climate-report-includes-more-than-100-false-or-misleading-claims/
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