Most workers in the global South eke out a living in the informal economy, where work is intermittent, uncertain and precarious, yet their work makes an important economic contribution.

Climate change impacts — including heat stress, downpours, floods, and clean water scarcity — already impose a heavy toll on informal workers’ livelihoods and health. These threats interact with other challenges such as use of unclean energy, hazardous living and working conditions, limited social protection, and gender-inequitable burdens.

This briefing explores climate-related health threats facing informal urban workers in India and Zimbabwe drawing on recent research. It describes the main challenges and identifies priority areas for action: improving institutional arrangements; addressing marginalisation; and generating benefits for informal workers’ health, wellbeing, climate resilience and livelihoods.