Industrial relations and climate change: Reflections on the way forward and a future research agenda

Industrial relations (IR) research has been slow to address the implications of climate change for the world of work, even though it impacts the entire IR system with its diverse actors, structures and contexts, realigning power relations and possibly reinforcing existing inequalities. The article thus makes an argument for more relational and contextualised research on climate change and IR. Based on a review of the relevant literature, this conceptual article reflects on possible ways forward, identifying three areas of concern that future IR research could focus on: (1) climate change as a multi-level challenge; (2) the actors shaping the low-carbon transition; (3) job quality in times of climate change. Addressing these issues would not only be beneficial for the world of work and employment policy itself, but also for IR as a research field.