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Dignity factory workers producing shirts for overseas clients, in Accra, Ghana

Six Seasons, Four Summers: How to Solve Fashion's High Heat Problem

Read The Report

Cooling investments in Bangladesh’s apparel factories can be commercially viable, with an average payback period of one to four years, according to new research from Cornell University’s Global Labor Institute.

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The Dindigul Agreement to End Gender-based Violence and Harassment

Has It Worked?

This is GLI’s official final assessment of the Dindigul Agreement to End Gender-Based Violence and Harassment at a South Indian apparel factory that could be a model for other factories around the world. 

Large room of garment factory workers
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Measuring Supply Chain Due Diligence

Labor Outcomes Metrics

Read about the Global Labor Institute's new quantitative metrics that measure labor outcomes—actual impacts for workers.

Workers in Bangladesh
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Cooling Before It Got Cool: Case Studies in Heat Adaptation in Southeast Asian Factories

Heat Adaptation in Apparel Factories

A new examination of how apparel factories are adapting to extreme heat while investing in cooling, automation, and climate resilience strategies.

A thermal image of a worker at a station in a garment factory, showing the high heat levels through brighter orange colors at their workstation.
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Global Labor Institute's Climate-Labor Work

GLI Climate-Labor Research

See all of our analyses on the intersection of labor rights and climate change.

GLI climate workers webinar
Read GLI's Climate-Labor Work

Latest Research and Events

GLI Testimony on Trade and Labor for the US International Trade Commission, March 2024

Jason Judd shared findings from recent research and experiences on three under‐explored elements of apparel industry competitiveness: wage‐setting, labor outcomes for workers, and climate vulnerability and adaptation.
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GLI Testimony on Trade and Labor for the US International Trade Commission, March 2024

GLI 2024 Conference Rolls Up Sleeves to Tackle Global Apparel Production

“The progress of science begins with this sharing of knowledge, expertise and networks, and today we are guests of the Global Labor Institute conference where these three components converge,” said Samira Rafaela at the 2024 GLI Conference on Feb. 2.
Jason Judd at GLI Conference
GLI 2024 Conference Rolls Up Sleeves to Tackle Global Apparel Production

Presentation Angus Bauer, Schroders, and Jason Judd, Cornell University

Higher Ground? Climate breakdown and its impacts for global apparel production.
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Presentation Angus Bauer, Schroders, and Jason Judd, Cornell University

Presentation Sarosh Kuruvilla, ILR School, Cornell University

Groundhog Day. Or, How do we know what works to improve working conditions and advance labor rights?
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Presentation Sarosh Kuruvilla, ILR School, Cornell University

Keynote Samira Rafaela, Member of the European Parliament

What do E.U. and U.S. corporate accountability in supply chains look like?
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Keynote Samira Rafaela, Member of the European Parliament

Didier Reynders Opening Remarks at GLI Conference 2024

Opening Remarks on European Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence. Presentation from the Cornell Global Labor Institute's 2024 Conference: Change or Groundhog Day? What new research tells us about what works in global labor governance.
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Didier Reynders Opening Remarks at GLI Conference 2024

In The News

Media Mentions

The COP30 Deal Won’t Solve Fashion’s Climate Problems

The Business of Fashion News
Jason Judd, executive director of the Global Labor Institute, recommends that the fashion industry should “get their act together” with regard to heat and climate change, “because workers are suffering from heat stress and, in turn, so are margins.”
The COP30 Deal Won’t Solve Fashion’s Climate Problems

Do the Labor Provisions in Trump’s Southeast Asian Trade Deals Have a Point?

Sourcing Journal
Kelly Fay Rodriguez, visiting lecturer at ILR’s Global Labor Institute and former special representative for international affairs at the Department of State, analyzes the importance of labor provisions in trade agreements and discusses how these provisions can best be enforced.
Do the Labor Provisions in Trump’s Southeast Asian Trade Deals Have a Point?

Resilient Threads: Weaving A Climate-Ready, Regenerative Future for Cotton in India

Observer Research Foundation
A study by ILR’s Global Labor Institute is cited in a discussion about climate change causing problems for the cotton supply chain used by Asia’s fashion sector.
Resilient Threads: Weaving A Climate-Ready, Regenerative Future for Cotton in India

Jason Judd wants the apparel industry to take heat stress very seriously

Big Closets Small Planet Podcast
The garment industry can mitigate health problems and production slowdowns caused by heat stress, but will it? In this podcast episode, Jason Judd, executive director of the ILR Global Labor Institute, shares a nuanced look at climate change adaptation in the garment industry.
Jason Judd wants the apparel industry to take heat stress very seriously

Commentary: How Chinese imports are skirting Trump’s tariffs

Yahoo News
Jason Judd, executive director of the Global Labor Institute, explains that Chinese companies are avoiding Trump tariffs because they are increasingly building their own production facilities outside of China.
Commentary: How Chinese imports are skirting Trump’s tariffs

This week in Trumponomics: The looming import shortage

Yahoo News
Once current inventories are gone, the rest of 2025 could be rocky. “Our perspective in terms of how this will affect manufacturers and workers is that we’ll see a replay of the initial COVID shock,” said Jason Judd, executive director of the Global Labor Institute.
This week in Trumponomics: The looming import shortage