Several features of renewable energy supply chains in the GCC combine to create specific risks for migrant workers and an environment where human rights abuse can proliferate with minimal accountability:

• Isolation - Project sites and worker accommodation are often located remotely from urban areas. Access to and from sites is restricted and scrutiny by human rights groups is difficult without compromising security.
• Subcontracting & temporary deployment – A reliance on subcontractors for services including construction, security, facilities management and delivery, leaves migrant workers open to highly exploitative practices with minimal oversight from developers or other companies. Additionally, workers are hired on a temporary and project-by-project basis, across multiple sites and even by distinct companies and contractors on a particular site.
• Lack of transparency - Information on the network of smaller subcontractors and service providers employing workers directly is not publicly available. No named security companies, transport companies, or cleaning or maintenance companies were identified by the Resource Centre in the Data Explorer, while investigators have found migrant workers employed by these subcontractors experienced egregious human rights violations. These practices create complex, opaque supply chains that undermine accountability and create barriers accessing information on labour rights conditions, both for civil society and for companies conducting due diligence
• Market saturation by the state – A select few partially or fully-state owned GCC headquartered firms hold significant sway over the industry. GCC countries are headed by autocratic monarchies with well-documented links to egregious human rights violations. Projects can be utilised to promote political interests, functioning as ‘branding’ for autocratic regimes. State-ownership also limits the influence of investors to conduct robust due diligence. GCC-headquartered companies also rarely respond to Resource Centre outreach, and there is little public information on company structures and business relationships.

In 2024, the climate crisis is the largest single threat to people, planet and human rights: a global transition to renewable energy sources cannot come quickly enough. Many migrants to the Gulf, including those working on renewable energy projects, are driven to migrate due to loss of livelihoods at home from climate-linked disasters, including flooding, drought, tropical storms, industrial pollution and disease outbreaks.

These workers are ‘doubly impacted’ by the climate crises. Fleeing lost livelihoods at home, they arrive to scorching temperatures and extreme weather events in the Gulf. Heat exposure is a particularly salient risk, where migrants undertake hard, physical labour in unprecedented temperatures that can exceed 55C. These conditions have pernicious, fatal health impacts, from cramps, fainting and heat stroke, to long-term disease, including cardiovascular and chronic kidney disease. Migrants are also disproportionately impacted by extreme weather events in the region, such as increased risk of dengue fever after major flooding in the UAE in 2024.

Systemic, widespread wage theft, excessive recruitment fee charging, and significant barriers accessing remedy and justice erode the amount of money these workers can send home. Without adequate remittances, families in origin countries are less able to invest in climate adaptation measures, increasing their vulnerability to future environmental shocks. This creates a downward cycle of poverty, migration, and climate-exposure. The creation of decent green jobs for migrant workers where their human rights are respected is urgent, and essential for climate justice. 

Labour migration to the GCC is governed by the Kafala system, a set of laws regulating the relationship between migrants and their employers. This system makes migrants extremely vulnerable to corporate abuse. Workers are tied to their employer and unable to leave their job or the country without permission. Those who do leave employment are at risk of arrest, detention, and deportation. If workers raise grievances with companies, they are often subject to false ‘absconding charges’ filed by employers in reprisal. In this context, migrants’ ability to seek remedy or access to justice – even following the worst forms of forced labour - is extremely limited.

Kafala policy reforms in Qatar, UAE and Saudi Arabia, partly driven by international scrutiny surrounding mega-events including the Qatar 2022 World Cup, Dubai Expo 2020 and Saudi Arabia 2034 World Cup bid, purport to address some of the worst forms of exploitation for migrants. However, NGOs and rights experts say claims of abolishing the Kafala system are, at best, inadequately implemented and, at worst, risk becoming undone.

Severe restrictions on freedom of association and collective bargaining in law and practice are also particularly problematic. Migrants cannot join unions in Qatar, Saudi Arabia, or the UAE, and union rights are significantly restricted in Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman, including bans from taking leadership roles and from joining unions prior to living in the country for five years. In this context, companies must ensure respect for equivalent, independent worker bodies that ensure migrants have a voice in this restrictive, high-risk environment.