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Riding through heat and storms: Platform work and climate vulnerabilities in the Philippines
Gig worker rides under extreme heat. Photo by Kevin Reyes
By Cheryll Soriano, Jayvy Gamboa, Virgel Binghay, and Marge Medina
Given the size of the platform economy and the intensity of climate hazards in the Philippines, there is a need establish a more nuanced understanding of how environmental factors shape the vulnerabilities and resilience of platform workers and to rethink platform design and policy, taking these risks into account.
Due to its archipelagic geography and location facing the Pacific, the Philippines is uniquely vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. The Climate Risk Index 2021 ranked it fourth among countries most affected by extreme weather events: it experienced at least 317 such events between 2000 to 2019. Climate hazards like tropical cyclones, flooding, drought and heatwaves, sea level rise, rising temperatures, loss of biodiversity disproportionately affect vulnerable communities within the country, as well as particular groups of workers in industries such as agriculture, fishing, construction, transport, and logistics, who are heavily exposed to weather elements due to their nature of work. Climate change acts as a “wicked multiplier,“ intensifying the precarity faced by workers in the Philippines–and across the Global South–and platform-based ride-hailing and delivery workers are exception.
Positioned as an alternative to traditional employment, platform work has become a jobs generation strategy in the Philippines, with the government promoting it as part of the Philippine Development Plan 2023-2028. The country has seen significant expansion in both global and home-grown platforms and start-ups, particularly in location-based services like ride-hailing and delivery, as we found in our 2022 and 2023 reports. However, this growth does not come without challenges. Platform work perpetuates pre-existing issues of insecurity and inequality, especially in countries like the Philippines, where labor policies have yet to adequately address the complexities of gig work. These issues are further exacerbated by health-related risks and gendered disparities and intense competition in location-based platform work.
Building on insights from over a hundred interviews with Filipino platform workers conducted over two years, our findings underscore the importance of analyzing platform work within its specific environmental context. We observed how working conditions in platform work are impacted by extreme weather events and climate change.
In the Philippines, the challenges of platform work—such as fierce competition, significant health risks, and persistent income insecurity—are further exacerbated by the tangible impacts of climate change. For app-based couriers and motorcycle ride-hailing drivers who spend long hours outdoors, extreme weather conditions such as typhoons, heat waves, and flooding pose significant risks.
When the Philippines is hit by severe typhoons – as we were in 2024 – news reports often show delivery workers, compelled to deliver food to sustain income or reach incentives, submerged in flooded road systems making them vulnerable to illness or even electrocution and doing damage to the vehicles they need to carry out their work. When temperatures skyrocket, ride-hailing and delivery workers are exposed to long hours of intense heat on the roads making them vulnerable to heatstroke. The effects of heatstroke on workers in the construction industry have been well-documented, and in some ways mitigated by occupational safety standards, but no such regulations exist for platform workers and more research is needed on the specific risks faced by workers in these industries. These are on top of the challenges of working outdoors amid surges of hazardous air quality that puts additional health risks on workers. This is crucial as evidence suggests that extreme heat further heightens air pollution.
Despite the increasing numbers and visibility of platform workers and the severity of recent weather conditions in the country, there are insufficient policies in place to ensure the safety and wellbeing of workers. Poor public infrastructure and unsafe road conditions exacerbate these risks, forcing workers to navigate hazardous environments during severe storms and floods.
The environmental risks are not confined to physical dangers. Many of these workers depend on platform work as their primary source of income, leaving them disproportionately vulnerable to climate-induced disruptions. Without access to protective measures, adequate healthcare, insurance, or social security, they bear the brunt of worsening climate impacts, from lost income during extreme weather to health risks associated with prolonged exposure to environmental hazards.
Moreover, Fairwork research in the Philippines and Bangladesh reveal that workers often invest in equipment and vehicles to participate in platform work, frequently financed through loans or subcontracting arrangements. Unpredictable climate conditions exacerbate their financial insecurity, as these investments become harder to sustain under worsening environmental and economic pressures.
At the recent Fairwork Philippines Stakeholders Forum, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) acknowledged the growing intersection of platform work and climate change, emphasizing the need to incorporate this issue into policy discussions.
The ILO has announced that the 2025 International Labor Conference will include an agenda item to discuss standards related to decent work in the platform economy. It remains to be seen whether it will reflect the unique realities of platform workers in the Global South, especially their climate vulnerabilities. Nevertheless, this signals to member countries that international standards may be adopted in the future.
Worsening climate conditions create cascading socioeconomic challenges, including widespread displacements. As livelihoods are disrupted, displaced communities across the archipelago can increasingly turn to platform-based gig work, as a source of primary livelihood – magnifying the conditions we have presented above.
This reality underscores the urgent need to integrate climate considerations into the evaluation of fair and decent platform labor conditions. Do platforms protect gig workers amid extreme weather events and the threats of climate change?
Fairwork Philippines is now entering its third year of platform scoring. This round will evaluate labor conditions against the principles of fair pay, fair conditions, fair contracts, fair management, and fair representation, paying closer attention to how platform policies and actions take into consideration extreme climate conditions. Fairwork Philippines aims to highlight the urgent reforms and protections needed to ensure that workers can engage in platform work safely and sustainably amid escalating climate challenges.