Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
The “Invisible Workers” Behind the Green Energy Transition
For e-waste recycling, many of our discarded products end up going to places like Ghana in Africa where people dismantle them by hand to extract the valuable components like copper and aluminum.
For producing our clean energy products like solar panels, wind turbines, and batteries, etc. many of the raw materials like cobalt come from African countries where they are often mined from artisanal mines.
Much of the human labor in these operations is essentially from "under the table", informal workers. Informal means that they are outside the boundaries of corporations and governments, and essentially doing the work to be able to put food on the table.
Informal work is supposed to be a temporary state, but clearly that is not the case.
I chat about these so-called invisible workers. They dominate the workforce in many countries, and are not really recognized.
Please donate to PaulBeckwith.net to support my research and videos connecting the dots on abrupt climate system mayhem.
GoFundMe: gofundme.com/f/help-paul-continue-his-climate-emergency-research
References and Links:
Nature Africa article:
The invisible workers behind the green transition.
Informal miners, recyclers and waste workers help power the shift to renewable energy, yet their labor is often overlooked in sustainability debates.
Link: nature.com/articles/d44148-026-00171-3
Scientific Paper Submitted to Journal "Progress in Human Geography"
Informal infrastructuring: The Defining Feature of 21st Century Urbanization
By Elmond Bandauko and Brandon Marc Finn
Abstract
Urbanization drives global socio-spatial transformation. Informality is central to this transformation, but is treated as a peripheral process on the margins of cities and economies. Informality is often associated with specific locations, overlooking the fact that it constitutes a dynamic, global process operating across spatial and temporal scales. We develop the concept of informal infrastructuring to interrogate how, through informality, people, places, processes, and politics reconfigure and build urban life. We draw together planetary and postcolonial strands of urban theory to conceptualize informal infrastructuring as a global phenomenon. To imagine informality as peripheral is to mistake marginalization with marginality.
Keywords
infrastructure, informal infrastructuring, informality, planetary urbanization
Article Link: journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/03091325261438966
Report by the International Labor Organization: 58 page PDF
Title: Employment in the Circular Economy: Leveraging circularity to create decent work
Circular Economy
Circle Economy is driving the transition to a new economy. In this economy we help businesses, cities and nations leverage business opportunities, reduce
costs, create jobs and inspire behavioural change. As a global impact organisation, our international team equips business leaders and policymakers with the insights, strategies, and tools to turn circular ambition into action. Circle Economy has been at the forefront of the circular economy transition since 2012. Our annual Circularity Gap Report sets the standard for measuring progress and we manage the world’s largest circularity database, encompassing data from over 90 nations, 350 cities, and 1,000 businesses.
International Labor Organization (ILO)
The International Labour Organization is the United Nations agency for the world of work. It was founded on the conviction that universal and lasting peace can be established only if it is based on social justice. The ILO brings together governments, employers and workers of 187 Member States to set labour standards, develop policies and devise programmes promoting
decent and productive work in conditions of freedom, equity, security and human dignity.
The unique tripartite structure of the ILO gives an equal voice to workers, employers and governments to ensure that the views of the social partners are closely reflected in labour standards and in shaping policies and programmes.
Link to 58 page report PDF:
ilo.org/sites/default/files/2025-12/Employment%20in%20the%20circular%20economy%20-%20Leveraging%20circularity%20to%20create%20decent%20work.pdf
Please donate to PaulBeckwith.net to support my research and videos connecting the dots on abrupt climate system mayhem.
GoFundMe: gofundme.com/f/help-paul-continue-his-climate-emergency-research
Please subscribe to my YouTube channel. As well as my website, and YouTube, you can find me on Patreon, Facebook, Twitter/X, LinkedIn, Instagram, Reddit (multiple climate channels within), Quora, TikTok, Discord, Mastodon, Twitch, Vimeo, Bluesky, TruthSocial, Threads, Substack, Tumblr, Pinterest, etc...
The “Invisible Workers” Behind the Green Energy Transition
For e-waste recycling, many of our discarded products end up going to places like Ghana in Africa where people dismantle them by hand to extract the valuable components like copper and aluminum.
For producing our clean energy products like solar panels, wind turbines, and batteries, etc. many of the raw materials like cobalt come from African countries where they are often mined from artisanal mines.
Much of the human labor in these operations is essentially from "under the table", informal workers. Informal means that they are outside the boundaries of corporations and governments, and essentially doing the work to be able to put food on the table.
Informal work is supposed to be a temporary state, but clearly that is not the case.
I chat about these so-called invisible workers. They dominate the workforce in many countries, and are not really recognized.
Please donate to PaulBeckwith.net to support my research and videos connecting the dots on abrupt climate system mayhem.
GoFundMe: gofundme.com/f/help-paul-continue-his-climate-emergency-research
References and Links:
Nature Africa article:
The invisible workers behind the green transition.
Informal miners, recyclers and waste workers help power the shift to renewable energy, yet their labor is often overlooked in sustainability debates.
Link: nature.com/articles/d44148-026-00171-3
Scientific Paper Submitted to Journal "Progress in Human Geography"
Informal infrastructuring: The Defining Feature of 21st Century Urbanization
By Elmond Bandauko and Brandon Marc Finn
Abstract
Urbanization drives global socio-spatial transformation. Informality is central to this transformation, but is treated as a peripheral process on the margins of cities and economies. Informality is often associated with specific locations, overlooking the fact that it constitutes a dynamic, global process operating across spatial and temporal scales. We develop the concept of informal infrastructuring to interrogate how, through informality, people, places, processes, and politics reconfigure and build urban life. We draw together planetary and postcolonial strands of urban theory to conceptualize informal infrastructuring as a global phenomenon. To imagine informality as peripheral is to mistake marginalization with marginality.
Keywords
infrastructure, informal infrastructuring, informality, planetary urbanization
Article Link: journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/03091325261438966
Report by the International Labor Organization: 58 page PDF
Title: Employment in the Circular Economy: Leveraging circularity to create decent work
Circular Economy
Circle Economy is driving the transition to a new economy. In this economy we help businesses, cities and nations leverage business opportunities, reduce
costs, create jobs and inspire behavioural change. As a global impact organisation, our international team equips business leaders and policymakers with the insights, strategies, and tools to turn circular ambition into action. Circle Economy has been at the forefront of the circular economy transition since 2012. Our annual Circularity Gap Report sets the standard for measuring progress and we manage the world’s largest circularity database, encompassing data from over 90 nations, 350 cities, and 1,000 businesses.
International Labor Organization (ILO)
The International Labour Organization is the United Nations agency for the world of work. It was founded on the conviction that universal and lasting peace can be established only if it is based on social justice. The ILO brings together governments, employers and workers of 187 Member States to set labour standards, develop policies and devise programmes promoting
decent and productive work in conditions of freedom, equity, security and human dignity.
The unique tripartite structure of the ILO gives an equal voice to workers, employers and governments to ensure that the views of the social partners are closely reflected in labour standards and in shaping policies and programmes.
Link to 58 page report PDF:
ilo.org/sites/default/files/2025-12/Employment%20in%20the%20circular%20economy%20-%20Leveraging%20circularity%20to%20create%20decent%20work.pdf
Please donate to PaulBeckwith.net to support my research and videos connecting the dots on abrupt climate system mayhem.
GoFundMe: gofundme.com/f/help-paul-continue-his-climate-emergency-research
Please subscribe to my YouTube channel. As well as my website, and YouTube, you can find me on Patreon, Facebook, Twitter/X, LinkedIn, Instagram, Reddit (multiple climate channels within), Quora, TikTok, Discord, Mastodon, Twitch, Vimeo, Bluesky, TruthSocial, Threads, Substack, Tumblr, Pinterest, etc...
