Heat Resilience for Textiles and Apparel
Better Work―a collaboration between the United Nations’ International Labour Organization (ILO) and the IFC―is a comprehensive program bringing together all levels of the garment industry to improve working conditions, respect workers’ labour rights, and boost the competitiveness of apparel and footwear businesses.
The global apparel sector is a $1.77 trillion industry employing more than 90 million workers. Yet it is increasingly exposed to the impacts of climate change. Rising temperatures, more frequent heat waves, and climate-related flooding pose growing risks to workers’ health and safety, while also affecting productivity, job creation, and earnings across apparel-producing countries.
Building on the findings of The Heat Is On: How Global Warming Impacts the Apparel Industry, Jobs, and Worker Health, Better Work at IFC is seeking a firm that can deploy sensor‑based solutions to measure heat stress in apparel manufacturing factories in Bangladesh and Cambodia. The initiative will generate real‑time data on heat stress across different factory areas and locations, which will be analyzed by an academic research partner. The resulting dataset is expected to become one of the largest sources of real‑time heat‑stress data from apparel factories across countries, helping to inform scalable solutions to protect workers and improve climate resilience in global supply chains.
90 million
number of workers in the $1.7 trillion apparel industry
$ 65.8 billion
potential losses in just 4 countries analyzed if the industry does not adapt to rising heat
8.64 million
lower employment in the four countries analyzed without adaptation to heat and other climate shocks
Better Work at IFC invites firms to submit proposals to deploy sensor‑based solutions that measure heat stress in apparel manufacturing factories in Bangladesh and Cambodia. The selected firm will supply and support the installation of up to 500 heat‑stress sensors across participating factories in Bangladesh and Cambodia.
The objective of the initiative is to generate reliable, real‑time heat‑stress data over a 12–24 month period to better understand heat exposure across different factory areas and geographic locations. The selected firm will work closely with Better Work staff to support sensor installation and setup in appropriate factory locations and to train factory management teams in Bangladesh and Cambodia on the use and maintenance of the technology.
The firm will also be responsible for managing and securely storing the heat‑stress data collected by the sensors and for transferring the data to an academic research partner for analysis.
How to apply:
- Submit an application using the Apply button on these pages. (New companies who are not yet part of the TechEmerge database are asked to first create an account using the Sign In button.)
- Submit the proposal through the World Bank Group Procurement Portal.
- First, create a vendor profile using the WBG Vendor Registration Portal.
- Second, log in to the Procurement Portal.
- Search for Procurement No. 0002021975.
- Provide information requested, including the following criteria.
- Provide information on relevant experience in the supply and installation of heat stress sensors, or comparable environmental monitoring sensors, including experience in industrial or manufacturing environments.
- Provide information on the Firm’s operational and implementation capacity to deliver, install, and support the deployment of approximately 500+ sensors in apparel factories in Bangladesh and Cambodia, including coordination with and training of program staff and factory management.
- Provide information demonstrating technical capacity for continuous, real‑time heat stress data collection over a 12–24 month monitoring period, including non‑proprietary solutions that can operate beyond the contract term, as well as experience in managing data storage, data‑sharing, and ownership arrangements.
- Provide information on the Firm’s organizational capacity, including core business activities, years in operation, qualifications of key personnel, and ability to scale supply and deployment to additional factories and countries, if required.
Better Work – a collaboration between the United Nations’ International Labour Organization (ILO) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group – is a comprehensive programme bringing together all levels of the garment industry to improve working conditions, respect of workers’ labour rights and boost the competitiveness of apparel and footwear businesses.
Share with others
