G7 and ILO Push Decent Work Agenda to Protect Workers in 7 Major Economies

For HR and workforce leaders, the G7’s renewed decent work agenda underlines the growing expectation that companies ensure fair treatment across their entire supply chains—not just within their own operations. With the ILO’s forced labour toolkit now endorsed by the world’s largest economies, HR departments will face pressure to audit and verify labour practices in mineral sourcing, while also managing internal challenges like reskilling workers displaced by technological change.

The International Labour Organization (ILO) has thrown its weight behind a renewed push by G7 labour and employment ministers to advancing decent work standards globally, with a landmark agreement on a standards-based toolkit to combat forced labour in critical mineral supply chains. Announced at a ministerial meeting convened by France’s Labour and Solidarity Minister Jean-Pierre Farandou on the margins of the International Labour Conference in June 2026, the initiative comes as economies confront rapid technological change, workforce displacement, and escalating labour exploitation risks. ILO Director-General Gilbert Houngbo, addressing the G7 ministers and the European Commission’s executive vice-president, warned that labour markets are undergoing profound structural shifts. 'Economic transformation must go hand in hand with social justice,' he stated, framing the toolkit as a critical tool to align growth with worker protections. The agreement is particularly significant given the surging global demand for minerals essential to clean energy technologies, electric vehicles, and digital infrastructure—sectors where supply chains have been linked to forced and child labour. The toolkit provides a standardized methodology for identifying, assessing, and mitigating forced labour risks, offering a common framework that G7 governments can now integrate into national legislation, trade agreements, and corporate due diligence expectations.

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ILO Director-General Gilbert Houngbo, addressing the G7 ministers and the European Commission’s executive vice-president, warned that labour markets are undergoing profound structural shifts.

The backdrop to this diplomatic breakthrough is a series of regulatory trends that have been reshaping global supply chain accountability. Recent years have seen the EU pass its Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, which mandates human rights and environmental due diligence for large companies, while the United States has enforced import bans on goods linked to forced labour under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act. The G7’s adoption of an ILO-designed toolkit now adds a politically coordinated dimension, potentially harmonizing these disparate regimes and raising the bar for mandatory corporate compliance. For multinational corporations—especially those in automotive, electronics, and renewable energy sectors—the toolkit signals an impending tightening of legal obligations, with increased scrutiny of their mineral sourcing from regions such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Indonesia, and Latin America. Legal experts anticipate that the toolkit’s standards could be cited in future litigation, as well as inform trade enforcement actions, exposing companies to both reputational damage and financial penalties.