A/HRC/36/40 most when social programmes are cut and care reverts to unpaid labour. Global Unions commend the IMF for supporting increased female labour force participation, for example in the 2016 Egypt programme, but caution that the failed model of austerity now being applied in the Middle East and North Africa will harm women and risks outweighing progress in participation. 12. Global Unions urge the IFIs to support public investment in social infrastructure, including health, education and care systems. Investing in the care economy in particular, would help to create jobs, raise productivity, reduce the burden of unpaid labour and catalyse economic growth.3 Responsible public investment is needed in this sector along with improved job quality for care workers in order to improve the attractiveness of jobs in the sector, address shortages in the supply of care services and ensure the accessibility and quality of these services. Expansion of social infrastructure will create new physical infrastructure projects and procurement that offer further economic benefits. Global Unions support investments in both physical and social infrastructure, and call on the IFIs to promote them in tandem. 13. Gender budgeting with the participation of social partners will also help achieve gender equality. In Iceland, where 86 per cent of the workforce is unionized, tripartite dialogue led to adoption of the Equal Pay Standard, a trailblazing initiative and global example. The core labour standards of collective bargaining and freedom of association give women effective tools to create safe workplaces free from violence, harassment, discrimination and health and safety risks. The full realization of these rights is central to gender equality. Financing a just transition to a sustainable global economy 14. A zero-carbon, zero-poverty future is possible through a coherent response to the social, economic and climate challenges facing our world. The influence and financial resources of the IFIs are necessary to reach this future through a just and equitable transition. The conversion to a sustainable economy can be a net creator of jobs, but the substantial economic changes involved could leave workers behind and create further inequality. The danger of unemployment, forced migration and rising energy costs loom over working people. 15. Sustainable infrastructure built in the coming years can form the backbone of a sustainable global economy involving better transport, agriculture, industry and more. Public investment in essential services — such as housing, electricity, sanitation and water — is also essential in order to enable individuals to fully participate in society as well as the labour market. Major climate change mitigation projects are also necessary. Global Unions urge the World Bank to take a leadership role in ensuring that global infrastructure is sustainably built, energy-efficient and creates quality jobs. The IMF and World Bank can assist countries in policy and fiscal planning for a just transition and the achievement of the Nationally Defined Commitments under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. Additionally, the IFIs can follow up on their research on carbon taxes as well as discussions held with trade unions and other parties and move toward implementation. Equitable carbon taxes can fund a just transition and investments in infrastructure. 16. The shocks of climate change, including rising sea levels and temperature changes, will increasingly displace people from their jobs and homes. This problem will particularly affect lower-income people in developing countries. Adequate, universal social protection is needed to help working people survive and adjust. Whenever possible, plans should be made to directly help fossil fuel workers transition to new jobs. This is especially important for communities with low levels of economic diversification that rely on a single facility or sector, where retooling facilities to sustainable activities is one way to create a direct path to jobs. Social dialogue is crucial to planning these changes at the local, national and international level. Global Unions ask the IFIs to support dialogue and the negotiation of binding agreements for sustainable economic transformation. 3 36 ITUC, Investing in the Care Economy, January 2017 and March 2016 (https://www.ituccsi.org/investing-in-the-care-economy).