“Green Jobs: Towards Decent Work in a Sustainable, Low-Carbon World”
Real potential, formidable obstacles
The report Green Jobs: Towards Decent Work in a Sustainable, Low-Carbon World was launched on24 September 2008 in New York during a press conference with Achim Steiner, Executive Director, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP); Juan Somavia, Director General, International Labour Organization (ILO); Guy Ryder, Secretary General, International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), and RonnieL.Goldberg, Regional Vice President, International Organisation of Employers (IOE).
The report Green Jobs: Towards Decent Work in a Sustainable, Low-Carbon World was presented by Achim Steiner, Executive Director of UNEP, who noted that “action to tackle climate change and cope with its effects was needed urgently and should be designed to generate decent green jobs.”
“With the global market for environmental products and services projected to double from the present $1.37 billion per year to $2.74 billion by 2020, the report showed policymakers that, with the right incentives – as well as the proper research-and-development support programmes – massive economic sectors could potentially emerge”, according to Steiner.
One of the key messages of the report is that “employment that actually contributes to reducing our collective carbon footprint offers businesses and workers a tangible stake in a green economy. The pursuit of green jobs will likely be a key driver as the world sets out into the uncharted territory of building a low-carbon economy.
Globally around 300,000 workers are employed in wind power and more than 100,000 in solar photovoltaic. In China, the U.S. and Europe more than 600,000 are employed in solar thermal—by far most of them in China. Almost 1.2 million workers are estimated to be employed in biomass in just four leading countries, namely Brazil, the U.S., Germany and China. Overall, in countries where data are available, the number of people employed in renewables is presently around 2.3 million. Given the present gaps in information, this is no doubt a very conservative figure. Because of strong rising interest in energy alternatives, the possible total employment for renewables by 2030 is 20 million jobs, half of it in biofuels related agriculture.
Employment in renewables is driven by a more than six-fold increase in investment from 1998-2007, growing from $10 billion to $66 billion. By 2003, renewables accounted for about one-sixth of world investment in power generation facilities and equipment. Some estimate that investment could quadruple to $210 billion in 2016.
In the building sector and elsewhere in the economy, defining the energy efficiency sector is a vexing problem, since most of the relevant forms of employment are embedded in a broad range of existing industries such as vehicle manufacturing, construction, lighting, heating and cooling equipment, electronics, and appliances, etc. The overall transition to energy efficient buildings world-wide could lead to 10 million of new jobs, and green employment for over 110 million currently employed.
In agriculture and the food system, a green jobs scenario will require policy interventions to overcome a series of formidable obstacles that threatened livelihoods of small farmers; the energy and chemical inputs used in intensive farming; the expansion of certain plantation crops; the growth of intensive livestock systems as a result of rising meat consumption; the globalization of food and “food miles”; the rising market power of large retailers; and the problem of vast amounts of GHG-producing food waste in the developed world.
Investment to create green jobs is one side of the jobs coin; training and skill building is the other. Both are necessary to bring green employment to its full potential. Shortages of skilled labor could put the brakes on green expansion. Major shifts in employments patterns and skill profiles are expected. Active labor market policies and broad social protections are therefore essential to ensure a fair and just transition for workers and their communities. This must involve income protection as well as adequate retraining and educational opportunities and, where necessary, resources for relocation.
The real-world challenges to implementing Just Transition policies are formidable. At the global societal level, workers’ rights and decent work are a long way from being installed. These decent work and rights deficits often transmit down to the local level. Economic prosperity and employment depend in fundamental ways on a stable climate and healthy ecosystems. Without timely action, many jobs could be lost due to resource depletion, biodiversity loss, increasing natural disaster impacts, and other disruptions. Climate-proofing the economy will involve large-scale investment in new technologies, equipment, buildings, and infrastructure, representing a major stimulus for much-needed new employment as well as an opportunity for retaining and transforming existing jobs.
UN Photo/Ryan Brown
UN Photo/Ryan Brown 
UN Photo/Ryan Brown