A new report from the United Nations says efforts to curb global warming are resulting in the creation of millions of new jobs around the world. The same efforts however, also put many current jobs at risk. Both are signs of a slowly evolving, new global economy.
"Imagine for a moment if some of the stimulus packages that are now being developed could be targeted towards not maintaining and sustaining the old economy of the 20th century but investing in the new economy of the 21st century," said Achim Steiner, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme.
To say much of the world is experiencing something of a "green revolution" is an understatement. Older renewable energy technology that incorporates solar and wind power continues to grow and develop, and hydrogen fuel cells, turning waste to energy, and various forms of biofuels continue to sprout new companies at an astounding rate. Untill, or even if a few selected renewable sources dominate the market (like oil already has) the room for growth seems virtually limitless at this point.
The UN Report entitled, "Green Jobs: Towards Decent Work in a Sustainable Low-Carbon World," implies that the new greener economy will naturally evolve as the climate becomes warmer. Already workers in agriculture and tourism are experiencing difficulty, and more green jobs are likely to develop as the problem worsens. We are in a similar state as the computer explosion in the 1980s, and the startup internet businesses of the 90s, which are still continuing to expand. Only now the new opportunities are coming from fear of a bleak future.
The report highlights that in China, 600,000 people are already employed in solar thermal making and installing products such as solar water heaters. In South Africa, 25,000 previously unemployed people are now employed in conservation as part of the Working for Water initiative. Countries like Nigeria and India are also seeing exponential growth from emerging biofuels and biomass gas industries.
A greener economy isn't completely ideal at the moment, however. The report warns that current jobs available to the working poor are still scarce, as many of the technology fields require the most up-to-date college training. The jobs that are available, such as in recycling, are often low pay and expose workers to a great deal of hazardous, unhealthy materials.
International Labor Organization Director-General Juan Somavia said, "We need to make sure that green jobs are decent jobs. As the report makes clear, building a low-carbon economy is not only about technology or finances, it's about peoples and societies. It's about a cultural change to a greater environmental consciousness and opportunities for decent work."
"New jobs will be created, others adapted, and some will fade out," he added. "In order to keep the political will and the public support, we will have to put policies in place that have to focus from the beginning on those at the receiving end of this transition."
Just to give an illustration of how big the market is currently, and how rapidly it will grow, the report says environmental products and services will double from $1.37 trillion per year today to $2.47 trillion by 2020.
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