What are Green Jobs?
Green jobs are defined as those that contribute substantially to preserving or restoring environment.
Energy
Worldwide, renewable alternatives create more jobs per installed capacity per unit of power. In 2006 globally 300,000 were employed in manufacturing equipment for wind power, 170,000 for solar photo-voltaics, 600,000 for solar thermal and 1.2 million in biomass energy.
Industry
Recycling steel saves between 40% and 75% of energy compared to virgin steel. Greening potential for the steel industry is considered good with current job progress being fair and the long term outlook continuing in that vein.
Cement
Cement production produces 5% of the world’s greenhouse gases. The industry has been lowering emissions by 1% per year. New methods have created construction jobs in the short term but fewer and more highly skilled jobs are expected in the long term.
Pulp and Paper
Recycling is a key part of greening pulp and paper and recycling is the fastest growing source of green employment. To date green job progress has been fair for pulp and paper with long term green job potential considered to be good.
Transportation
Four areas have been identified in terms of greening impact on the transport industry. These are fuel-efficient cars, mass transit, rail and aviation.
Building
Building green buildings, retrofitting existing buildings, appliances, office equipment, ventilation, heating and cooling is called the “double dividend” because it two folds by lowering carbon emissions and creating jobs.
Food Agriculture
Areas identified for greening potential include small-scale sustainable farming, organic farming and environment services. Small-scale sustainable farming has excellent green potential and while green job progress to date has been negative, long term potential is excellent. Major initiatives to reduce food mile emissions include skills for more local growth and growing food in urban areas.
Forestry
Three areas of greening potential have been identified in the forestry industry, being reforestation/afforestation, Agroforestry and sustainable forestry management. Green job progress has been good and long term job potential is considered excellent. Disclaimer: Green jobs information provided by Western Research Institute October 2008
