by Shane Henson — June 4, 2012—Working toward making the infrastructure of both buildings and cities more sustainable has been shown to be not just good the environment, but good for the economy as well. In fact, the transformation to a greener economy could generate 15 to 60 million additional jobs globally over the next two decades and lift tens of millions of workers out of poverty, according to a new report titled Working Towards Sustainable Development: Opportunities for Decent Work and Social Inclusion in a Green Economy, led by the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) Green Jobs Initiative.
The report—published almost four years after the first study by the Green Jobs Initiative—looks at the impact that the greening of the economy can have on employment, incomes and sustainable development in general.
At least half of the global workforce—the equivalent of 1.5 billion people—will reportedly be affected by the transition to a greener economy. While changes will be felt throughout the economy, eight key sectors are expected to play a central role and be mostly affected: agriculture, forestry, fishing, energy, resource-intensive manufacturing, recycling, building and transport.
Tens of millions of jobs have already been created by this transformation, says the ILO. For example, the renewable energy sector now employs close to five million workers, more than doubling the number of jobs from 2006-2010. Energy efficiency is another important source of green jobs, particularly in the construction industry, the sector hardest hit by the economic crisis.
In the United States, three million people are employed in environmental goods and services. In Spain, there are now more than a half million jobs in this sector. The report notes that women could be among the main beneficiaries of a greener, more socially inclusive economy, with better access to opportunities to jobs, for example, in renewable energy.
The Green Jobs Initiative is a partnership between the ILO, the United Nations Environment Programme, the International Organization of Employers, and the International Trade Union Congress. The Initiative was launched in order to promote opportunity, equity and just transitions, and to mobilize governments, employers and workers to engage in dialogue on coherent policies and effective programs leading to a green economy with green jobs and decent work for all.
