Green Jobs are essential for sustainable development

Theme:

• The importance of green economy & green jobs is increasing due to the rapid climate change and ever-increasing pollution levels.
• International Labour Organization (ILO) launched the ‘Green Jobs initiative‘ in 2009 to promote the creation of green jobs worldwide to establish environment-friendly economies throughout the world.

What is meant by a Green job:

• Green jobs are the paid employment opportunities that aim towards preserving and restoring environmental quality.
• Examples of green jobs are – environmental scientist, jobs in solar, wind and other clean energy industries, organic farming, green buildings construction etc.
• Green jobs are the key to sustainable development and to reduce the ecological footprint.
• Some green jobs are created to minimize the negative impact of the projects on the environment. For example, companies hire environmental engineers to assist them in avoiding environmental damage while implementing their projects.

Benefits of creating plenty of Green Jobs:

• Many people have the will to make the environment better. But until a few years ago working on preserving and restoring the environment is more of like charity and is affordable only by a few. But now, with the proliferation of green jobs, anyone with the necessary skills can get a paid job to improve environmental quality. This will help in the reversal of climate change and as a result, the earth will become a better place for future generations.
• Green jobs will promote sustainable development.
• Air, water and land pollution will be reduced.
• Decarbonises the world’s economy.
• Improving the efficiency of raw materials by reducing the wastage in the production process.
• Greenhouse gas emissions will be reduced.
• Waste minimisation.
• In the long-term, companies that avoid damage to the environment will incur fewer expenses.
• Companies that have green jobs will gain the trust of the public, which results in an increase in their brand value.

Opportunities:

• Jobs in the renewable energy sector, construction of eco-friendly buildings, organic farming, food industry, manufacturing, ecological tourism etc.
• Converting existing companies to eco-friendly companies will also create green jobs.
• Some products such as cloth bags are created to have a positive impact on the environment. But the production process may not be eco-friendly. Transforming the production process into green can create environment-friendly jobs.
• There are self-employment opportunities too such as selling zero waste products, recycled products and upcycled products etc.
• The circular economy can create plenty of green jobs.

Challenges of creating green jobs:

• Training a large workforce on the necessary skills is a big challenge. In the coming few years, companies may face a skilled workforce shortage for some jobs such as environmental engineers etc.
• The proliferation of green jobs results in the transition of the economy to the green economy. This may eliminate some jobs.

The present situation of green jobs worldwide:

• International Labour Organisation (ILO) launched the ‘Green Jobs initiative‘ in 2009 to promote the creation of green jobs throughout the world.
• Many developed countries are taking effective steps- the US through ‘Green New deal policy (2006)’, Australia through ‘Green plan‘ & South Korea are showing the path to the world in creating green jobs.

What more need to be done:

• Conducting awareness programs on Green jobs & Green economy.
• Encouraging and giving incentives to companies to create green jobs.
• Training youth on the necessary skills.
• Implementing the strict rules on ‘Environmental Impact Assessment’ will protect the environment and as a by-product, many green jobs will be created.

Conclusion:

There is a need to promote and create lots of green jobs to make the world a better place for future generations. It will also put pressure on the businesses to be responsible to the environment.