Green and decent jobs go hand in hand

It is a change that is beginning to seem just as inevitable as it is necessary. The transition away from “brown” or environmentally unfriendly production and consumption patterns to a greener and more sustainable economic model is already underway in many countries.

Global leaders at the United Nations last week looked at ways to manage the change which is expected to have considerable consequences for future trade and economic development as well as for the world of work.

The event marked the final session of the Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals, a UN body deliberating on a set of objectives to replace the expiring Millennium Development Goals that have driven the development agenda of the UN and many other organizations for more than a decade.

At the event, many participants spoke of a new era in environmental consciousness and of the need to change from antiquated concepts imbedded in industrial development to greener and sustainable methods that can be economic drivers, rather than impediments.

UN Special Representative and Director of the ILO’s Office for the United Nations, Jane Stewart, opened the discussions by outlining the most prominent opportunities and challenges that workers and businesses facing the transition ahead.

“The green economy is both knowledge and labour intensive. The opportunity for increasing jobs is there, but we also know there will be the destruction of jobs from other sectors,” Ms. Stewart said. “Making sure we understand labour market dynamics as we continue this transition is absolutely essential if we’re going to maximize the impact and make it a positive outcome."

Speaking on the experience of Indonesia, Endah Murningingtyas, Deputy Minister for Natural Resources and Environment, outlined several of the approaches her country is taking to provide rural populations with livelihoods as environmental stewards. She described the burgeoning biodiversity and cultural-based activities that are allowing many Indonesians to preserve their traditional way of life without foregoing much needed household income.

“It’s important that we create a green jobs framework that creates enablers, which nurture jobs today and promote future efforts to hasten our transition to a more sustainable economy,” said Ms. Murningingtyas. She added that the newly introduced green jobs were the first formalized employment held by participants, achieving a secondary objective of the government to reduce the size of the informal labour market.

The green transition also presents an attractive opportunity for many youth, according to Ms. Murningingtyas, who attracted to more environmentally friendly jobs such as those in information and communications technology.

Stephan Contius of Germany’s environment ministry said that while there would inevitably be winners and losers in what would be a truly structural change for many economies, the overall impact of the transition to greener production and consumption would be positive.

“An increasing number of assessments are showing that net job gains are possible—gains of roughly one-half to two percent, which would translate into at least 15 to 60 million additional jobs worldwide,” Contius estimated. “The creation of decent jobs and the move towards sustainability can go hand in hand.”

The economic sectors which are likely to see the most growth as a result of the transition are those linked to eco-toruism, the production of energy efficient structures and appliances, and sustainable waste management and recycling, according to the panelists.

Sérgio Rodrigues dos Santos, Minister Plenipotentiary of Brazil’s Mission to the UN said that while there was indeed a possibility of a net gain from this evolution, governments would need to make concerted efforts to realize this potential.

“Economic expansion and market forces cannot, in and of themselves, provide a solution,” stated Mr. dos Santos. “Countries need to put in place strong social, economic and environmental policies aimed at ensuring that development will be inclusive with effective income distribution, and access to basic public services.”

Mr. dos Santos spoke about his country’s social protection programmes that were intended to mitigate negative impacts felt as a result of the transition. Specifically, he mentioned Brazil’s “Bolsa Verde” program, which links income transfers to environmental conservation activities for individuals in extreme poverty in areas at risk of loss of biodiversity.

Elliot Harris, Director for the New York office of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), said that the environmental, social and economic objectives of those in the development community could be pursued congruently. “There is no false choice between employment creation and sustainable development,” declared Harris. He went on to say that newly created green jobs were likely to be more resilient than those in traditional sectors.

“In fact, green jobs are much less likely to be phased out as eventually, and inevitably, brown jobs will be,” he said.

The Open Working Group (OWG) on Sustainable Development Goals was established by the General Assembly to outline new development objectives that consider the economic, social and environmental dimensions of human activity. The ILO organizes regular side events with member states and other UN agencies to enrich the group’s discussions.