National Green Jobs Dialogue in South Africa.

The Department of Environmental Affairs, as the custodian of the Green Fund, jointly collaborated with the International Labour Organization (ILO) in hosting the National Green Jobs Dialogue on 09 April 2014, in Gauteng Province.
The main objectives of the Dialogue were:

• To present existing green jobs opportunities and challenges in the country, in relation to youth unemployment,
• To create a platform for sharing best international approach to green jobs concept and
• To contextualize the South African definition of Green Jobs.

Although, South Africa has a clear perspective on its approach to transitioning toward a Green economy, the approach to green jobs is still being explored during the dialogue, as best practices were deliberated on the event.
Insights were shared on how to create an enabling environment for green jobs, and the Green Jobs Report presented a short to medium to long-term road-map outlining substantial opportunities for the creation of sustainable employment through the introduction of new activities in primary, secondary and tertiary sectors.
The concept of Green Job has become a focus of policy debate and has been mainstreamed into the work of the United Nations and International Labour Organization (ILO). Though the discussion is on-going on the concept and definition, the ILO however, contextualized it within the framework of sustainable development- through demonstrating linkages between environment, the economy and society.