UN Report — Switching to a Green Economy Might Mean Millions of Jobs

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It is encouraging to learn about the push for green jobs. The United Nations is pushing to create green jobs around the world, even in the midst of continuing economic slumps, including in Europe and the United States.

In a recent Guardian story, the U.N. stated that tens of millions of new jobs can be created around the world in the next two decades – if green policies are put in place to switch the high-carbon economy to a low-carbon one.

According to a new report from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), up to 60 million jobs are a likely outcome. “The shift to a greener economy is creating employment across a range of sectors. In fact, an increasing number of assessments are showing that net gains are possible.”

Such a switch to a green economy, if successful, could also help to lift millions of people out of poverty in a sustainable way, while providing benefits such as electricity and clean water that other parts of the world consider as a standard.

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In the US, there are now about three million “green jobs,” in sectors such as wind power and energy efficiency, the study found. In the UK, the number is close to one million and has been one of the few areas of the economy that has been creating jobs. There are about 500,000 people working in green jobs in Spain. In the developing world, too, the number is growing rapidly – about 7% of people employed in Brazil, amounting to three million people, are now in the green economy.

However, according to the report, realizing the full potential of green jobs depends on countries taking action to develop the green economy and bringing in policies that foster investment.

Some of the sectors identified in the report as being most affected by the changes include: agriculture, forestry, fishing, energy, resource-intensive manufacturing, recycling, building, and transport.

Photo: Ashitakka