What Is a Green Job?
You may have heard the term "green jobs", but are you sure you know what does it mean?
According to ILO (International Labour Organization), a green job is one that contributes to preserving or restoring the environment:
Green jobs help:
- Improve energy and raw materials efficiency
- Limit greenhouse gas emissions
- Minimize waste and pollution
- Protect and restore ecosystems
- Support adaptation to the effects of climate change
All jobs in the future will need to be green jobs to meet environmental targets.
According to a new report from the International Renewable Energy Agency, there are 10.3 million renewable energy jobs globally – a 5.3 % increase since 2017.
Over the next decade, we expect to see millions of new jobs created globally due to new climate policies and commitments. The International Labor Organization (ILO) estimates that 24 million jobs worldwide could be created by the green economy by 2030 alone.
What are the examples of green jobs?
- Agriculture - this category of green jobs include things like an urban, indoor farming, innovative way of producing nutrients, and new kinds of food. Green jobs that you may look for in agriculture may be in are bio-manufacturing, breeding, scientists, genome engineers, regulatory specialists, etc.
- Energy storage - with increasing usage of renewable energy sources there's also increased need for storing that energy. If you'd like to have a green job in energy storage, companies are looking for batteries engineers, R&D developers and managers, safety and, compliance engineers, etc.
- Carbon capture and climate tech - one of the ways to fight climate change is to capture an excessive amount of CO2 in our atmosphere. Few companies are working on that already and they need mechanical engineers, environment and safety positions, process and manufacturing engineers, and similar roles
- Renewable energy - as mentioned above about energy storage, energy production from renewable sources is growing every year and companies working in that industry are offering green jobs for lab managers, site operators, transmission engineers, mechanical engineers, electricians, and so on
- Transportation - with new developments in transportation, such as electric vehicles, electric planes, and hydrogen-based trains and buses, companies in this area are hiring for batteries related jobs, propulsion engineers, embedded software developers, certification engineers, aerospace and flight-related positions
- Green construction - as construction contributes to greenhouse emissions quite significantly, we need to invest more in concrete alternatives and innovate in the field of construction. There are companies in this area, that are working on 3D printed houses, bio-based materials, and new ways to construct buildings. They're looking for 3D print technicians, flooring and tiles installers, regulatory managers or technicians.
But all these categories also need managers, software developers, talent operations, facility managers, finance team, product people, etc. like any other company.
Why are green jobs important?
With the ongoing climate crisis, more and more people will need to adapt to a new reality. Moving away from fossil fuels, limiting mining, and shutting down some of the industries that contribute the most to the greenhouses emissions, we will have to provide jobs work people that are willing to make a change in their careers. As modern, less emissive industries will grow, and we will probably see disruption in more industries, combined with new inventions it may grow the market for green jobs quite significantly.
If you're looking for a change in your career, do not hesitate to check out available green jobs