Transcript Slide 1

Green Jobs: A Double
Dividend?
Shaza Ghaleb Al Jondi (ILO RO-Beirut)
UNDP Arab Climate Resilience Initiative
Bahrain, 6-7 October 2010
Outline
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Why green jobs and what are they?
Are green jobs real or a myth?
Opportunities for green jobs
Examples
Regional perspective
Key recommendations
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The dual challenge
Two defining challenges of the
21st century:
1. Environment:
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Averting dangerous climate change and
Protecting the natural environment that supports
life on earth
2. Social challenge:
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Decent work for all,
Well-being and dignity for the excluded
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2nd Great transformation
‘Green growth’, ‘clean development’
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Pollution control
Fewer resources/output (eco-efficient)
No pollution and degradation (eco-effective)
Sustainable economies
Profound impact on enterprises and
workers
= Social effectiveness and sustainability?
Making MDG1 (poverty reduction) and MDG 7
(environmentally sustainable) mutually supportive
rather than conflicting
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Green Jobs Initiative
-The Green Jobs Initiative is a joint initiative launched in November 2007 by
UNEP, ILO, IOE and ITUC
The partners:
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Defining Green Jobs
“ Green Jobs are (decent) work created in
economic sectors and activities, which reduces
their environmental impact and adapts to climate
change, ultimately leading to environmentally
and socially sustainable enterprises and
economies”.
– Aims
Reduce consumption of energy and raw materials
(dematerialize economies)
– Avoid greenhouse gas emissions (decarbonize
economies )
– Minimize waste and pollution
– Protect and restore ecosystems
– Adapt to climate change
Towards a green economy: four
implications for employment
• First, in some cases, additional jobs will be created—as in the
manufacturing of pollution-control devices added to existing
production equipment.
• Second, some employment will be substituted—as in shifting from
fossil fuels to renewables, or from landfilling and waste incineration
to recycling.
• Third, certain jobs may be eliminated without direct replacement—
as when packaging materials are discouraged or banned and their
production is discontinued.
• Fourth, it would appear that many existing jobs (especially such as
plumbers, electricians, metal workers, and construction workers)
will simply be transformed and redefined as day-to-day skill sets,
work methods, and profiles are greened.
Green and Decent Jobs? A schematic Overview
Shades of green
Transport ‘light green’
• Significantly
below average
environmental
impact
• Evolving
• Eventually most
jobs greener
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Transport
‘a darker shade of green’
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Transport ‘dark green’
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Greening across economy
+ High potential sectors
 Energy efficiency: buildings, industry,
transport
 Renewable energy
 Mobility: mass transportation
 Recycling, waste management
 Sustainable agriculture and forestry
 Environmental services
Green Jobs in the Energy Sector: Now
and in the Future
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Renewable energy:
2.3 million jobs created (2006)
2030 estimates: more than 20 m jobs
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Energy efficiency:
Around 4 million direct green jobs based on improving energy efficiently exist
across the economy in the US and certain European countries.
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German Alliance for Work and the Environment (retrofitting apartments): created
25,000 jobs in 4 years and saved 116,000 existing ones (342,000 apartments)
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Greening the building industry in the European Union and the United States would
create at least 2 million jobs (3.5 million jobs using the European Trade Union
Confederation (ETUC) goal of a 75 percent reduction of carbon emissions by 2030).
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Transportation:
Fuel -efficient cars vs. public transport systems:
Fuel-efficient cars: 250,000 green jobs
5 million jobs in the railways in India, China, and the EU alone
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Estimated Employment in the Renewable Energy Sector, Selected
Countries and World, 2006
Renewable energy
2006 and 2030
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Job Projections from Energy-Efficiency Measures in the
Building Sector
Brazil :
Social housing, sustainable construction
‘My house-my life’ social
housing program (5/2009)
• 500,000 units energy savings
measures (solar water heaters)
• - 40% electricity bill
• - 18% peak demand
• + 18,000 jobs
Sustainable construction
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Rural Energy: Photovoltaic in Bangladesh
(Grameen Shakti)
Target: Installation of 1million systems and the creation of
100,000 jobs in renewable energy and related businesses by 2015
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Shortcoming and impediments for green jobs
• The creation of green jobs is advancing too slowly to
contribute substantially to the reduction of
unemployment and underemployment
• Transition for enterprises and workers who will be
adversely affected by the transformation
• Unsustainable business practices are still prevalent
and often remain more profitable (particularly in
absence of the right policies)
• Skills gaps (broad range)
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Conclusions
 Green, decent jobs are real
 Play a key role in a green economy
 Leapfrogging opportunity for developing
countries and emerging economies
 More and better jobs than ‘business as
usual’
 Major social benefits
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Conclusions 2
Green jobs can be:
• Systemic: e.g. energy efficiency, eco-tax
• Targeted: rural, local, poverty, low-skilled
• Green jobs creation not automatic:
Policy coherence:
 economy, energy, industry, environment
 employment, social development, human
resources
DW And Environmental Challenges in the Arab Region
Key Decent Work Challenges
Environmental Challenges
• Unemployment rate: 9.7% (world:
5.9%)
• One of the regions that will be
mostly affected by climate
change
• Lowest employment-to-population
ratio: 46% (world: 60.3%)
• Highest youth unemployment rate:
22.1% (world: 12.3%)
• Lowest labor force participation
rate: 50.9% compared to 64.1%
worldwide (females: 26.4%)
• Less than 30% of the population is
covered by pension schemes
• The informal economy represents
the greater proportion of the
employed and a significant portion
of the private sector employment
- drought
- sea level rise
- impact on agriculture
• Water scarcity (eight of the 10
most water-stressed countries in
the world)
• Desertification
• Pollution
• Energy security
Green Jobs: preliminary recommendations for
the Arab Region
1. Need to strengthen our knowledge base to be able to inform the decision-making
process
– Examples: research/assessment of employment implications of shifting
towards a green economy or greening specific sectors (net employment
gain/loss, types of jobs)
– Policy, economic, and employment implications of the energy efficient path
have to be assessed in an integrated manner.
2. Skills mapping and development
- Identifying the skills needed to make the shift and mapping of existing skills
- Developing a skills development strategy
3. Need to implement pilot projects in the field of renewable energy and improved
energy efficiency while keeping track of the jobs created and drawing on the
lessons learnt/success stories (e.g. assessing employment implications of existing
projects in the Maghreb region)
4.Need to implement targeted grass-roots programmes with a two-fold objective of
job creation (e.g rural employment)and sustainable livelihoods
5.Engage stakehplders in social dialogue
Some examples of ILO’s work on Green Jobs in
the Arab Region
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Green construction in Gaza using CEB (compressed earth blocks) and employing
local people (in collaboration with UNRWA and other partners)
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Green Jobs Assessment in Lebanon (industry, agriculture, waste management,
construction, energy) – a joint initiative with UNDP Lebanon
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Green Jobs Sensitization Workshop in Lebanon to introduce green jobs and
present/discuss findings of study (with a possibility of inviting other countries)
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Identification of quick-win pilot green jobs projects in South Lebanon for
implementation with seed money (planned)
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Implementation of pilot projects in Syria in the field of renewable energy for rural
employment– part of a UN MDGs Scaling up project (planned)
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Initial ideas in other countries (Yemen and Syria); and the UAE (in collaboration
with UNDP)
For more information:
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UNEP: http://www.unep.org/greeneconomy/
ITUC: www.ituc-csi.org/
IOE: www.ioe-emp.org/
ILO: www.ilo.org/greenjobs
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