What are Green Jobs?
Green Jobs is defined according to UNEP as work in:
- Agricultural, manufacturing, research and development, administrative, and service activities that contribute substantially to preserving or restoring environmental quality. Specifically, but not exclusively, this includes jobs that help to protect ecosystems and biodiversity; reduce energy, materials, and water consumption through high efficiency strategies; de-carbonise the economy; and minimise or altogether avoid generation of all forms of waste and pollution.
- Greater efficiency in the use of energy, water, and materials is a core objective i.e. achieving the same economic output (and level of wellbeing) with far less material input.
- Green Jobs span a wide array of skills, educational backgrounds, and occupational profiles. They occur in:
- Research and development; professional fields such as engineering and architecture; project planning and management; auditing; administration, marketing, retail, and customer services; many traditional blue-collar areas such as plumbing or electrical wiring; science and academia, professional associations, and civil society organizations (advocacy and community organizations, etc.)
- Also green jobs exist not just in private business, but also in government offices (standard setting, policy-making, permitting, monitoring and enforcement, support programs, etc.),
- Not all green jobswill be new ones. Some green jobs are easily identifiable - such as people employed in installing a solar panel or operating a wind turbine. Others, particularly in supplier industries, may be far less so. For instance, a particular piece of specialty steel may be used to manufacture a wind turbine tower without the steel company employees even being aware of that fact. Thus, some jobs come with a clear “green badge,” whereas others - in traditional sectors of the economy - may not have an obvious green look and feel.
The Departments of Environmental Affairs in close collaboration with the key departments of Science and Technology, Trade and Industry and Economic Development of the Economic Sectors and Employment cluster hosted the first national Green Economy Summit from 18 to 20 May 2010 to gather valuable insights on key areas of focus areas and issues requiring attention in the short, medium and long term. This first South African National Green Economy Summit was addressed by the President, Ministers, Deputy Ministers, MECs, Parliamentary Committees Chairpersons, private sector, NGOs and labour organizations.
The participants noted the address by the President of the Republic of South Africa, Jacob Zuma where he highlighted that ecosystem failure will seriously compromise our ability to address our social and economic priorities. He further reiterated that natural resources are national economic assets, and our economy depends heavily on energy and mineral resources, biodiversity, agriculture, forestry, fishing and tourism. The president pointed out that we have no option but to manage our natural resources in a sustainable way. We have no choice but to be eco-friendly. We have no choice but to develop a green economy.
