This is no coincidence because this growth has to do with increased awareness of sustainability and environmental issues.
To get an idea of this growth, according to several reports, green employment may already account for about 6% of the total U.S. workforce. It is also projected to grow to 15% of the total U.S. workforce in the coming years.
What are green jobs?
Green jobs are not a new labor market invention. It is a concept that has been developing and growing for at least half a century.
It is true that in recent years, mainly in the last two decades, this growth has been exponential as tools such as the Paris Agreement targets, encourage the creation of new employment models.
Although there are many terms, in general, green jobs are explained as jobs through which one can contribute to the preservation or restoration of environmental quality.
Within green jobs, two main groups can be distinguished:
- Jobs oriented towards direct environmental preservation or restoration tasks. In this case, these are companies that work directly in a wide range of areas, that can include energy, environmental restoration, etc.
- Jobs in companies with sustainability policies. These are jobs that, although they are not companies directly related to the environment, apply sustainability and environmental preservation standards .
What distinguishes green jobs?
There is a long list of characteristics that mark green jobs. Some of the most relevant would be the following:
- Jobs that contribute to improving the value of efficiency in the use of energy and raw materials.
- Jobs in which the generation of waste or polluting elements must be reduced.
- Professional activities related to the protection and restoration of any ecosystem.
- Companies or jobs that limit greenhouse gas emissions.
- Companies or jobs that are aligned with climate change adaptation directives.
It is considered that the contribution of green jobs will be of growing importance in the global economy as a whole.
Among the sectors in which the growth of green jobs is being most appreciated, we can list the following:
- Agriculture: with a notable increase in organic farming techniques. In the U.S., the growth of the organic farming sector has been steadily increasing over the last decade to the point where it now accounts for a large share of the total agricultural production.
- Energy: with a growing presence of renewable energy supply.
- Transport: with the automotive sector racing towards the introduction of electric vehicles in the medium term.
- Other sectors where green jobs are also showing significant growth rates are tourism, innovation, and the industrial sector with policies increasingly oriented towards sustainability.