New Professions in a ‘Green' Economy

The employment potential arising from the transition to a greener economy cannot be exploited unless new skills related to green jobs are developed, says a study by the ILO covering 21 countries, which together represent about 60 percent of the world population. 'Professional Skills for Green Jobs: A Look at the World Situation' is the most comprehensive analysis performed to date on the needs and challenges in the development of new skills which will be needed to achieve sustainable growth of the green economy .

The study notes that while the transition to greener economies offers great potential for job creation, the development of new skills will depend very much on the circumstances of each country - environmental challenges, political measures and regulatory framework. However, international policies and legislation are playing an increasingly important role and are driving changes in national policy.


Although it is expected that new employment opportunities arising from a green economy will offset the loss of jobs, the workers who will get the "green" jobs are not necessarily those who will have lost their jobs in so-called “brown” industry. The study suggests that retraining and upgrading of skills are urgently needed to achieve a harmonious and fair transition to a green economy and low carbon emissions.

The conclusion that emerges from the comparison between countries is that the continuous development of skills as part of a strategy for accelerating the green transformation of a national economy is still limited to isolated initiatives.

Source: International Labour Organization (ILO)

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