Environmental Jobs Impact: Good for Earth and Economy

Environmental Jobs Impact: Good for Earth and Economy
by: Elizabeth Nichols

According to the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) environmental jobs “reduce the environmental impact of enterprises and economic sectors ultimately to levels that are sustainable.” Furthermore, green jobs are defined as “work in agriculture industry services, and administration that contributes to preserving or restoring the quality of the environment.” However, categories of environmental jobs are as diverse as the biodiversity they serve.

The UNEP study goes on to state that universally green jobs are casual and most do not provide a living wage. Many of these low end green workers are, for example, scavengers who pick through trash to find recyclables to sell to other areas in various countries where below sustainable wage green jobs, in bio-fuels and construction where wages may be on a subsistence level or below. Therefore, the UN, labor unions, and many governmental agencies world-wide have made sustainability part of the definition of what constitutes an environmental or green job.

Collaboration between governments, private business, labor unions, community groups, and profession organizations etc., are crucial to create environmental jobs. Without such collaboration a strong foundation for the environmental economy cannot be built; informal jobs will continue to grow, but the growth of a sustainable environmental job will not. Additionally, the complexity of the factors that require the coordination may not always be fully understood therefore this needs to be a formal process.

It does help that “going green” has become good for the bottom line. Early on Ben & Jerry’s, Nike, SC Johnson, Johnson & Johnson, PG & E, Shaklee, Canon, and Unilever PLC adopted socially responsible policies and practices. Currently, it is not uncommon to find even local businesses touting their eco-friendly adaptations in advertising. Many grocery stores will give nickel/bag incentives for bringing in your own reusable bag and others may even charge you if they supply your grocery bag.

Awareness through education has also helped efforts to develop environmental jobs that contribute to a growing green economy. In 1970, Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin set April 22nd as the first Earth Day. That first celebration included an environmental “teach-in” that 25 million people participated in. Now, schools and communities around the globe organize lesson plans, activities, and festivals. Activities range from clean up the local park field trips to presidential campaign stops and speeches. Here again we can see obviously the informal jobs created, but it requires coordinated efforts to help develop sustainable green careers.

Investors are also looking to green technologies and its rapidly growing global market. Clean technology investment has increased by 50% from 2006 to 2007 (92.6 billion to 148.4 billion.) Areas such as renewable energy, energy efficiency, mass transit and green construction, all create and redeploy jobs. The investment that creation of these jobs requires is a miniscule part of the GDP of industrialized countries, and we are not yet close to getting this amount, but it is entirely attainable. Furthermore initiatives for green business do not take a lot of extra capital investment. They can be quick and easy to accomplish; paying for themselves in a short amount of time.

The future of environmental jobs is ours to create. Through collaboration, awareness, direction education, and economic development incentives, we can foster an environment in which green jobs are not only available, but highly desirable.

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