Welcome Message to the Forum
Welcome to the online discussion forum on Skills for Green Jobs.
I am very happy to announce the topic for the discussion is "Skills needs for Green Jobs". In the Background Note we have shared ILO’s current ongoing research and implementation work on Green jobs and related skills needs and training needs, which we use as a starting point for consideration to kick start the discussion.
The objective of this discussion forum would be to discuss ongoing occupational changes, emerging skills requirements and shortages and assess the various responses from government, private sector and other stakeholders, which seek to ensure that workers have the adequate and right skills to be able to participate in a smooth transition towards a green economy.
There seems to be a common understanding that the shift towards a green economy will overall create more jobs. However, progress towards a green economy will entail shifts in the labour market with some sectors expanding quickly, while others would go through a thorough process of transformation or would slow down. Occupational changes are taking place in practically all sectors and occupations, both blue- and white-collar jobs. New and emerging occupations more often require higher-level qualifications and managerial skills, while changes in existing occupations happen more often at the low and medium-skill levels. Many existing jobs (e.g. as plumbers, electricians, metal workers, and construction workers) will be redefined as day-to-day skill sets, work methods, and profiles are ‘greened’.
Wide disparity exists between countries and economic sectors as well as in the speed with which this transition is taking place. There are indications that within the Asian Region, an increasing number of countries shifted towards economic and industrial policies that favour ‘greening’ and promote green jobs through various interventions such as programmes, incentives and legally binding policies and strategies. The current systemic shift however, often addresses the need for skills and employment policies only marginally. Further, there seems to be a major gap between policies and strategy and the effective implementation levels, which would finally change the economy and society. Skills gaps and shortages seem to be emerging serious challenges that might cause bottlenecks for growth in the near future. In many cases, as the ILO global report on skills for green jobs points out, skills gaps are currently mainly addressed at the enterprise level, while labour market and training institutions are not able to respond adequately to the emerging needs.
As indicated in the Background note, the discussion has two parts. Part I, for a period of 7 days, introduces the current debates on skills for green jobs, while Part 2, for a duration of 8 days, will be a more in-depth discussion on interest areas raised by the you forum members during part 1. The discussion will reflect on good practices, policy and multi stakeholder responses and how these can be adapted, scaled and replicated. Some matters to consider include:
Part I
Assessments of changing occupations and skills demand and gaps and policy responses
1. Keeping the context of your country in mind, what are and could be
a. the emerging sectors and occupations worldwide which have growth potential and are also green and decent? Are similar employment opportunities visible in emerging economies?
b. the current skills needs emerging from these new and changing occupations? What occupations require re-training or up-skilling?
c. the critical skills gaps and shortages identified in the studies and reports? Where do you see the biggest challenges, in the generic/core work skills or in the technical skills areas?
2. How have governments responded, through which interventions, policies, strategies and incentive mechanisms to successfully prepare the labour force shift towards a low-carbon economy? What were the skills and training responses? And what opportunities and challenges do you see in implementing the same?
3. How have governments and significant labour market institutions addressed the identified gaps and skills shortages, while ensuring that green skills and jobs remain or turn more decent? (sectoral, cross-sectoral, incentive mechanisms or area based planning etc.). Would you know of innovative interventions that are
a. driven by employers, trade unions and government or through social dialogue and integrated multi-stakeholder processes? What are the challenges that have been encountered and how can they be addressed? Can you identify some of these initiatives that you would consider a success or examples that should be better known?
b. particularly targeted at the most vulnerable section of society (eg, youth, low skilled and unemployed workers and workers from the informal economy)? You might want to share your opinion about what you expect to be the biggest challenges when it comes to outreach and effective implementation.
We look forward to a very interesting discussion!
Your facilitator Sandra Rothboeck
A few quick points
a. Can we have a 'list' of green jobs?
b. Can we create a facebook page where commenting and discussion is much easier than this forum - here we have to get to the URL, use a separate userid and pwd etc
c. Can we address one question at a time - short questions with short answers and comments
d. Such forums where 'crowd sourcing' is attempted tend to be short and quick in nature
e. Would we consider agricultural , horticultural, sericultural, animal husbandry etc as 'green jobs'?
There is no doubt or argument about the need for "green Jobs" or the changes in economies that demand green jobs.
What is of concern, especially in the developing world, is the priority of green jobs. The trick is to recognise the limitations imposed by the situation, and address them - whilst creating a greener economy.
Limitations.
Using a broad tool such as Mazlow's hierarchy of needs, we can see that many people who are struggling to meet their basic daily necessities will not focus on things green - unless it is vegetables. The physical environment in a country like Bangladesh could not be described as "going green", quite the opposite. But where there poverty drives the struggle for survival, such a situation is understandable, if undesireable.
Political will in greening jobs extends as far as the ballot box, even perhaps to a politician's self interest. This is apparent in the most advanced economies and in the poorest ones.
Business interest in green jobs can be summarised as "green Profit". A business's first loyalty is to it's shareholders and to maximise the shareholders return on investment.
Strategies.
Any strategy for "a job" must start from the basis of "demand" . Where there is no demand there will be job. Demand is not to be confused with "need". No-one argues that there is not a need for green jobs, but this is not always translated into a demand.
My argument here is that to focus on the supply of something, without having developed the market for it, can be ineffective. I therefore argue that we can paint anything "green" or make it "greener" but the effective application of a greener economy should be approached from an economic perspective, not a training one.
Rod Murray
Dhaka
Previously Rod Murray wrote:
There is no doubt or argument about the need for "green Jobs" or the changes in economies that demand green jobs.
What is of concern, especially in the developing world, is the priority of green jobs. The trick is to recognise the limitations imposed by the situation, and address them - whilst creating a greener economy.
Limitations.
Using a broad tool such as Mazlow's hierarchy of needs, we can see that many people who are struggling to meet their basic daily necessities will not focus on things green - unless it is vegetables. The physical environment in a country like Bangladesh could not be described as "going green", quite the opposite. But where there poverty drives the struggle for survival, such a situation is understandable, if undesireable.
Political will in greening jobs extends as far as the ballot box, even perhaps to a politician's self interest. This is apparent in the most advanced economies and in the poorest ones.
Business interest in green jobs can be summarised as "green Profit". A business's first loyalty is to it's shareholders and to maximise the shareholders return on investment.
Strategies.
Any strategy for "a job" must start from the basis of "demand" . Where there is no demand there will be job. Demand is not to be confused with "need". No-one argues that there is not a need for green jobs, but this is not always translated into a demand.
My argument here is that to focus on the supply of something, without having developed the market for it, can be ineffective. I therefore argue that we can paint anything "green" or make it "greener" but the effective application of a greener economy should be approached from an economic perspective, not a training one.
Rod Murray
Dhaka
Error - I meant to say "where there is no demand there will NOT be a job"
Rod Murray
In recent times, the call for "Green" has been advocated. What we as a global community should recognize is that this problem is far from a simple one and should be addressed in the most stringent manner.
In developing countries like ours, there has been a lackof proper strategic planning for climate change and the necessary tools that includes skilled human resources to tackle the continually escalating problem.
Govenrment's involvement
Yes, there are many green jobs that are presently available and many more that can be made available if the requisite policies and a proper method of mobilising the necessary procedures . I for one, saw many times the reluctance by both private and public enterprises in adopting many "green" practices because it was and still is not mandatory.
The creation of jobs in the emerging Green economy should not be just a case of providing employment but should be a subset of sustainable development nationally and internationally.
Current Limitations
The term "green" has been on the lips of many citizens in Trinidad and Tobago, but , do citizens really know what it means? If we as a people lack the proper knowledge of a concept how can we truly make invaluable contributions and ultimately create jobs?
Foe example, the need to feed our people has become increasingly important as the world population soars, but many persons growing our food even in this country lack the required skills to grow food without polluting the same water that we are to drink. Additionally, we should ask why are persons refusing to work in these conditions? Solutions include proper training in the requisite processes and alternative chemicals, because these persons can become green workers and employers.
Conclusively, it should be mandatorythat government and private enterprises increase investment, informing the populace and make a valiant effort to market "Green," in order make persons aware that there are possibilities in the growing sectorm and make
*corrected*
In recent times, the call for "Green" has been advocated. What we as a global community should recognize is that this problem is far from a simple one and should be addressed in the most stringent manner.
In developing countries like ours, there has been a lack of proper strategic planning for climate change and the necessary tools that includes skilled human resources to tackle the continually escalating problem.
Govenrment's involvement
Yes, there are many green jobs that are presently available and many more that can be made available if the requisite policies and a proper method of mobilising the necessary procedures . I for one, saw many times the reluctance by both private and public enterprises in adopting many "green" practices because it was and still is not mandatory.
The creation of jobs in the emerging Green economy should not be just a case of providing employment but should be a subset of sustainable development nationally and internationally.
Current Limitations
The term "green" has been on the lips of many citizens in Trinidad and Tobago, but , do citizens really know what it means? If we as a people lack the proper knowledge of a concept how can we truly make invaluable contributions and ultimately create jobs?
For example, the need to feed our people has become increasingly important as the world population soars, but many persons growing our food even in this country lack the required skills to grow food without polluting the same water that we are to drink. Additionally, we should ask why are persons refusing to work in these conditions? Solutions include proper training in the requisite processes and alternative chemicals, because these persons can become green workers and employers.
Conclusively, it should be mandatorythat government and private enterprises increase investment, informing the populace and make a valiant effort to market "Green," in order make persons aware that there are possibilities in the growing sector.
Dear participants, thank you for the good start and for your feedback and comments which already cover a wide spectrum of the current green jobs and skills for green jobs debate. Without any doubt, a forum with a limited time period will not be able to cover and fully address the needs and requirements currently indicated by many countries in the region. It is supposed to be a start for more continuous and in-depth debates within the region, during which experts and practitioners share their experiences and conceptual views on the topic. The purpose of this forum is to open the discussion to a broader spectrum of participants and make current research reports, debates and interventions accessible to practitioners, policy makers and obviously also ILO’s social partners such as employers, trade unions and labour ministries who are increasingly committed to build their capacities and take on a role as change agents too. The second part goes into more in-depth discussions on areas of interest, which will be proposed by the forum members.
The introduction is further meant to set a context, in which we suggested a structure for the first part of the discussion. The discussion therefore, would start with definitional aspects, and the concept of green jobs and occupations, how existing and newly emerging occupations seem to change and what consequences this has for skills and training. The ILO/UNEP Report on Green Jobs and ILO’s and CEDEFOP’s global and European reports on skills for green jobs provide useful consolidated findings and country specific information, quote case studies and data and clearly indicate that while new occupations emerge due to newly induced technologies (e.g. renewable energy), many sectors and industries are transforming, which results in occupations undergoing changes too. So, therefore, practically all sectors are affected. This is confirmed in the country studies, which I can only recommend to look at.
Regarding the definition of Green jobs: as rightly pointed out, the definition is still quite fuzzy and many countries are still grappling with their own definitions and categorizations what one should understand under green jobs and related skills requirements. Green jobs span a wide array of skills, educational backgrounds, and occupational profiles. This is especially true with regard to so-called indirect jobs—those in supplier industries. Even for new industries like wind and solar power, supply chains consist largely of very traditional industries. For instance, large amounts of steel are incorporated into a wind turbine tower.
The reports cited in the background note discuss broader conceptual areas and define green jobs as follows:
OECD Definitions: According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), “environmental protection consists of activities to measure, prevent, limit, minimize, or correct environmental damage to water, air, and soil, as well as problems related to waste, noise, and ecosystems. This includes activities, cleaner technologies, products, and services that reduce environmental risk and minimize pollution and resource use.”
The ILO/UNEP report (2008, see background note) extends its definition, while discussing in detail areas related overall sustainability and integrating decent work into a ‘green job’. Therefore, green jobs address environmental aspects:
· Address efficient use of energy and raw materials
· Limit Green House Gas emissions
· Minimize waste and pollution
· Protect and restore ecosystem
And social ones:
· Productive and gainful
· Freely chosen
· Recognizing rights at work
· Ensure a minimum of social protection
You might want to have a detailed look at the introduction and chapter on concepts and definition of green jobs in the ILO/UNEP report (2008).
List of green jobs: as we all know, preparing a comprehensive list of green occupations, of which some are newly emerging and many more are actually transforming is a tedious task that requires time. For new occupations to enter national and international lists of occupations takes time. Several countries have already started this process and added occupations (e.g. US, Spain, Korea, see Global Skills report p. 97). The ILO is currently preparing such a list, which will need to be validated and commonly agreed upon by the member states, as these newly emerging occupations will be added to the international standards of classifications. More commonly, there are occupations and related skills requirements, which are listed per sector, sub-sector (see ILO/UNEP report, Global skills report and specific country reports), which might be looked at.
Coming to the question, whether agriculture, horticulture, sericulture and animal husbandry are ‘green’ jobs, given the earlier discussion and the conceptual framework one works on, the answer is yes and no, as the potential is there for these jobs to be ‘green jobs’ but environmental as well as social aspects need to be addressed in many developing countries, so that these jobs can be promoted as green jobs. In fact, agriculture and forestry have been identified as promising sectors for public works interventions and crisis responses in many Asian countries (see for cases in Green Jobs report and Global Skills report), which are particularly relevant for developing countries too as potential drivers for productivity improvement and more sustainable development. Sericulture, similarly, keeping the sustainability and social realities of the sector in mind, would need strong interventions to transform. I invite you, forum members to raise your opinion and share some of your experiences on that aspect.
Strategy, policy and newly emerging paradigms on sustainability: Some contributions already touched policy, strategy and need for integrated inter-ministerial and multi-stakeholder planning, which is embedded into much broader system related changes that are required in society to fulfill the criteria of sustainability. These are indeed highly pertinent and which we should bring up soon again. The commitment from government and other stakeholders to address sustainability in a systemic and integrated way will be absolutely essential and I hope that particularly in the later part of this week and the second part of the forum discussions next week we can go deeper into this area.
I would like again to refer to the various reports, which share significant information on emerging sectors, employment opportunities and related skills gaps and needs that need to be addressed. Developing and often-agrarian countries see greening of existing industries as a priority, but even more importantly, identified opportunities for job creation in agriculture and forestation, construction and increasingly sustainable tourism.
I hope you agree that we will go more detailed into the first part of the questions posted yesterday: Keeping the context of your country in mind, what are and could be
a. the emerging sectors and occupations worldwide which have growth potential and are also green and decent? Are similar employment opportunities visible in emerging economies?
b. the current skills needs emerging from these new and changing occupations? What occupations require re-training or up-skilling?
c. the critical skills gaps and shortages identified in the studies and reports? Where do you see the biggest challenges, in the generic/core work skills or in the technical skills areas?
Warm regards and looking forward to your valuable contributions!
Sandra Rothboeck
Previously Sandra Rothboeck wrote:
Welcome to the online discussion forum on Skills for Green Jobs.
I am very happy to announce the topic for the discussion is "Skills needs for Green Jobs". In the Background Note we have shared ILO’s current ongoing research and implementation work on Green jobs and related skills needs and training needs, which we use as a starting point for consideration to kick start the discussion.
The objective of this discussion forum would be to discuss ongoing occupational changes, emerging skills requirements and shortages and assess the various responses from government, private sector and other stakeholders, which seek to ensure that workers have the adequate and right skills to be able to participate in a smooth transition towards a green economy.
There seems to be a common understanding that the shift towards a green economy will overall create more jobs. However, progress towards a green economy will entail shifts in the labour market with some sectors expanding quickly, while others would go through a thorough process of transformation or would slow down. Occupational changes are taking place in practically all sectors and occupations, both blue- and white-collar jobs. New and emerging occupations more often require higher-level qualifications and managerial skills, while changes in existing occupations happen more often at the low and medium-skill levels. Many existing jobs (e.g. as plumbers, electricians, metal workers, and construction workers) will be redefined as day-to-day skill sets, work methods, and profiles are ‘greened’.
Wide disparity exists between countries and economic sectors as well as in the speed with which this transition is taking place. There are indications that within the Asian Region, an increasing number of countries shifted towards economic and industrial policies that favour ‘greening’ and promote green jobs through various interventions such as programmes, incentives and legally binding policies and strategies. The current systemic shift however, often addresses the need for skills and employment policies only marginally. Further, there seems to be a major gap between policies and strategy and the effective implementation levels, which would finally change the economy and society. Skills gaps and shortages seem to be emerging serious challenges that might cause bottlenecks for growth in the near future. In many cases, as the ILO global report on skills for green jobs points out, skills gaps are currently mainly addressed at the enterprise level, while labour market and training institutions are not able to respond adequately to the emerging needs.
As indicated in the Background note, the discussion has two parts. Part I, for a period of 7 days, introduces the current debates on skills for green jobs, while Part 2, for a duration of 8 days, will be a more in-depth discussion on interest areas raised by the you forum members during part 1. The discussion will reflect on good practices, policy and multi stakeholder responses and how these can be adapted, scaled and replicated. Some matters to consider include:
Part I
Assessments of changing occupations and skills demand and gaps and policy responses
1. Keeping the context of your country in mind, what are and could be
a. the emerging sectors and occupations worldwide which have growth potential and are also green and decent? Are similar employment opportunities visible in emerging economies?
b. the current skills needs emerging from these new and changing occupations? What occupations require re-training or up-skilling?
c. the critical skills gaps and shortages identified in the studies and reports? Where do you see the biggest challenges, in the generic/core work skills or in the technical skills areas?
2. How have governments responded, through which interventions, policies, strategies and incentive mechanisms to successfully prepare the labour force shift towards a low-carbon economy? What were the skills and training responses? And what opportunities and challenges do you see in implementing the same?
3. How have governments and significant labour market institutions addressed the identified gaps and skills shortages, while ensuring that green skills and jobs remain or turn more decent? (sectoral, cross-sectoral, incentive mechanisms or area based planning etc.). Would you know of innovative interventions that are
a. driven by employers, trade unions and government or through social dialogue and integrated multi-stakeholder processes? What are the challenges that have been encountered and how can they be addressed? Can you identify some of these initiatives that you would consider a success or examples that should be better known?
b. particularly targeted at the most vulnerable section of society (eg, youth, low skilled and unemployed workers and workers from the informal economy)? You might want to share your opinion about what you expect to be the biggest challenges when it comes to outreach and effective implementation.
We look forward to a very interesting discussion!
Your facilitator Sandra Rothboeck
Hello, let me contribute also to this debate on definitions;
there are alerady some very concrete questions and points raised.
1. is there a list of Green Jobs. I agree with the moderator that there are currently no international/ILO list of green jobs, although there is a growing consensus today of what green jobs are. ILO is currently working on such a list of green jobs which could be shared shortly but that could only be considered a working list.
Consensus is being built up around the fact that Green Jobs contribute to improving ALL aspects of environmental performance. So not only pollution control, but also low carbon development, protecting biodiversity and ecosystems, and adapting to climate change. A worker planting mangroves to protect low-lying land frm sea invasion because of sea-level rise has a green job.
Second, green jobs are quality jobs (decent work). So jobs which look 'green' because they are found in environment-related activities such as recycling, forestry, agriculture, are NOT necessarily Green Jobs on the basis that these jobs do not comply with minimum labour standards and working conditions. Exampels include workers in the ship-breaking industry, in the electronic waste business, when these are working under sub-standard conditions;
Third, from an economic point of view, green jobs are associated to the employment that produces 'green products and green services', or alternatively related to eco-activities. Most developed countries are now working on that basis, but with differences in lsitng these services and products, in the margins. Examples of rgeen products include the production of water-efficient valves to be used in the green building industry, equipment in the renewable energy sector, certified wood products or organic food, etc. Green services include R&D, information/training, education, enforcement, but also consulting, or retailing of gren products. For example, it has been amazing to observe the surge of eco-shops in countries like Philippines or China and people taking pride of saying they consider themselves 'green jobs' because they sell green products exclusively. IN California, green jobs are associated directly to the green technology value chain.
2. So on the question whether agriculture, sericulture and other environment related jobs are actually green jobs, I agree with the moderator. Answer is yes and no. Because it depends on how you produce (agriculture can be water intensive, polluting, etc) despite the fact that jobs are directly related to natural resource management. That is the reason why the business of organically, water efficient, grown flowers from some African countries (Kenya, Zambia) find a market ni developed european countries, because these flowers are considered 'green' as opposed to other flowers.
3. What is interesting is that, while Green Jobs definition by the international community (ILO, UNEP, ITUC, IOE, etc) would sit on the two pillars of social/labour and environmental sustainability, it is worth noting that there has been a trend in recent years in the development of voluntary instruments and codes which aim is to help assess the performance of economic activities by covering these two dimensions together. The 'sustainability standards' covering both labour and environmental dimension (and someties the economic one as well) have in fact preceeded the emergence of the notion of green jobs., not the other way round. I think Green Jobs is then trying to capture that evolution n the thinking that is also well illustrated in the CSR movement that compliance to labour standards does not come anymore independently from enforcement of the environemntal standards (or vice versa). Examples are these voluntary codes launched by NGOs, technical institutions, industry branches or associations, etc. that feel the need tfor international/national tools to help distinguish what is 'sustainable' from what is not (for all kinds of reasons including comercial) on free trade, food production, wood products, the manufacturing of energy efficient appliances, etc. . The trend is also to use ILO labour standards (including the 8 core labor standards) to cover the social part.
4. On the question whether you can have green jobs in absence of demand, this is of course not the case, as for anything else. It might be difficult to create demand for organic food in low income countries such as in Bangladesh, but you may encounter the conditions for major investments in public transport systems in urban areas that by nature, will contribute to the environment (as opposed to individual transport) and will create large numbers of green jobs. In Bangladesh, the fact that cement can be produced with sand coming from the river banks is already creating a huge problem (or erosion). This is well acknowledged by tthe sector and there is today a real market for sandy bags, certified or so, not coming from the river banks. This product, in the national context of Bangladesh ought to be considered a green product. As a qick conclusion there is an iportant national dimension that ought to be given to the development of green jobs policies but I argee with Rod that going green will be very challenging in contries where making a living is a daily struggle, despite the fact that people there are not less environmentally conscious than in more developed countries (much the contrary).
Country: Trinidad and Tobago
Currently in Trinidad and Tobago there have been initiatives by the government to improve environmental management and conservation. For example, in the past year policies have been approved that focuses on national climate change, forest and protected areas, developing a national integrated waste management policy and the greening of the major bus route to promote reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in the transportation sector.
Also in 2011, The Environmental Management Authority (who has the mandate to draft and enact environmental policies) hosted the Green Business Forum. This forum focused on moving Trinidad and Tobago towards a ‘green’ economy and how the various policies would affect the budget and strategic planning of the government. They have also begun a ‘Green Business Register’, which is a database of all business that follow proper and efficient environmental procedures.
As a result of these environmental initiatives by the government, there is a move to concentrate on environmental management and green jobs. The implementation of those policies will require skilled persons in environmental science, engineering and management fields. Also, environmental management modules need to be fully integrated into technical and vocational programmes, for students and institutions to be aware of best environmental practices.
However a major problem that the country faces is that there aren’t proper systems for enforcement of policies and laws. For instance, the only body that ensures that environmental legislation is enacted is the Environmental Police Unit by appointment of the Commissioner of Police. Currently, the only offences dealt with by them fall under the ambit of the Litter Act and the Motor Vehicles and Road Traffic Act. Once this system can be improved, this will help the ‘green’ economical goal.
Pleasant Day Colleagues, in addition to my colleagues discussion I will also add that the Government of Trinidad and Tobago has highlighted key sectors and industries that are earmarked for development as well as other key sectors/industries. These include: Fish and Fish Processing, Light Manufacturing, Tourism and Hospitality, Manufacturing, Agriculture, Energy, Yachting, Merchant Marine, Creative Industries, Printing and Packaging, Education, Health and Food and Beverage.
ENERGY
Trinidad and Tobago’s economy is heavily reliant on its hydrocarbon reserves. However, due to the decline of our nation’s hydrocarbon resources and the current global trends pointing to alternative sources of energy. Our country’s Ministry of Energy and Energy Affairs has started energy consultations themed “Re-fueling T&T’s Economic Engine: A New Policy for Energy 2011-2015.” The Ministry aims to involve citizens in the redesign and reenergizing of the current energy sector.
In addition to energy consultations there has been a newly established Renewable Energy Framework. This framework aims to ultimately create sustainable development and energy security as we like our global community grapple with climate change, unemployment, and financial instability.
GROWTH POTENTIAL
Employment opportunities exist in almost all sectors. Skilled labour continues to be a key requirement by employers but the case of supply surpassing demand in some occupational areas exists, in a society where many Technical and Vocational jobs are deemed to be suited for proletariats. Additionally, low wages and unfavourable conditions also affect persons from accepting or pursuing particular occupations.
Apart from this social issue, many Technical and Vocational jobs as well as the conventional ones, require retraining in modern techniques, energy conservation products and procedures, procurement and life skills. In all life skills, social outlook, low wages, and benefits seem to be the main deterrents for entry in many areas.
In addition to the energy initiatives, there are incentives for use of solar equipment as well as courses for use of these equipments and the impact of usage. In terms of wages, there has been some agreement to aid Farmers in compensating their employees. The certification of skilled workers in technical and vocational areas, through the government’s Prior Learning, Assessment, and Recognition (PLAR) initiative has been recently launched. This is in addition to the increase in the number of centres for technical and vocational training.
In summary, the nation currently has shortages in the necessary skills for satisfying the various sectors’ demand. Various initiatives have been implemented with some being proposed. What is necessary now is a coordinated effort to train persons in the various disciplines making “green” a mandatory part of the curricula. Having the masses informed of the training and employment gaps will also allow them to make more informed decisions on their course of study as well as the areas where employment exists.
Francis Felician
dear moderator,
I understand the first questions were about the definition of green jobs. We have had an exchange of ideas on this, including the last one from Gorm. ILO will release soon a working paper on this that will capture the main elements of this discussion on definition and measurements.
I will now try to address your question 1.a on the emerging green sectors with a growth potential without going into the discussion on skills yet. Context wise, the on-going social and economic crisis has not been conducive to the creation of many jobs, whether they are 'green' or not. This being said, I believe the medium-term trends could be highlighted as follows.
Firstly, it is worth noting that the green stimulus packages that were launched in 2008-2009, in the countries having the fiscal space to do so, tried to link green investments and policies with job creation targets, which is something to be underlined. Such sectors and activities as reforestation, river management, public transport systems were particularly promoted. Philippines even invested in bicycle lanes (youth employment component), China invested a lot into water management and waste water management, which brings strong multiple benefits in terms of employment, economic development (1 dollar invested in water management generates 4 USD in the economy according to a US study) and, public health. Public investments in collective assets and infrastructure remains an important driver for the expansion of environmentally friendly economic activities with decent jobs.
Secondly, it must be recognized that adaptation to the adverse impacts of climate change will be an increasing factor of job creation in the coming years (there is some connection here with the point made above). The A&P region is particularly exposed to extreme weather events as demonstrated by statistics. A land-mark report by the Intergovernmental Report on Climate Change (IPCC) will actually be released today on this matter and will shed some lights on what to be expected (prepare only for increases in the numbers and intensity of these events n the coming years). This means that more will need to be done to protect low-lying aeras, exposed megapolis such as Shanghai, Mumbai, Bangkok, Jakarta and others, and in controling the water flows, preventing erosion and floods. These should create large number of jobs. The experience in Bangladesh in the last 25 years is that this can be considered the main source of funding in sustainable development related programs with many jobs created. In addition, because those are largely public programs, the jobs created are relatively decent, quality jobs. A 2010 ILO/GHK study in bangladesh showed that most 'green' jobs were found in claimte adaptation programs in Bangladesh.
On the private sector side, some sectors are known for having strong prospects over the medium term. These include sustainable tourism. The world summit on tourism in Ventiane in 2009 estimated that by the mid 2010s', 25% of tourism in A&P will be green. This is huge, as reflected in the growth rates that countries like Cambodia, Mongolia, etc have seen recently. This relates mainly to new job creation . It requires though that governments develop long term policies, with investments in infrastructure and the capacity to ensure the sector can be and remain green.
Also globally expanding is the green food production, including banana, coffee, tea, cocoa, etc. A recent UNCTAD (Oct 2010) study showed that these sectors are absolutely booming with annual growth rates of several hundreds % per year, albeit starting from tiny market shares. The Asia & Pacific region, strangely enough, is lagging behind in this particular area as demonstrated in this report despite increasing demand in medium income countries like China, Indonesia, Thailand and others. The rgowth in this sector will relate to job ceration and job transformation, though. The problem also here is of value chain development when locally produced organic food (for example in Thailand) don't find their place in local supermarkets.
The renewable energy sector has a huge potential for decent work creation but the expansion of it much depends on national specificities (new green jobs). Not every country should see the solar panel or wind mill based energy supply surge. Other more affordable, labour intensive options such as biomass, biogas, energy efficiency are to be exploited fully. Often, it is heard that these options are not economically viable if not subsidized. What is often not said is the fact that oil, gasoline and diesel are so heaviliy subsidized that it prevents the emergence of alternative options. Until the question of these 'perverse' subsidies is not properly addressed (in many countries governments can fall when they try to remove them and such plans require supportive measuers and 'stabilizers' for low income households), the impact in creating green jobs will remain marginal.
I would like to mention also the retroffiting of the existing built stock, which yields the propect of huge potential for job creation (new green jobs) and energy savings, in particular in temperate climates. Progress in this area is rather slow but real in countries like China, Mongolia. There are very specific problems in promoting these that are inherent to the building sector.
The waste manaegment and recycling sector has a huge potential too. The issue here is lack of investments (Indonesia, Philippines are critical examples) and severe issues related to sub-standard working conditions. Unless policies are put in place to both promote recycling and an improvement in the way waste is recycled, in particular through simple management measures as well as the introduction of green technologies, more jobs in this sector will mean more undecent jobs. There is an urgent need, and role, for an integration of environment and social policies in this particular area.
Further to my post on "definition of green jobs", "list of green jobs", I understand ILO is bringing out a doc on the above. To share my thoughts on the specific queries
a. the emerging sectors and occupations worldwide which have growth potential and are also green and decent? Are similar employment opportunities visible in emerging economies?
As far as emerging economies are concerned, if there is a precedent, they will blindly ape that. The difference being just that they will adopt the latest available technology in that sector. The best example is the mobile telephony sector in India. From no telephone to 1 billion connections the adoption rate has been rather steep. It has created new employment opportunities, new skills, new business models and even new features for the service (missed call!). I would also call it a 'green sector' because it offers an alternative to travelling.
b. the current skills needs emerging from these new and changing occupations? What occupations require re-training or up-skilling?
Primarily the shift in skills
From agricultural economy to industrial economy was from using 'labour and manual skills' to 'labour and machine skills'.
From industrial economy to service economy it was a shift from 'labour and machine skills' to 'labour and management skills - managing customers, employees, resources'.
From service economy to knowledge economy the shift is likely to be from 'labour and management skills' to 'labour and information skills'
Concern for environment and creation of green occupations will benefit largely from the awareness generated by the knowledge economy
c. the critical skills gaps and shortages identified in the studies and reports? Where do you see the biggest challenges, in the generic/core work skills or in the technical skills areas?
From the response to point b above, the critical skill gaps appear to be moving towards basic literacy and education as the biggest challenges. Primary, secondary and higher education appear to be basic requisites for success in the knowledge economy. The agricultural, industrial and service economies could absorb people without formal education, but for the knowledge economy, education is a basic prerequisite.
While awaiting the ILO document on definition of green jobs, I would like to suggest the following criteria for identifying green jobs
i. Any job that reduces 'carbon footprint'
ii. Any job that earns 'carbon credits'
iii. Any job that has zero effect on climate change
1v. Any job that reduces climate change
v. Any job that enables 'carbon trading'
vi. Any job that is generated through CDM (clean development mechanism)
In closing, I would like to request that we avoid duplicate posts in this forum as it takes more time to read the other posts.
Thank you for your valuable contributions. The current debate on defining green jobs will will probably not end with the current discussion forum. The suggestions to bring in measurable indicators related to carbon credits and footprints or other tools that measure impact on green job creation might be explored and taken forward in other discussion fora. Currently, the ILO is pilot testing fairly complex tools that assess the expected employment impacts (also in the case of green jobs) if sub-sectoral investments are made (DYSAM method, currently tested in Indonesia http://www.ilo.org/jakarta/info/WCMS_125693/lang--en/index.htm). Such data rich models pose a challenge particularly in developing countries given the lack of strong labour market information and regularly updated data. As it was pointed out in many of the country reports, employment and skills needs anticipation are difficult without strong labour market institutions. This poses a challenge currently faced by many Asian countries. I would like to invite additional contributions from the forum to discuss these aspects.
First private sector responses have been contributed by Gorm and certainly invite more discussion. Private sector responses have often been driven by market and clients interests but are increasingly a result of effective environmental policies too. The critical part for this discussion forum will be to see how such private initiatives, where greening the industry is a part of the entire system change, as it goes hand in hand with training, technology improvement and organizational change, can be scald and what role government, trade unions and employer’s associations could place to facilitate such changes more broadly within their member base.
When it comes to the question whether developing countries should prioritise investments into primary and secondary education to reduce skills gaps, I would like to invite the forum to share their views to this pertinent question. The current debate on universal primary, secondary education is certainly not put into question, however, from a skills and training perspective point of view, it is critical to integrate employability, life and core work skills, so that effectiveness and relevance of education and training are well addressed. This is particularly challenging in countries with growing youth unemployment and a large informal economy, where the majority of the workforce are either trained informally or by an often outdated training system. Mainstreaming generic green skills, such as environmental education, regulations and other relevant areas, has been practiced for years in many industrialized countries (e.g. Germany) and is being prioritized for the future by others (e.g. Estonia). These lessons learned might be valuable for the members to reflect upon, where and how limited resources might have the biggest impact and influence the competency levels of the next generation.
I found the following interesting link on definition and measurement of green jobs from the US Bureau of labor statistics http://www.bls.gov/green/
The Economist has also published an article 'The Enigma of Green jobs' http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2011/10/job-creation
And Time's article 'What is a green-collar job exactly?' http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1809506,00.html
Many thanks to the facilitator, Sandra Rothboeck, and everyone who has contributed to online discussion forum. We would like to share with you some information about the Australian Government approach on this issue.
This information was compiled by the Australian Government Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, and AusAID.
The Australian Government is implementing policies that will support the transition to a sustainable, low-carbon economy. The transition will mean an increase in the demand for new skills, particularly skills for sustainability, and an enhancement of existing skills, knowledge and practices.
‘Skills for sustainability’ are the technical skills, knowledge, values and attitudes needed in the workforce to develop and support sustainable social, economic and environmental outcomes in business, industry and the community. The Australian Government’s focus on skills for sustainability recognises the critical importance of education, training and skills development in creating an innovation culture and building capability to drive green growth, sustainable development and a just transition to a low carbon economy.
A number of policies and initiatives have been put in place to facilitate the development of the skilled and qualified workforce that Australia will need to sustainably grow its economy.
One key example is the Green Skills Agreement, which was endorsed by the Australian, state and territory governments in late 2009. The Agreement is a statement of commitment to work collaboratively with employer and employee representatives, the vocational education and training sector (VET) and community organisations to ensure that training in skills for sustainability is an integral part of the national VET system and is relevant to the needs of industry.
Major achievements under the Agreement to date, include the embedding of skills for sustainability in all relevant Training Packages; the development of a new sustainable practice skill set to underpin professional development for VET practitioners; and the undertaking of pilot projects to identify new green opportunities for vulnerable workers in regions that may be affected as Australia transitions to a cleaner economy.
Additionally, through its commitment to ensure Australia secures a clean energy future, the Australian Government announced the Clean Energy and Other Skills package in July this year, which will provide training opportunities for both professionals and tradespeople to upskill in energy efficiency and clean energy skills, so that the workforce is prepared to take up the opportunities afforded by the transition to a cleaner, greener future.
At an international level, Australia supports the green growth agenda, and specifically, the ILO’s Green Jobs Agenda. Under the Australian Government – ILO Partnership Agreement 2010-2015, the Australian Government has committed to providing funding for two years for the Green Jobs in Asia project. The project promotes the development of green jobs in countries including Bangladesh, Indonesia, Nepal, Philippines and Sri Lanka. It seeks to assist countries to achieve sustainable development through decent work.
More generally, the Australian Government is supporting the transition to sustainable low-carbon development that will have varying impacts across different economic sectors and trigger significant shifts in the labour markets, creating strong demand for new skills and re-skilling programs. A focus of Australia’s international development programs is vocational training that can bring youth, women, and unemployed populations into the formal sector.
Dear Natalie,
many thanks for your comprehensive response which covers many of the critical aspects currently addressed in this forum. Australia, as you are describing, has induced policy changes at many levels to address the transition into a low-carbon society, which is reflected in national, international and localised strategies and programmes.
You also clearly point out the need for collaboration between multiple stakeholders such as training providers, employers and trade unions and civil society, which have led to effective initiatives.
Would you be able to share some of Australia's experiences more in detail how the Green Skills Agreement came into place, who the main drivers are and were and how it was possible to take it from national to regional/local level of implementation?
I would also like the forum members to ask some questions.
Warm regards Sandra
Dear all:
Interesting contributions indeed. In relation with this last thought of Sandra I want to add some ideas
Environmental imperatives call for the integration of environmental sustainability into all aspects of TVET (Training and Vocational Education and Training). This will involve designing programmes and courses that:
- Develop an understanding of a range of environmental concepts;
- Encourage reflection on the effects of personal attitudes, values and lifestyle choice; and
- Promote skills for critical thinking and practical action.
And in relation with skills
The critical thinking and practical skills to be enhanced to promote environmental
sustainability include those of:
- Applying concepts related to environmental sustainability to the workplace;
- Evaluating the sustainability of the work environment;
- Identifying the environmental strengths of the work environment as well as areas in which change may be desirable and possible;
- Envisioning alternative ways of working and evaluating alternative possibilitiesfor action; and
- Negotiating and justifying desirable changes with work colleagues and supervisors.
( Work, Learning and Sustainable DevelopmentOpportunities and Challenges. John Fein, Rupert Mclean, and Man-Gon park This book is a legacy of the Bonn Declaration. The key outcome of the International Conference on Work, Citizenship and Sustainability which was held in Bonn, Germany, in October 2004)
About Evaluation of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), Environmental Education (EE) programs
Thus Daniella Tilbury says in Education for Sustainable Development. An Expert Review of Processes and Learning:
http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0019/001914/191442e.pdf)
One critical lesson learnt through the review process is that it is difficult to access data on ESD processes and learning opportunities as these are rarely documented in sufficient detail in the literature. There is an abundance of information available about the specific objectives and outcomes of projects, but a noticeable lack of data to show how these objectives and outcomes are achieved.
Often learning is interpreted as the gaining of knowledge, values and theories related to sustainable development but, as this review indicates, that ESD learning also refers to:
- Learning to ask critical questions;
- Learning to clarify one’s own values;
- Learning to envision more positive and sustainable futures;
- Learning to think systemically;
- Learning to respond through applied learning; and,
- Learning to explore the dialectic between tradition and innovation.
The Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) Lens has been prepared to
support UN Member States to respond to these challenges through implementation of the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD, 2005- 2014). The ESD Lens supports the goals of the DESD, and encourages policy-makers and practitioners in Member States to initiate the process of re-orienting education, particularly the formal education system, towards sustainable development ( Education for Sustainable Development Lens:
A Policy and Practice Review Tool JOHN FEIN
http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0019/001908/190898e.pdf )
How can education policies, curriculum and other support processes sufficiently integrate the principles of Education for Sustainable Development ( term that is used by a lot of proffesionals with the same meaning as Environmental Education) to inform and strengthen the quality of learning experiences for sustainable development?
Best wishes
Alberto Martinez
Dear Alberto, dear Forum members
Thank you Alberto for the important link you made to the ESD discussion and role of education for sustainable development, which is indeed highly critical to ensure that not only the skills gaps are addressed but overall behavioral aspects of society towards more sustainable consumption are taken care of as well. You are addressing the aspects of sustainability within the context of Life Long Learning and related innovative ways of instruction and pedagogies.
Indeed, many of the educational responses in the country studies and the global reports too refer to the need of more focus on generic skills and core work skills which include many of the criteria Alberto discussed int he earlier contribution.
While quality of education becomes critical to be assessed to ensure the optimal impact or learning, it is equally important to ask, to what extent educational can change actual behavior. Already during the 80ies and 90ies, studies were undertaken in the German speaking part of Europe (Germany, Austria and Switzerland), to assess whether environmental education had an impact on behavior to critically assess the effectiveness of education in this field. The findings indicated that although the overall awareness on environmental issues had increased in schools, the overall behavior still remained the same. Which indeed poses the question, whether the 'right' or sufficient learning has been imparted.
Dear Fellow members, we are looking forward to your (country specific or other) contribution on the role of skills development and education. What do you think is most critical within the given context of your country which needs to be addressed so that environmental sustainability related education and skills development have the desired impact in society as a whole and on employability in specific?
Warm regards
Sandra
.
Dear All,
Sorry, I am joining late, so also my inputs are few, don't know how would fit, anyhow..
As a civil enigineer, when I reflect on few materials subjects taught some 25 to 30 years back, it would be of interest.. we read a small chapter on design of wooden structure, structural joints.. didn’t have much opportunity to design any major structure.. other materials are lime concrete and rubble masonry, even steel structural works are not that important in our day to day building construction (except industrial works). What we now hear environment engineering was taught as public health engineering, a portion of it…
As we go with one of an engineering definition that engineering is satisfying human needs(or providing solutions) with locally available resources(men & materials) with best possible results through our ingenuity(human endeavor).. I used to wonder, what is that as an engineer, we do anything with ingenuity.. Engineering reduces pollution(or we create pollution) and pollution is again removed by us by engineering..
Engineers and scientists will always have jobs and if they are idling, economics/economy must be impefect or not doing well. Workers are little engineers or technocrats who finally translate engineering ideas/plans/dreams into realities. So, workers should be allowed to become engineers, scintists or managers through life long learning strategies or opportunties.
If opportunities are great and the demands are great with fund support, training wouldn’t be a problem. Our S-REACT model training program training of female rural workers as assistant masons, only suggesst this.. there is good local demand for masons, they were trained, but could not get the mason job, there are gender gaps. There are policy gaps. The workers are interested, even otherwise, they can be motivated, but the motivation that we get by affirming with increase in income, quality of life could be expected to be suprior. So green jobs, should featch these to all who seek to acquire skill. The other problem, as we find in IT training, cost of traning should not get inflated beyond common workers ways & means.
Hope, green & green job initiatives will give the necessary boosts to full employment and what our university students used to ask us, 'give us quality job'.. the youth seek quality job, not just any job; we may have to create several pathways starting from any job to quality job for anyone who is desirous of working. In L&T a major company in India, the staff understand 'freedom to work' in a very specific way and they are both productive and quality centered.
I have found some good resources for my thesis, I would be reading the materials in depth,although I have given my initial inputs through this posting.
Thanking You,
with warm regards,
Purushothaman P
Dear Purushothaman and Forum Members
thank you indeed for your very important contribution which only re-affirms the earlier discussion about skills shortages of engineers and the ones with managerial/supervisory experience in particular. You also described how the curriculum changed over the years towards more comprehensive and localised solutions, which indeed reflects the changing profile of this profession. The argument of complementary skills that are required to be able to address the green skills needs of traditional engineering professions holds well in this particular context given the current need for engineering professionals and well qualified workers in the building and construction industry as well.
India has this peculiar situation, like many developing or middle-income countries, that skills shortages co-exist with labour surplus which reflects the current skills mismatch and challenges to have a training and skills development system in place which responds to the needs of industries on one side but which is also supported by the industry and social partners through strong involvement and ownership. You also refer to the need of after training support such as enterprise development or effective placement which is again a support mechanism of strong labour market institutions that need to enable workers to find jobs.
India has undertaken very innovative interventions while training barefoot engineers (many of them women) on sustainable housing, renewable energy and solar cooking stoves like the initiative in Telonia. Other government driven initiatives, like in many countries, include public works programmes which increasingly recognise the need for skills development and training so that they are empowering the poor to move again into productive work, while creating assets and infrastructure of better quality.
Dear Members, as you know, the forum will come to an end tomorrow. I would therefore like to invite you again to make some contributions before the forum closes on any of the discussion points brought up.
Warm regards
Sandra Rothboeck
Dear all:
Thank you for your interest in Australia’s Green Skills Agreement. We are happy to share further information on how this Agreement came into place, who the main drivers are and how it was possible to take from a national to regional/local level of implementation. This information has been prepared by the Australian Government Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR).
How was the Green Skills Agreement put in place?
The Australian Prime Minister announced plans to develop a national green skills agreement in July 2009 as part of a package of measures targeting skills development and training for a greener economy. The Prime Minister committed the Australian Government to negotiating the high level agreement with the states and territories, industry, the training sector and community sectors, to embed skills for sustainability across the national vocational education and training (VET) system.
A taskforce was established in DEEWR to lead development of the agreement. In September 2009, the taskforce convened a Working Group comprised of key representatives from state and territory governments, peak industry groups, unions, the tertiary education sector, community groups and Industry Skills Councils (ISCs) to draft the agreement. The draft Green Skills Agreement was then considered at a national Green Skills Forum hosted by the Deputy Prime Minister in October 2009, prior to its endorsement by the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) on 7 December 2009.
Who are the main drivers?
Implementation of the Green Skills Agreement is led and coordinated by DEEWR under the guidance of a Green Skills Agreement Implementation Plan. The Plan is developed annually by a Green Skills Agreement Implementation Group, comprised of key stakeholders involved in the development of the Agreement including state and territory governments, peak industry and employee groups and the tertiary education sector. ISCs, which develop and maintain national Training Packages, and Registered Training Organisations (RTOs), which deliver nationally-accredited training, are key stakeholders driving the uptake of skills for sustainability training in the VET system.
How was it possible to take from national to regional/local level of implementation?
Australia has a national training system which enables the delivery of consistent and comparable nationally-accredited, quality-assured training across all regions and localities. The system is underpinned by national Training Packages and a robust quality and accreditation framework which ensure training and qualifications delivered by RTOs meet industry needs and national standards.
Under the Green Skills Agreement, Australia’s 11 ISCs recently completed reviewing and revising national Training Packages to embed skills for sustainability. This significant development provides RTOs and VET practitioners with the option to include sustainability content, competencies or courses in their suite of program offerings at the regional and local level.
Dear Participants,
It is delightful to note the discussion an interesting and thought provoking. Being a member of BDS providers consortium in Tamil Nadu, I found that many industrial workers are not aware that their job causes lot of environmental degradation and it harms oneself and others. But, as part of the Green education and HSE movement, we started educating a group of people and found that, they have changed a lot in their work area.
Many areas which were earlier causing environmental degradation have changed. Now, they also encourage others to take part in such activities. For example, a Turner turns metals and throws away the waste. Now he cleans his workplace and identify the right place to place the waste material. Further, he never allow the machine waste to be mixed with chemicals like coolant etc. Because the chemicals mixed with metals may harm when these metals are recycled. They do not spend much time on such activities.
All jobs are green jobs and furthering the efforts will bring in good results. I live close to Bangalore, if the moderate wishes, I may meet in person to discuss some practical measures.