When jobs turn Green

It is no mean feat to prepare a well-researched document on Green jobs as part of the roadmap towards decent work in a sustainable, low-carbon world.

The task becomes even more gargantuan when realising that it was not left to just a couple of up and coming research analysts but was carried out on behalf of none other than the United Nations Environment Programme, the International Labour Organisation, the International Organisation of Employers and the International Trade Union Confederation while being produced by the Worldwatch Institute with technical assistance from the Cornell University ILR School Global Labour Institute.

It is in itself the first comprehensive report on the emergence of a "Green economy", particularly when bearing in mind that it also appraises its impact on the world of work in the 21st century.

Until recently we used to hear much talk of a shift in employment patterns towards a series of emerging Greener, cleaner and more sustainable jobs. In this particular case those responsible for this study have gone that extra mile by showing, for the first time at a global level, that and how Green jobs are being generated in a number of sectors and economies.

In their Foreword, the international organisations that commissioned this study made it clear that this is, in large part, a result of climate change and the need to meet emission reduction targets under the UN Climate Convention.

The findings of this study should urge all nation states to go for a deeper and more decisive response to climate change at the UN Climate Convention meeting in Copenhagen in late 2009. Both governments and the private sector have a key role to play. Changes in the decisions, practices and behaviours of millions of managers, workers and consumers will be needed.

This report will have served its purpose if it will manage to create the necessary awareness about Green jobs and Green economics to help make those changes happen.

While I welcome the growing interest which leading local trade unions like the GWU and the UĦM are showing in this new area of activity with considerable job creation potential, it is equally encouraging to note that while trade unions and employers' associations are usually at odds on various issues, this jointly commissioned study shows that a real transition in the conduct of relations is also underway in tandem with other developments. Primarily, that trade unions, employers' associations, the private sector and the UN are natural allies in this quest, with each one of them being conscious that each has a critical role to play not least in the areas of boosting efficiency in the use of energy and raw materials through better work methods and practices but also through the retraining and retooling of the global workforce.

We must not only seize the new opportunities. We also need to master the transition to Green production and consumption.

While the ETC has done well to commission a study on this subject a few months ago, the whole issue of creating Green jobs must remain an ongoing process.

Our dual challenge is to constantly define and count Green jobs in Malta too as well as to ensure that the Green jobs generated are decent jobs and that they will lead to positive employment shifts. This will obviously come at a price because even in this sector there are inevitably bound to be winners and losers too.

The conclusions and the recommendations of the report are a real gem.

Among other strong suggestions I have identified the following:

a) We must address the many remaining data gaps.

b) Governments must establish statistical reporting categories that recognise and help capture relevant employment in both newly-emerging industries and Green employment in established sectors.

c) As the German government has done, our government and others should also commission in-depth modelling and econometric efforts to analyse not just direct Green jobs but also those that are related in a more indirect manner.

d) Business associations and trade unions can play a useful part by emulating what others have begun; primarily that of carrying out job surveys and profiles.

e) Attention also needs to be given to disaggregating data on the basis of gender in order to ensure that there is equality of opportunity for women and men for green jobs.

In conclusion, may I point out that not all Green jobs are equally Green. Sometimes the term "shades of green" is employed to indicate that some policies will yield greater environmental benefits than others. A case in point being that pollution avoidance is better than pollution control!

Mr Brincat is the main opposition spokesman for the environment, sustainable development and climate change.

leo.brincat@gov.mt