With the passage of time, a greater awareness of sustainability and the need for a consistent ecological transition has spread throughout our society. This evolution has also affected the world of work, through the spread of Green Jobs.
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Green Jobs are works that contribute to the productive and economic development of the country, where innovative professional figures have as their main objectives those of protecting the environment and promoting sustainability, reducing the strong negative impact that human actions can have on our planet.
Examples of Green Jobs are countless, some representing the evolution of other already established jobs while others have only recently emerged. Among the various, an interesting example of Green Jobs is the waste manager: this innovative figure helps entities, such as private companies and public bodies, that do not have waste management as their main objective in the transition to more sustainable, efficient and circular management and production models. In this case, for example, the analysis and monitoring of waste production is aimed at decreasing the use of virgin raw materials as well as the valorization of production waste, including in other companies.
The common characteristics of this heterogeneous group of workers can be divided as follows:
- common goal of reducing pollution, combating climate change and protecting the environment;
- increased job and career opportunities.
It is emphasized that Green Jobs involve considerable organizational and economic effort to be defined and often require many specialized qualifications and skills; however, they also offer a range of hitherto underexplored and certainly innovative opportunities.
How have Green Jobs evolved over time?
In 2021, the European Commission produced the report "Green Growth, Jobs And Social Impacts Fact Sheet", which presents estimates of employment related to the environmental sector. According to the report, employment in this sector in Europe grew by 32% between 2000 and 2016, much faster than the growth of the overall economy, which stands at 9%. In particular, there was a considerable increase in Green Jobs between 2000 and 2011: in fact, while environmental jobs were estimated at 3.2 million in 2000, they increased to about 4.1 million positions in 2011. As for individual job sectors, the one with the largest number of people employed between 2000 and 2017 is the energy sector, in which 35 percent of green workers found employment (nearly 1 million workers). During the same period, the other significant employment sectors were waste management (28%), environmental protection (21%) and wastewater management (13%). In 2019, the sectors that offered the most green jobs in the EU were waste management, energy and water supply, sewerage, and environmental remediation, with as many as 1.5 million jobs (out of a total of about 4.5 million positions) generating about € 131 billion (source: Eurostat, 2022).
The European Commission report also estimated that, globally, green jobs could increase to 24 million positions by 2030, while by 2050 the transition to a more sustainable economy could generate as many as 60 million new jobs.
As for our country, according to estimates in "4° Rapporto sull’Economia Circolare in Italia 2022", edited by Circular Economy Network, in 2018 Italy ranks second among the EU member states offering the most job positions with regard to some circular economy activities, with 519,000 jobs. In addition, the employment rate in the same activities is 2.1%, a figure second only to Poland (2.2%).
Giacomo Pace
For more details:
Lavoro, in tutto il mondo entro il 2050 potremmo avere 60 milioni di nuovi green jobs (EconomiaCircolare.com)
Global Green Jobs: il lavoro che aumenta è solo quello che tutela l’ambiente (EconomiaCircolare.com)
Green Jobs, 60 milioni di nuovi posti di lavoro entro il 2050 (Corriere della Sera)
Green Jobs, cosa sono e quali sono le figure professionali della green economy (University 2 Business)
“The Circular Economy and Green Jobs in the EU and Beyond” book (Foundation for European Progressive Studies, FEPS)