Global green growth: clean energy industrial investment and expanding job opportunities
The Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) released a report demonstrating that increases in clean energy investments create more job opportunities. The paper, presented at the Vienna Energy Forum 2015, states that of the world’s 45,000 million metric tons of greenhouse gases (GHG) emitted in 2010, about 82 per cent were generated by energy-based sources. The report, “Global Green Growth: Clean Energy Industrial Investment and Expanding Job Opportunities”, provides evidence that there are clear net-gains in employment generation by making investments in the clean energy industry rather than in the conventional, GHG emitting fossil fuel industry. Significant progress has already been made in overcoming the hitherto conventional wisdom that taking steps to cut GHGs was incompatible with economic growth. This report moves the debate another positive step forward by showing that employment and development result from sustainable, green growth. The report indicates that countries which sustain annual investments in energy efficiency and clean renewables at a rate of 1.5 per cent of GDP, will be able to maintain healthy economic growth rates while providing sufficient energy resources to sustain growth. The employment impacts of large-scale clean energy plans in five countries – Brazil, Germany, Indonesia, South Africa, and the Republic of Korea – are assessed in the report, which examines the policy frameworks being implemented to meet GHG reduction targets without inhibiting employment and other economic opportunities.