Disruptive change has taken the world by storm. The tides of change require a significant investment and could pave the way for millions of ‘green’ jobs: High-quality employment opportunities could be created upon a successful transition to a green economy at the global level. While there would be a re-distribution of employment across industries, it is important to plan the green economy transition well with appropriate policies at the industrial and government levels.
Conversely, an estimated 6 million jobs in conventional fossil fuel sectors like petroleum extraction and coal powered electricity could become extinct by 2030. The new green jobs would require a different skill-set altogether. Governments and industries shall play a critical role in mitigating the impact of this transition on lives. Which is why the transition must be managed in a fair and just manner or it be unfair to the affected workers. Also, if the right approach is not used then it could hamper efforts towards a successful green economy transition.
Source: International Labour Organization
A fair and just approach entails that those engaged in fossil-fuel related jobs receive adequate support, re-skilling, social protection and compensation where necessary. Based on insights, let’s take a look at how a fair transition to a green economy can be achieved.
Facets of a fair transition
In the Ruhr region, an industrial part of Germany, out of the 480,000 coal-mining jobs in the area nearly 2/3 disappeared over the course of more than 3 decades by 1980. By 2018, a mere 3371 jobs remained and then its last two mined also closed. Now, this could have been a situation that would have met with a lot of unrest and protest owing to the ensuing large-scale unemployment. However, the Ruhr region maintained its low unemployment over the course of 5 decades.
Statistics highlight that the fields of environmental technologies and research and development witnessed the employment of 100,000 workers by the mid-2000s: Indicative of proactive planning for socio-economic change and consequently unemployment in the region. The unions were engaged in extensive dialogue, transport related infrastructure investments were made, and support in the form of training and early retirement schemes were offered to the workforce. Such a proactive approach has led to the holistic transformation of the Ruhr. Today, it is known as an education hub due to the large number of universities there, and modern housing and tourism sites replaced the former industrial areas.
Social dialogue is the key
Everyone who is affected by a socio-economic transition (government officials, workers, and businessmen) should be able to express their opinions, interests, and be an integral part planning process. Unless widespread participation from those afflicted is achieved, a fair green transition would be difficult.
A good example of this would be the 2019 Just Transition Strategy, from Spain, which highlights how fossil fuel workers can be protected from unemployment and how the future of coal regions can be planned. Negotiations and conversation that will inform Just Transition Agreements across 14 regions took place with the participation of more than 1500 people. The planned closure of coal-fired thermal plants in Spain shall cut down on 2300 jobs. However, power plant owners, two government ministries, and two trade unions reached an Agreement in April 2020: Entails re-employment of power plant workers by investing in business opportunities that build on the strengths of the region and by facilitating the training of the displaced workers.
Conclusion
As per the ILO, up to 20 million jobs can be created worldwide via a transition to a green economy by 2030. The green economy is set to create more jobs than it displaces. However, to enable a successful transition, a holistic approach that involves the participation of the affected parties while re-skilling the displaced workforce is necessary. It’s requires a comprehensive strategy that focusses on the impact of such a transition on the entire community and not just the workers.
