Green jobs in a low carbon economy

In the annual report on trends in world employment, the International Labour Organization (ILO) estimates that "despite a moderate recovery in output growth" expected this year and for 2014, "the unemployment rate is expected to rise again and the number of unemployed in the world will grow by 5.1 million in 2013, surpassing 202 million."

However, this bleak scenario of the world economy can be mitigated by generating green jobs from the transition to a low carbon economy, to an economy that develops qualitatively without impacting the environment, to grow moderately without destroying the basic ecosystem services,  whose agenda is found in the ethical values ​​contained in the ideals of sustainable development, protecting the flora and fauna, reducing the consumption of natural resources, energy and water.

For the ILO, Green jobs are those that reduce the impact of business and economic sectors on the environment to levels that are considered sustainable and reduce the need for energy and raw materials.
This is only possible with the practice of a new economy that respects the environment and recognizes the need to reduce emissions of gases that cause the greenhouse effect, answering affirmatively the generation of jobs in key areas of sustainability.

Also according to studies by the ILO, in 2030 Brazil will create about 730,000 new jobs with the implementation of projects for the low-carbon economy, only in the renewable energy sector. Today, we have over three million jobs green jobs, especially in the following areas: agro-ecology, protection of conservation areas, biofuels and construction, using (in the latter case) energy efficiency in residential and industrial buildings, buildings with more Smart facilities consuming less energy, water and materials, so attuned to the idea of ​​"sustainable cities".

From the perspective of this new economy which puts the environment at the center of decisions, making the interface between economic activity and the natural sciences (especially biology and ecology), thus allowing the process to turn around the economic ecosystem, knocking over neoclassical economics that takes into account the environment only from the perspective of externality, there is a wide range of activities that are potentially generating these jobs for a balanced and environmentally favorable quality of life.

These activities necessarily pass through the decarbonisation of economic activity. Among these, include: organic farming (with the development of composting and organic fertilizer - turning waste into humus), eco-tourism and adventure (encompassing cultural heritage and natural beauty), the recycling of waste (with Standardisation of waste pickers and creation of cooperatives), the solar industry, activities to support production and forest management (ILO data base - 2009 - indicates that this sector employs 12.9 million workers around the world) generation and distribution of renewable energy, sanitation, waste management, processing and distribution of natural gas, landscaping activities, hunting and fishing, horticulture and floriculture.

Specifically in the transport sector, it is worth referring to the good green jobs, for example maritime cabotage for navigation, rail freight, passenger metro-railways, besides the construction of ships and floating structures.

Another sector that responds affirmatively to the generation of vacancies in the labor market is the cultivation of sugar cane for ethanol production, safeguarding, in this case, the negative impacts on the environment, such as the depletion of soil degradation forests, silting and pollution of rivers.
Of all kinds of workposts, green jobs in a low carbon economy fit into the perspective that it is still possible to save the planet from productive aggression typical of modern economies that crave at any cost to obtain high rates of economic growth.

Marcus Eduardo de Oliveira is an economist and professor, majoring in International Politics and has an MA in Latin American Integration (USP).
prof.marcuseduardo @ bol.com.br