Employment – Climate Response and what we can do

With Cop26 upon us, we are all, individuals and businesses, reminded of the importance of this summit in bringing all parties together to take action and discuss our responsibilities for a climate response.

We know we need to lower our carbon emissions in an effort to slow climate change and also reduce temperature increases on the planet. We also know that to do this, we must address the way we grow our food, the way in which we look after our seas and land, but also the way we work.

ELBA’s employment team are trying to educate those they work closely with on what Green Jobs look like, what might be involved and how you can apply. We hope to address these questions by inviting companies to run insight sessions where we delve deeper into some of those questions. When we speak with the younger generation, we find that most don’t know what a Green Job is, and it is this younger generation that will hold these green jobs in the future – as we get older, these roles will play a bigger part in our lives.

In November 2020 the government launched the Green Jobs Taskforce to help deliver on the Ten Point Plan for a Green Revolution. Its intention is to help the UK to build back better by creating 250,000 high skilled green jobs by 2030 as part of a post Covid recovery. The ambition is a welcome one with the effects of climate change all too evident and the need for every citizen and business to play its part in helping to reach the target of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

A green job is defined by the UN as “areas of the economy engaged in producing goods and services for environmental protection purposes, as well as those engaged in conserving and maintaining natural resources.” Traditionally, this would include jobs and sectors linked to renewable energy, electric transport, energy efficiency or nature conservation. “But right now, as more sectors transition to low-carbon models, every job has the potential to become ‘green’ (Guardian).

As we begin to see a clearer picture of how the pandemic has impacted the labour market and the accelerated role of technology in our recovery, we are presented with the opportunity to reconfigure the jobs landscape while putting the environment centre stage.

Opportunities to join the green revolution vary with location, with London’s jobs mostly linked to finance, IT, legal, transport and built environment. According to the Local Government Association, of all the London boroughs, Tower Hamlets will provide the 2^nd largest number of new low carbon and renewable energy sector jobs, with projections of 5,000 such jobs by 2030 and nearly 12,000 by 2050.

So why are Green Jobs important?

Green Jobs improve energy and raw materials efficiency, limit greenhouse gas emissions, minimise waste and pollution, protect and restore ecosystems and support adaptation to the effects of climate change.

Experts believe we might only have 11 years remaining to prevent irreversible damage to our planet, so a concerted effort needs to be made to address climate change and how it’s disrupting our ecosystems and economies on every continent.

Over the past decade, the concept of the green economy has emerged as a strategic priority for many governments.

Local.gov.uk

As ELBA’s employment team move forward into 2022, we aim to highlight the importance of getting involved in Green Jobs to our candidates. We also encourage companies to get in touch with us to let us know about opportunities we can share with our beneficiaries. We aim to work together to ensure the targets mentioned can be met.

If you would like to get involved, please do get in touch by emailing employment@elba-1.org.uk.

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