Climate change has significant, direct impact on global labour market: ILO

Moustapha Kamal Gueye, Coordinator of the Green Jobs Programme at the International Labour Organisation (ILO), said that climate change has a significant and direct impact on the global labour market.

The ILO estimates that 100 million jobs can be created by 2030 by ensuring a green transition that fully considers its social dimensions.

Worldwide employment in renewable energy reached 13.7 million in 2022, an increase of one million since 2021 and up from a total of 7.3 million in 2012, according to a report by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and ILO.

Gueye pointed out that green jobs are about promoting decent work in ways that help change energy systems, improve transportation systems, and help manage waste, contributing to the environmental sustainability agenda.

Green jobs are decent jobs that contribute to preserving or restoring the environment, be they in traditional sectors such as manufacturing and construction or in new, emerging green sectors such as renewable energy and energy efficiency.

"An estimated nearly 75 million people are currently working in Nature-based Solutions (NBS)," according to the first edition of the report series 'Decent work in Nature-based Solutions', published in collaboration between ILO, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

The report develops a robust framework for the assessment of employment in Nature-based Solutions (NbS), including the first empirical evaluation of current and potential future global employment in NbS.

The Coordinator of the Green Jobs Programme at ILO praised the work paths being taken by COP28, which takes into account the issue of climate change and its relationship to social development, employment and the labour market.

He explained that the COP28 negotiations are specific to the work programme on just transition, especially with regard to employment issues and social protection, and also related to losses and damages.

He stressed that responding to climate change will not only address environmental problems, but will also lead to social and economic benefits as a result of that economic transformation.

Gueye called on COP28 participants to integrate climate ambition with the issue of job creation and fair social development for all, emphasising that nearly 4 billion people worldwide lack social protection Systems.

He stressed that these systems are important for people to feel safe and enjoy security and social protection to become more resilient in the face of climate shocks. At the same time, it is necessary to provide the skills that help young people to transition from working in fossil fuel fields to new and renewable energy fields and to enter new professions created by the new green economy.