ABSTRACT
The concept The global economic crisis has led to millions of job losses (36 million since 2007, ILO, 2014). In addition, around one-third of total employment (839 million workers) earn less than US$2/day, remaining in working poverty. Unemployment stands at more than 200 million people. Thus, at least 200 million new jobs are needed over the next five years to keep pace with the growing workingage population in emerging and developing countries (ILO, 2014a). At the same time, there is a growing evidence on climate change. The climate change challenge has led to renewed interest in sustainable growth as a means to promote human development. Green jobs are seen as an answer to these twin challenges. Still, despite the fact that ‘green job’ is an increasingly popular term, there is no single definition of a green job (e.g. Bowen, 2012; Huggins, 2009). Green jobs are very heterogeneous in terms of job skill requirements, pay levels and working conditions (OECD, 2012). The definitions of green jobs that were put forth by various organisations (international agencies, advocacy organisations, individual state agencies) served as a basis for analysis and/or data collection. Specific analyses use available data at national or company level, and adopt terminology accordingly (e.g. low carbon jobs, clean energy jobs, environmentally dependant jobs, jobs dependant on resource efficiency improvements, green-collar jobs). The United Nations’ International Labour Organization (ILO) launched the Green Jobs Initiative in 2007 in partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC); the International Organisation of Employers (IOE) joined in 2008. The aim of the Green Jobs Initiative was to assess, analyse and promote the creation of decent jobs that contribute to the implementation of environmental policies to address global environmental challenges. For the ILO, the concept of green jobs summarises the transformation of economies, businesses, work environments and job markets towards a sustainable economy that provides decent jobs with low carbon consumption (ILO, 2014a). Relevant features of the green job relate to environmental protection, economic development and social inclusion. Thus, a green job is any job that:
1 produces a product or service related to environmental conservation and management, or
2 makes processes more sustainable within any industry, and 3 has decent work conditions (ILO, 2013c).
