EC outlines measures to maximise job opportunities in the green economy
3 Jul 2014 12:55 PM
The European Commission
has adopted a Communication outlining the employment challenges and
opportunities of the current transition towards a green, low carbon, energy and
resource-efficient economy. The Green Employment Initiative Communication
presents an integrated framework to allow labour market and skill policies to
play an active role to support this transition.
European Commissioner for
Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion László Andor said:
"The structural shift towards a green and resource-efficient economy is
already bringing about fundamental changes across all sectors. It is an
opportunity to generate high quality environmentally-friendly jobs, while
securing the sustainable well-being of future generations and contributing to
recovery from the economic crisis. If we implement the right polices, the green
economy will play a critical role to increase European global competitiveness
and support the Europe 2020 Strategy objectives".
Environment Commissioner Janez
Potočnik said: "The shift to a green and resource efficient economy is
above all an opportunity to increase European global competitiveness and create
sustainable and high quality jobs. The Green Employment initiative will help
ensure that environmental and employment policies converge and play an active
role in supporting this process."
European Climate Commissioner
Connie Hedegaard said: "Green jobs are among the fastest growing
and the most resilient of the European economy. Instead of being outsourced,
local skills are being sought in sectors like energy efficiency of buildings,
pipe insulation, recycling and innovative renewable technologies. In these
areas employment has grown even during the crisis. In a Europe with 26 million
unemployed Europeans it is not enough to create growth. We must also expand in
areas that can generate jobs. The green sector offers enormous potential for
job creation and we have to make sure Europe can harvest its benefits in
full."
Better targeting of labour
market policies and tools, and closer coordination with environment, climate
and energy policies, are essential to exploit the full employment potential of
"green sectors". This process also brings important challenges, as
the economic transformation leads not only to jobs being created, but also to
others being redefined.
The Communication sets out an
integrated framework for employment and labour market policies at EU and
national levels, including:
-
bridging skills and knowledge
gaps by fostering the development of appropriate skills and better forecasting
skills needs
-
anticipating sectoral changes,
securing transitions in employment and promoting mobility e.g. by promoting
wide application of the European Quality Framework for
anticipation of change and restructuring and working closely with
public employment services
-
supporting job creation through
shifting taxation away from labour and on to pollution, promoting green public
procurement, entrepreneurship and social entreprises
-
increasing transparency and data
quality to improve monitoring and analysis of labour market impacts of the
green economy in the European Semester
-
promoting dialogue between
employer representatives and trade unions on the transition to the green
economy
-
strengthening international
cooperation notably through the Green Growth
Knowledge Forum launched by the Green Growth Institute, the OECD, the
United Nations Environment Programme and the World Bank.
Background
The Europe 2020
Strategy identifies the transition towards a green, low carbon and
resource-efficient economy as one of the key ongoing structural transformations
to achieve smart, inclusive and sustainable growth. The model for green growth
is based on a structural economic change mainly driven by scarcity of resources
(resource constraints and prices), and supported by public policies,
technological change and innovation, new markets and changes in industrial and
consumer demand patterns.
The 2014 Annual Growth Survey stressed the job
creation potential of the green economy and the need to develop strategic
frameworks in which labour market and skills policies play an active role in
supporting job creation. But integrated policy frameworks linking green growth
and employment exist in only a few Member States.
The job creation potential
linked to production of energy from renewable sources, energy efficiency, waste
and water management, air quality, restoring and preserving biodiversity and
developing green infrastructure is both significant and resilient to the
business cycle changes. There has been considerable creation of "green
jobs" even during the economic crisis, increasing from 3 to 4.2 million in
the EU between 2002 and 2011, and by 20% during the recession years
(2007-2011).
The Green Employment Initiative
Communication builds on the staff working document on "Exploiting the employment potential of green
growth" that was part of the April 2012 Employment
Package (see IP/12/380,MEMO/12/252), which highlighted that up to 20 million jobs
could be created between now and 2020 in the green economy. The Employment
Package identified health care and information and communications technologies
as the two other main areas of significant potential job
creation.
For more
information
See MEMO/14/446
News item on DG Employment website
László Andor's
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