Climate change is constantly threatening the planet, as rising temperatures are triggering extreme climatic events, weather pattern disruptions and natural disasters across the globe. At this time, transitioning towards clean energy is critical towards achieving global carbon neutrality and preventing temperatures from rising above manageable thresholds by the end of the century.

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By transitioning to cleaner energy, the world will be able to significantly cut down on its emissions. Replacing highly carbon-intensive power generation units like coal power plants with cleaner energy sources like nuclear, solar and hydroelectricity is one way of doing so.

This transition, along with other methods to achieve global net-zero emissions, is expected to cost somewhere around $1-2 trillion a year or roughly 1-1.5 percent of the global gross domestic product (GDP). This massive sum would be spent on investments in alternative fuel sources, renewable energy generation plants and ancillary technologies and products that will be needed to fuel this transition.

As is the case when any massive transition like this permeates through global economies, the change will have wide-ranging effects on the job market. Employment patterns will shift as more jobs will open up in the renewable energy sector while opportunities in the fossil fuel energy sector will slowly start to wind down. While critics of a global transition to cleaner energy claim that this transition would lead to a loss of jobs, forecasts and studies show that a transition would also create jobs.

A study published in September 2021 highlighted how a transition to cleaner energy would lead to the creation of an additional 5 million jobs by 2050 compared to sticking with current policies. Crucially, the study included the 9.2 million who are employed in fossil fuel extraction sectors (coal mining, oil and gas extraction).

However, even with a net gain in employment, fossil fuel-rich countries like China, Australia, Gulf Cooperation Council Countries and others will still see a reduction in jobs. This will be as the result of the high number of jobs that are present within the extraction sector.

“Renewable energy’s ability to create jobs and meet climate goals is beyond doubt. With COP26 in front of us, governments must raise their ambition to reach net zero,” said Francesco la Camera, IRENA Director-General, last year ahead of the COP26 summit.

“The potential for renewable energies to generate decent work is a clear indication that we do not have to choose between environmental sustainability on the one hand, and employment creation on the other. The two can go hand-in-hand,” ILO Director-General, Guy Ryder had said.

At the same time, transition to cleaner energy will also increase jobs in sectors like metal extraction, manufacturing and more. Materials like lithium, silicon, graphite, carbon, steel and more will be needed in ever-increasing quantities to meet the rising demand for photovoltaic cells, batteries, wind turbines and more.

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(Edited by : Thomas Abraham)