According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), there will be 24 million new jobs created by 2030 in the world if adequate policies are implemented to promote a greener economy.

The report  “World Employment and Social Outlook 2018 – Greening with jobs“, states the actions focused on limiting global warming to two Celsius degrees will create enough jobs to broadly compensate job losses in other sectors.

The new jobs will be created by adopting sustainable practice in the energy industry, including changes in the combination of energy sources, the promotion of electrical vehicles and the improvement of energetic efficiency in buildings.

Ecosystem services, which include water and air purification, soils renovation, fertilization, plagues control, pollination, and protection against extrema climate conditions, help to achieve this goal, as well as agriculture, fishing, silviculture, and tourism, which employ 1,200 million workers.

The expected temperature increase will make the thermic stress more common, particularly in agriculture. This can cause health problems, such as exhaustion and heat strokes.

The ILO estimates that, on a global level, thermic stress will cause a 2% loss in hours worked by 2030, due to diseases. “The report’s conclusions show that jobs strongly depend on a healthy environment and on the services it provides. The green economy may enable millions of people to overcome poverty and provide better subsistence means for this generation and the generations to come.

On a regional level, due to measures adopted by production and energy use, there will be net employment creation in the Americas, Asia-Pacific and Europe, for around 3 million jobs, 14 million, and 2 million respectively. However, if current trends persist, there might be net employment losses in the Middle East (-0.48%), and Africa (-0.04%), due to these regions’ dependency on oil and mining.

The report calls countries to adopt urgent measures to train workers in the skills required for a transition towards a greener economy, and to provide them with social protection in order to make it easier for them to get new jobs, prevent poverty and reduce household and communities vulnerability.

Low income countries, and certain middle income countries, still need help to develop system for data recollection, and to adopt and finance strategies aimed at securing a fair transition towards environmentally sustainable societies and economies, including individuals from every group in society.