Will Sustainability Create Job Opportunities?

How will sustainability affect the job market in the future? According to the International Labor Organization, if the correct policies are put in place, sustainability can create twenty-four million job opportunities in the future. These sustainable techniques include energy-saving resources, the use and manufacturing of electric cars, and energy sectors. The International Labor Organization also claims that these sustainable practices can help bring millions out of poverty.

If sustainable techniques are not practices soon enough it is estimated that one billion jobs will be lost due to rising temperatures and heat stress. The main job being agriculture. Agriculture is very important for our global economy. Countries that mainly rely on agriculture to boost their Economies such as Africa and China are heavily at risk for climate change. These countries rely on exporting raw materials to countries in other countries to generate revenue. And countries such as the United States of America rely on the imports of raw materials. In 2014, Global Agriculture accounted for thirty-three percent of the world’s gross national’s product.

Sustainable techniques can also improve the economies of lower-income countries. In lower-income nations such as Africa and Asia, improving the ecosystem would greatly improve their economies and open up millions of jobs within their nations. But if the ecosystem fails, so will their economies and job opportunities.

If done correctly, the push towards eco-friendly projects can open up many new job opportunities throughout the world. There are also many new job opportunities occurring in the world today in countries such as Germany, Kenya, and the Republic of Korea due to environmentally- sustainable projects. In Europe, there have been fifteen million job openings directly linked to the protection of biodiversity and the protection of natural resources.

Many people may argue that the progression toward eco-friendly projects would be too costly and damage the economy throughout the world. But this is not true. The damage of not having a sustainable environment, then having a sustainable environment would be far worse. According to the International Labor Organization, an estimated 1.4 billion jobs will be lost in the next forty-two years if we do not start taking action in protecting the environment.

Protecting the environment is a very important issue throughout the globe as of today. Many large corporations and companies believe that it is too costly to switch to a more eco-friendly system but hopefully they will learn that it is beneficial for everyone to be eco-friendly.

International Labour Organization. (2018). World Employment Social Outlook. International Labour Union.