Green Jobs
Countries around the world are beginning to turn their attention towards green careers.
Countries around the world are beginning to turn their attention towards green careers.
Several countries located around the Western Pacific Ocean are turning their attention to green careers, encouraging others with the Asia-Pacific region to do the same. The push is to not only open up new opportunities in the green field but to also transform current jobs so that they take on new, environmentally friendly responsibilities and roles. The hope is that these jobs will help with economic growth and development.
In late August, a conference was held that focused primarily on green careers in Asia. Indonesia, Australia and the International Labour Organisation were all essential in getting the event up and running. The conference came about in response to another meeting that centered several of its discussions on the importance of increasing the number of green jobs in the area. Work on this topic is scheduled to continue in the summer of 2013
About two years ago, the International Labour Organization spearheaded a project that began to look at how to increase the number of green jobs in several different countries, including Nepal, Bangladesh and the Philippines. A number of other countries were also present for the conference. The event was unique in that there had never been another whose sole purpose was to discuss green careers in this region. The conference was productive in that it found a few ways to take small successes and attempt to transform them into greater ones.
The International Labour Organization has stated that a green job is any position that has a positive impact on the environment in some way. For instance, there are a few Jersey City pest control positions that are considered “green” because they use bio-pesticides to eradicate bugs instead of the traditional poisons that have been utilized for generations. In the Asia-Pacific region, many countries have come to the conclusion that they need to build on what other countries are doing in order to increase the number of green jobs throughout this part of the world.
At the most recent conference, discussion centered on creating a plan of action and executing it. Most of the Asia-Pacific countries in attendance agreed that they need to rely on each other to some extend to get things going, particularly when it comes to helping existing workers develop the skills necessary to move toward more environmentally friendly ways of operating.
As these countries move forward with an eye on the future, they have the support of the International Labour Organization, the International Trade Union Confederation and the United Nations Environment Programme. These organizations joined forces about five years ago to support the creation and development of green jobs.
Image Credit: Sebastian Bergmann
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