Climate Jobs
Since 2016 Green House has been doing work on estimating the number of jobs that would be created by a transition to a zero-carbon economy; an economy where we take climate change seriously and reduce emissions of greenhouse gases in line with the aspiration to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees.
We first focused on the Isle of Wight, developing a model to estimate the number of jobs that would be created by the transition of key sectors of the economy. The model made use of published data about the number of jobs associated with activities such as insulating homes, or installing renewable energy systems, and data on the Isle of Wight. The report, A Green Transition for the Isle of Wight, by Jonathan Essex and Peter Sims, was published March 2017. You can order a printed copy here.
This was followed by a similar study for a very different area of the UK, the Sheffield City Region. This looked at renewable energy, transport, buildings, farming, forestry and food, and reuse, repair and recycling. Where they can be quantified, the numbers of jobs that would be lost - for example, in coal-fired power stations or the repair of internal-combustion-engine vehicles - were subtracted from the number of jobs created. The report, Job Creation from a Sustainable Transition for Sheffield City Region: How delivering a climate change compatible sub-regional economy will create new enterprises and employment, by Jonathan Essex and Peter Sims was published in May 2018. It estimates that, after subtracting the jobs lost, around 22,000 full time equivalent jobs would be created in the transition phase, with around 18,000 in the longer term (beyond 2030). These estimates are conservative, as data was not available on the numbers of jobs required for all the things we need to do, such as better management of electricity demand, and they do not include ‘multiplier effects’, where the increased spending by those in the new jobs provides more employment in the wider economy. You can order a printed copy of the report here.
Both the Isle of Wight and Sheffield work was part of the Green European Foundation project on Ecological Production in a Post-Growth Society. It was also supported by the Polden-Puckham Charitable Foundation.
Green House is now leading a project for the Green European Foundation (with the financial support of the European Parliament to the Green European Foundation), Strengthening Climate Targets, Creating Local Climate Jobs, working with Green Foundation Ireland and Ecopolis in Hungary. This project will estimate the number of jobs that could be created by more ambitious emissions reduction targets and a local jobs-rich green investment strategy, in each local authority area in the UK and each region of Hungary and Ireland. The project includes events in Ireland, Hungary and the UK, and will present its findings at a meeting prior to the COP24 climate summit in Katowice, Poland in December 2018.
The first event was in Dublin in June 2018:
Just Transition, Climate Jobs: Liberty Hall, Dublin, 23 June, 10am- 4pm.
organised by Green Foundation Ireland (GFI), the SIPTU and Dublin Council of Trade Unions.
The results from the modelling of the UK will be presented at the GEF/Green House conference, Facing up to Climate Reality, in Norwich on 29th September 2018. Please click here for details and to register.
We will also be holding a fringe event during the Green Party conference in Bristol on 5th-7th October.
We first focused on the Isle of Wight, developing a model to estimate the number of jobs that would be created by the transition of key sectors of the economy. The model made use of published data about the number of jobs associated with activities such as insulating homes, or installing renewable energy systems, and data on the Isle of Wight. The report, A Green Transition for the Isle of Wight, by Jonathan Essex and Peter Sims, was published March 2017. You can order a printed copy here.
This was followed by a similar study for a very different area of the UK, the Sheffield City Region. This looked at renewable energy, transport, buildings, farming, forestry and food, and reuse, repair and recycling. Where they can be quantified, the numbers of jobs that would be lost - for example, in coal-fired power stations or the repair of internal-combustion-engine vehicles - were subtracted from the number of jobs created. The report, Job Creation from a Sustainable Transition for Sheffield City Region: How delivering a climate change compatible sub-regional economy will create new enterprises and employment, by Jonathan Essex and Peter Sims was published in May 2018. It estimates that, after subtracting the jobs lost, around 22,000 full time equivalent jobs would be created in the transition phase, with around 18,000 in the longer term (beyond 2030). These estimates are conservative, as data was not available on the numbers of jobs required for all the things we need to do, such as better management of electricity demand, and they do not include ‘multiplier effects’, where the increased spending by those in the new jobs provides more employment in the wider economy. You can order a printed copy of the report here.
Both the Isle of Wight and Sheffield work was part of the Green European Foundation project on Ecological Production in a Post-Growth Society. It was also supported by the Polden-Puckham Charitable Foundation.
Green House is now leading a project for the Green European Foundation (with the financial support of the European Parliament to the Green European Foundation), Strengthening Climate Targets, Creating Local Climate Jobs, working with Green Foundation Ireland and Ecopolis in Hungary. This project will estimate the number of jobs that could be created by more ambitious emissions reduction targets and a local jobs-rich green investment strategy, in each local authority area in the UK and each region of Hungary and Ireland. The project includes events in Ireland, Hungary and the UK, and will present its findings at a meeting prior to the COP24 climate summit in Katowice, Poland in December 2018.
The first event was in Dublin in June 2018:
Just Transition, Climate Jobs: Liberty Hall, Dublin, 23 June, 10am- 4pm.
organised by Green Foundation Ireland (GFI), the SIPTU and Dublin Council of Trade Unions.
The results from the modelling of the UK will be presented at the GEF/Green House conference, Facing up to Climate Reality, in Norwich on 29th September 2018. Please click here for details and to register.
We will also be holding a fringe event during the Green Party conference in Bristol on 5th-7th October.