Climate change is creating millions of "green jobs" in sectors from solar power to bio-fuels that will slightly exceed layoffs elsewhere in the economy, a UN report said yesterday.
Union experts at UN climate talks in Bali, Indonesia, said the findings might ease worries among workers that tougher environmental standards could mean an overall loss of jobs for many countries.
"Millions of new jobs are among the many silver, if not indeed gold-plated, linings on the cloud of climate change," said Achim Steiner, head of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP).
"New research reveals that these jobs are not for just the middle classes - the so-called 'green collar' jobs - but also for workers in construction, sustainable forestry and agriculture, engineering and transportation," he said.
The study of "Green Jobs" around the world said that measures to promote ethanol in Brazil, for instance, had created 500,000 jobs. In China, 150,000 people were employed in solar heating, a sector with sales revenues in 2005 of $2.5 billion.
And renewable energy programs in Spain and Germany, such as in promoting wind power, had "already created several hundred thousand jobs".
The environmental industry employed more than 5.3 million people in the United States in 2005, according to a UNEP statement that did not give a breakdown by sector.
"There's every indication that there will be a net gain (in jobs) but probably not a very large net gain," Janos Pasztor, a senior UNEP official, told a news conference in Bali.
"The labor intensity of renewables is higher than those of fossil fuels or nuclear power," he said. Jobs could be lost in coal mining, for instance, if the world sought to shift away from fossil fuels.
The study did not try to estimate the total number of jobs that could be created or lost by measures to combat climate change, which UN reports project will bring more droughts, floods, heat waves and rising seas.
"The fears that this will turn into a job killer... are unfounded," said Peter Poschen, a development specialist at the UN's International Labor Organization. "There is a huge opportunity for 'green jobs'."
Questions:
1. Name some job sectors that have “green-collar” jobs.
2. How many people in China are employed in solar heating?
3. What does the UN report say will happen if we do not combat climate change?
Answers:
1.Construction, sustainable forestry and agriculture, engineering and transportation.
2.150,000.
3.There will be more droughts, floods, heat waves and rising seas.
（英語點津 Celene 編輯）
About the broadcaster:
Bernice Chan is a foreign expert at China Daily Website. Originally from Vancouver, Canada, Bernice has written for newspapers and magazines in Hong Kong and most recently worked as a broadcaster for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, producing current affairs shows and documentaries.
