Social Europe

politics, economy and employment & labour

  • Projects
    • Corporate Taxation in a Globalised Era
    • US Election 2020
    • The Transformation of Work
    • The Coronavirus Crisis and the Welfare State
    • Just Transition
    • Artificial intelligence, work and society
    • What is inequality?
    • Europe 2025
    • The Crisis Of Globalisation
  • Audiovisual
    • Audio Podcast
    • Video Podcasts
    • Social Europe Talk Videos
  • Publications
    • Books
    • Dossiers
    • Occasional Papers
    • Research Essays
    • Brexit Paper Series
  • Shop
  • Membership
  • Ads
  • Newsletter

Will The Grass Be Greener For The Workers?

by Kate Holman on 27th July 2018

Share on TwitterShare on FacebookShare on LinkedIn
Kate Holman

Kate Holman

What are ‘green jobs’? According to the International Labour Organization, they are “decent jobs that contribute to preserve or restore the environment, be they in traditional sectors such as manufacturing and construction, or in new, emerging green sectors such as renewable energy and energy efficiency.” Sounds great, but is it reality?

The recent conference on ‘The world(s) of work in transition’, organised by the European Trade Union Institute and the European Trade Union Confederation, flagged up the opportunities and dangers facing workers in the shift towards green jobs in an environmentally sustainable economy.

The challenge of climate change has the potential to unlock millions of well-paid, quality jobs in new sectors, with stronger social rights, argues ETUC President Rudy De Leeuw. But getting from here to there is not quite so simple, and it will not happen if governments get bogged down in short-term policies to satisfy populist demands.

It is not easy to predict the precise impact of a ‘green transition’ on job creation, according to special adviser on climate change at the LSE Dr Alex Bowen. Prospects are encouraging but will depend on how governments manage the transformation.

In 2000-2015, Eurostat figures show employment and GDP in the EU environmental economy grew faster than in the economy overall.

Development of key indicators for the environmental economy and the overall economy, EU-28, 2000-2015

Join our growing community newsletter!

"Social Europe publishes thought-provoking articles on the big political and economic issues of our time analysed from a European viewpoint. Indispensable reading!"

Polly Toynbee

Columnist for The Guardian

Thank you very much for your interest! Now please check your email to confirm your subscription.

There was an error submitting your subscription. Please try again.

Powered by ConvertKit
Source: Eurostat (online data codes: nama_10_a10_e, nama_10_gdp, env_ac_egss1, env_ac_egss2)

Growth in environmental economy

The number of jobs rose from 2.8 million full-time equivalents in 2000 to 4.1m in 2015. As Bela Galgóczi of the ETUI points out, the massive job creation expected in the low-carbon sector has yet to materialise, but it is widely assumed that the long-term employment effects will be neutral or generally positive.

Shifts in the labour market over the last decade are just a foretaste of the upheaval to come. More job losses are inevitable in energy intensive sectors such as fossil fuels and manufacturing. New opportunities will spring up in areas like agriculture, forestry and services, while public spending on necessary infrastructure should also create more work.

Job gains and losses

Source: OECD June 2017

In OECD countries, the seven industries that produce up to 80% of pollution employ less than 10% of the workforce. However, the potential for redeployment may be limited. The green transition is vital to control climate change, conserve natural resources and cut pollution, which could at the same time lead to a healthier, more productive workforce. But like digitalisation, decarbonisation will demand extensive reskilling and reorientation of the workforce and will not by itself be the solution to labour market problems, points out Dr Bowen.


We need your help! Please join our mission to improve public policy debates.


As you may know, Social Europe is an independent publisher. We aren't backed by a large publishing house or big advertising partners. For the longevity of Social Europe we depend on our loyal readers - we depend on you. You can support us by becoming a Social Europe member for less than 5 Euro per month.

Thank you very much for your support!

Become a Social Europe Member

A 2015 study carried out in the US revealed that “green jobs use more intensively high-level cognitive and interpersonal skills compared to non-green jobs. Green occupations also exhibit higher levels of standard dimensions of human capital such as formal education, work experience and on-the-job training.” Ensuring a ‘just transition’ requires political regulation coupled with investment in training and lifelong learning, but it also means comprehensive social protection for those unable to adapt.

Nobody left behind

The IndustriALL trade union federation represents workers in both energy-intensive manufacturing industries and renewables. General Secretary Luc Triangle identifies the elements of a just transition: anticipating change, maintaining jobs, creating new sustainable employment, education and training, social dialogue and social protection. The principle that “no worker should be left behind” means avoiding that well-paid, stable jobs are replaced by temporary, poorly paid alternatives and developing new, sustainable economic activities in affected regions. Reskilling will be of little use if no jobs are available.

“We will always need industry,” insists Triangle – even wind turbines have to be manufactured. Rather than imagining a “post-industrial” future, the EU should be designing a society where industry maintains its place as the backbone of the economy, but with a vastly diminished ecological footprint. That is an enormous technological and economic challenge demanding a coherent industrial policy with multi-annual decarbonisation plans and long-term investment cycles of up to 40 years, he suggests.

To bring about the social and cultural change required, trade unions and workers must be involved in the process, says Green MEP Florent Marcellesi. But he is convinced of one brutal truth: “Coal is finished”. In that case, should trade unions simply acknowledge reality and be “honest” about telling displaced workers there are no jobs, wondered some conference participants. That is not an option unions are willing to accept: workers should not be paying the price of change.

There is no silver bullet, acknowledges Triangle, but he points to some of the initiatives trade unions are already involved in. The Coal Regions in Transition Platform was launched in December 2017, in Poland, Slovakia and Greece, while Coal Regions Roundtables take place under the auspices of the EU’s Consultative Committee on Industrial Change (CCMI). New production technologies, products and business models are key to cleaning up polluting industries and turning brown jobs into green ones. “A lot of solutions are available if we invest,” he argues, and industrial workers will consent if they get the support needed to secure good quality jobs.

There is still a very long way to go to meet Paris Agreement commitments or achieve zero net emissions by the second half of century. Economist Ann Pettifor is doubtful whether the exponential growth model can ever deliver. Digitalisation itself consumes huge quantities of resources: a mobile phone contains 62 metals – many of them finite “rare earths”. “We must challenge the dominant economic model because of the threat it poses,” she protests. “There’s no such thing as green growth. We should abandon the idea. It’s delusional.”

In the meantime, a just transition presupposes a preventive approach, anticipating change and making provision for its impact before it takes place, insists ETUC General Secretary Luca Visentini. Collective bargaining and workers’ participation are already known to make economies stronger and more productive. They must now be harnessed in the green revolution.

Share on TwitterShare on FacebookShare on LinkedIn
Home ・ Will The Grass Be Greener For The Workers?

Filed Under: Politics

About Kate Holman

Kate Holman is a freelance journalist based in Brussels and an editor and writer at the European Trade Union Confederation. The views expressed in this article are her own.

Partner Ads

Most Popular Posts

Thomas Piketty,capital Capital and ideology: interview with Thomas Piketty Thomas Piketty
sovereignty Brexit and the misunderstanding of sovereignty Peter Verovšek
China,cold war The first global event in the history of humankind Branko Milanovic
centre-left, Democratic Party The Biden victory and the future of the centre-left EJ Dionne Jr
Covid 19 vaccine Designing vaccines for people, not profits Mariana Mazzucato, Henry Lishi Li and Els Torreele

Most Recent Posts

inequalities,dissatisfaction with democracy Inequalities and democratic corrosion Piergiuseppe Fortunato
BBC,public value Don’t defund the BBC Mariana Mazzucato
Deregulation,Better Regulation,one in one out Leaving behind the EU’s deadly addiction to deregulation Patrick ten Brink
regulation Making EU regulation better for all Isabelle Schömann
governance The crisis after the crisis Christof Schiller, Thorsten Hellmann and Karola Klatt

Other Social Europe Publications

RE No. 12: Why No Economic Democracy in Sweden?
US election 2020
Corporate taxation in a globalised era
The transformation of work
The coronavirus crisis and the welfare state

Eurofound advertisement

Industrial relations: developments 2015-2019

Eurofound has monitored and analysed developments in industrial relations systems at EU level and in EU member states for over 40 years. This new flagship report provides an overview of developments in industrial relations and social dialogue in the years immediately prior to the Covid-19 outbreak. Findings are placed in the context of the key developments in EU policy affecting employment, working conditions and social policy, and linked to the work done by social partners—as well as public authorities—at European and national levels.


CLICK FOR MORE INFO

Foundation for European Progressive Studies Advertisement

FEPS Progressive Yearbook

Twenty-twenty has been an extraordinary year. The Covid-19 pandemic and the multidimensional crisis that it triggered have boosted existing trends and put forward new challenges. But they have also created unexpected opportunities to set a new course of action for the European Union and—hopefully—make a remarkable leap forward in European integration.

The second edition of the Progressive Yearbook, the yearly publication of the Foundation for European Progressive studies, revolves around the exceptional events of 2020 and looks at the social, economic and political impact they will have in 2021. It is a unique publication, which aims to be an instrument for the progressive family to reflect on the recent past and look ahead to our next future.


CLICK HERE

Social Europe Publishing book

With a pandemic raging, for those countries most affected by Brexit the end of the transition could not come at a worse time. Yet, might the UK's withdrawal be a blessing in disguise? With its biggest veto player gone, might the European Pillar of Social Rights take centre stage? This book brings together leading experts in European politics and policy to examine social citizenship rights across the European continent in the wake of Brexit. Will member states see an enhanced social Europe or a race to the bottom?

'This book correctly emphasises the need to place the future of social rights in Europe front and centre in the post-Brexit debate, to move on from the economistic bias that has obscured our vision of a progressive social Europe.' Michael D Higgins, president of Ireland


MORE INFO

Hans Böckler Stiftung Advertisement

Renewing labour relations in the German meat industry: an end to 'organised irresponsibility'?

Over the course of 2020, repeated outbreaks of Covid-19 in a number of large German meat-processing plants led to renewed public concern about the longstanding labour abuses in this industry. New legislation providing for enhanced inspection on health and safety, together with a ban on contract work and limitations on the use of temporary agency employees, holds out the prospect of a profound change in employment practices and labour relations in the meat industry. Changes in the law are not sufficient, on their own, to ensure decent working conditions, however. There is also a need to re-establish the previously high level of collective-bargaining coverage in the industry, underpinned by an industry-wide collective agreement extended by law to cover the entire sector.


FREE DOWNLOAD

ETUI advertisement

Working on digital labour platforms: a trade union guide for trainers on crowd-, app- and platform-based work

This guide aims to raise awareness about the reality of platform work among national trade union organizations. It provides trade union trainers with all the necessary pedagogical elements to deliver education activities at national level, compatible with various professional sectors as well as different time/resource availabilities.

It covers a wide range of needs:

• information on the concept of platform work, its evolution and impact on the labour market;

• development of competences for trade union representatives involved in social dialogue in sectors with a high prevalence of platform workers, and

• raised awareness of the importance of trade union action for decent working conditions for platform workers.


DOWNLOAD HERE

About Social Europe

Our Mission

Article Submission

Legal Disclosure

Privacy Policy

Copyright

Social Europe ISSN 2628-7641

Find Social Europe Content

Search Social Europe

Project Archive

Politics Archive

Economy Archive

Society Archive

Ecology Archive

.EU Web Awards