Clean energy to create more jobs

OSLO, Thursday

A strong shift towards renewable energies could create 2.7 million more jobs in power generation worldwide by 2030 than staying with dependence on fossil fuels would, a report suggested on Monday.

The study, by environmental group Greenpeace and the European Renewable Energy Council, urged governments to agree a strong new United Nations pact to combat climate change in December in Copenhagen, partly to safeguard employment.

"A switch from coal to renewable electricity generation will not just avoid 10 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions, but will create 2.7 million more jobs by 2030 than if we continue business as usual," the report said.

Strong policies

Governments were often wrong to fear that a shift to green energy was a threat to jobs, said Sven Teske, lead author of the report. He said that the wind turbine industry was already the second largest steel consumer in Germany after cars. "Renewable power industries can create a lot of jobs," he told Reuters of the outlook for solar, wind, tidal, biomass -- such as wood and crop waste -- and other renewable energies in power generation.

"This research proves that renewable energy is key to tackling climate and economic crises," said Christine Lins, Secretary General of EREC, which represents clean energy industries. Assuming strong policies to shift to renewables, the study projected that the number of jobs in power generation would rise by more than 2 million to 11.3 million in 2030.

—Reuters