World Employment and Social Outlook 2018: Greening with Jobs

The International Labour Organization's report, World Employment and Social Outlook 2018: Greening with Jobs, "shows that achieving environmental sustainability can create jobs. The green economy will be a major source of job growth in the future of work. Taking action in the energy sector to limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius by the end of the century can create around 24 million jobs, largely offsetting any job losses. Embracing the circular economy to reduce material extraction and waste generation will also result in net job gains.

As this report shows, there is scope for policies in the world of work to advance environmental sustainability; and for environmental policies to ensure decent work. A coherent and integrated legal framework is a step in this direction. Labour regulations on occupational safety and health, for example, can contribute to the preservation of the environment. Advances have been made by including decent work issues in environmental regulations, such as climate action policies that take note of their skills implications. Providing workers with the right set of skills and recognizing workers’ skills will help the transition to sectors with employment growth, and also to better jobs. Social protection systems can support workers’ incomes against risks stemming from climate change and local environmental degradation. Social dialogue contributes to finding innovative ways to mitigate environmental impacts that
are reducing or negatively affecting employment or working conditions."