Page 281 - Special Topic Session (STS) - Volume 1

STS429 Catherine S.
agreement aims to help countries meet this target and strengthen societies’
capacities to address the wide-ranging impacts of climate change. The
employment projections in this report suggest that the net effect on job
numbers will be positive. The transition to a green economy will inevitably
cause job losses in certain sectors as carbon- and resource-intensive industries
are scaled down, but these will be more than offset by new job opportunities.
Measures taken in the production and use of energy, for example, will lead to
job losses of around 6 million, as well as in the creation of around 24 million
jobs. The net increase of approximately 18 million jobs around the world will
be the result of the adoption of sustainable practices, including changes in the
energy mix, the projected growth in the use of electric vehicles, and increases
in energy efficiency in existing and future buildings. In order to ensure a just
transition, efforts to promote the green economy must be accompanied by
policies that facilitate the reallocation of workers, advance decent work, offer
local solutions and support displaced workers.

2. A transition to agricultural sustainability and a circular economy will
result in more and often better jobs …
The adoption of more sustainable agricultural policies can create wage
employment in medium and large organic farms, and allow smallholders to
diversify their sources of income through a transition to conservation
agriculture. With complementary policies to support workers, adopting
conservation agriculture can help sustain a structural transformation in
developing countries. In parallel, embracing a circular economy that
emphasizes the reuse, recycling, remanufacture and repair of goods will create
around 6 million new employment opportunities across the world, as such
policies replace the traditional model of “extract, make, use and dispose”.

3. The transition is urgent, given the unsustainable pressure of current
economic activity on the environment
Important progress was achieved during the period between 2000 and
2015 in the global economy and in the promotion of decent work, especially
in the form of a reduction in working poverty and child labour. But wage
growth has stagnated and, to a large extent, inequality has risen. Moreover, it
is striking that, in a context of scarce resources and limited ability to absorb
waste, current patterns of economic growth rely largely on the extraction of
resources, manufacturing, consumption and waste. In 2013, for example,
humanity used 1.7 times the amount of resources and waste that the
biosphere was able to regenerate and absorb. Indeed, human activity has
already caused irreversible environmental change on a global scale.

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