Page 293 - Special Topic Session (STS) - Volume 1

STS429 Igor C. et al.
3. Case of Vanuatu: employment and environmental sustainability
Vanuatu is an archipelago of 83 islands stretching over more than 1,000
km in the southern Pacific Ocean. Its population is mostly rural and growing.
A large majority of employment is medium-skilled occupations (ILO 2017).
In 2009, 60.5 per cent of employment was in the agricultural, forestry and
fishing sector (Fig. 8). The transition to a low-carbon and resource efficient
economy will require a significant expansion of employment in a number of
green economic activities, such as those related to resource management or
environmental services (for example, waste management and reforestation.
In 1994, the country’s municipal solid waste generation was 3.28 kg per
capita per day. A significant proportion of the waste is organic (at 71 per cent),
followed by recyclable material, such as paper, glass and plastics (at 22 per
cent). There are opportunities to create decent work with “safe” composting
and recycling for local communities.
In 2014, only 16 per cent of the population relied primarily on clean fuel
and technology, in the sense that they do not create indoor pollution within
the home. The share of renewable energy in total energy consumption has
fluctuated since 2000, peaking in 2006 at 69.6 per cent before dropping to
32.4 per cent in 2014. Renewable energy generation increased between 2011
and 2013 In 2009, employment in the electricity, gas, steam and air
conditioning supply sector was 0.2 per cent. There is a notable green tourism
potential and improvements in utilities can potentially provide benefits on
three fronts: community health, environmental health) and the economy, with
increased employment opportunities.
Better data on green and decent jobs is particularly needed to assess the
impact of climate change and climate-related policies on social inclusion.
Without better data, it will be difficult to determine what policy changes are
needed to assure a just transition to environmental sustainability and to
monitor progress going forward.

4. Conclusion
The case of Vanuatu is just one example of a country whose indigenous
population could be involved with certain investments in preservation of
environment and protection of bio-diversity providing them steady income
and economic development through, inter alia, eco-tourism. As mentioned in
earlier sections, people involved in this work could be considered employed
in green jobs.
We agree that this approach may look quite simplistic, but it has the
advantage of direct application with minimal costs using the traditional
methods of data collection that could already be in place.
Finally, we would also like to note that in countries such as Vanuatu, rapid
assessments of the potential for creating green jobs are needed to develop

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