Creating green jobs

The concept of green jobs is still in its infancy in India’s political economy; these jobs can be created across a variety of sectors.

Key sectors include renewable energy, green buildings, clean transportation, water management (water conservation, recycling, groundwater management), waste management, and land management (natural farming).

However, India’s progress in developing a green jobs and sustainable transition policy is inconsistent, hindered by the absence of a universally accepted definition of green jobs.

There are also no guidelines for evaluating the employment effects of transitioning to environmentally friendly practices at various levels, with only scattered estimates of renewable energy job opportunities from think tanks.

This makes the task at hand challenging. What we do know is that India needs jobs, and its climate change-linked vulnerability is high. More than 80 per cent of India’s population lives in districts at risk of climate-induced disasters. Rising temperatures, changing rainfall patterns, declining groundwater levels, retreating glaciers, intense cyclones, and sea-level rise could precipitate major crises for livelihoods, food security, and the economy.