What does ‘green collar’ mean?
The UK Government sees investment in low-carbon infrastructure and skills as vital. It aims to generate income-earning and job-creating opportunities in low-carbon industries and advanced green manufacturing. The Budget 2009 ‘Building Britain’s Future’, set out the principles of this approach and described how it could be implemented. Some very ambitious, binding targets for carbon reduction have been set for the UK.
By investing in low-carbon infrastructure and skills - the so-called ‘Green New Deal’ - it is hoped that we can address the issue of climate change and promote economic recovery at the same time. It has been estimated that up to 400,000 new ‘green’ jobs could be created in the UK by 2020, while many - if not all - other jobs will require new ‘green’ know-how.
The term ‘green collar’ has been in use since the mid 1970s.
Green collar jobs
Sometimes it is used very generally to mean someone employed in the environmental sectors of the economy. This includes a wide range of professional and vocational/trade activities.
On other occasions it is used in a more specific way to mean people employed in manual work in environmental or ‘green’ occupations.
Perhaps the simplest way of thinking about the subject is in terms of ‘green jobs’ and ‘green skills’
The green economy
Similarly, the definition of the green economy is open to a number of interpretations. ‘Environmental sectors’ can be general or specific. Sometimes the term refers to employment across a broad range of environmental occupations. Sometimes it is restricted to activities associated with green energy.
What are the critical questions for us?
The critical questions we have to address include:
- What kind of new jobs are emerging, or likely to emerge, as a result of the pressures for sustainable development, and the new legislative framework that is being established?
- What kind of new jobs will result from the development of new [technological] solutions to environmental problems?
- How many of these new jobs are there going to be, and in which sectors? Where are they most likely to be located?
- What kind of additional knowledge and skills will be required by people in different areas of the actual and emerging workforce?
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