Environmental concerns and particularly climate change have brought about many changes in the way we work and the requirements of clients. As trade contractors you have been well supported by your industry. The contractors associations in plumbing and electrical have shown leadership and vision by providing training and accreditation for their members as “green plumbers” and “ecosmartelectricians”; the housing industry has hosted Green Building Expo’s; the publishers of the magazine Connections Magazines hosted a forum for industry leader to discuss the challenges. While the international community continues to debate what should be done, there is so much than we can and should do to ensure we have the skills and knowledge to be successful in a low carbon marketplace.
Green is colour of the future. The jobs in demand will be green jobs. The Green Gold Rush report: predicts that Australia could become a global leader in creating green industries generating up to a million green collar jobs by 2030; the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in its Green Jobs Report of September 2008 is a bit more balanced in its language, saying that while some groups (of workers) and regions are gaining significantly, others incur substantial losses but on balance there will be more jobs in green economies. But is green the colour of the work by a plumber, electrician or carpenter? Or are they not so green?
So what is a green job? Simply speaking the term applies to jobs that reduce the environmental “footprint”. A precise definition used in the ILO is that green jobs are those reorienting consumption and production patterns toward preserving or restoring the quality of the environment.
Green jobs are linked to problems of the environment, not specifically or only climate change, even though most initiatives to generate green jobs are strategies to reduce carbon emissions. Policy to reduce carbon emissions results from acceptance scientific evidence that global warming is occurring and is the consequence of substantial increases in the volumes of greenhouse gasses. To contain the growth in global temperatures to manageable levels requires reductions in the volume of GHG emissions.
The industries most affected by clikate change policy and the race to reduce emission of GHG’s are;
The immediate concern of course is that this will also lead to widespread job losses, unless there is an increase in the green jobs for these workers to move into. If the policy makers provide for a fair and just transition, the shift to the new low carbon workplace should occur with the minimum disruption.
For the electrician, the carpenter and the plumber, their industries are making the right and appropriate preparations. These are the premium trades which over the years they have shown they can adapt to the changing marketplace, technologies and technical regulation. That said, the changes are occurring rapidly and often, so they cannot afford to be complacent.
Will YOU be affected? Most likely! You are working in highly regulated occupations where you have been examined before you are given a licence to work, work is done to Standards Australia specifications and technique, the product you use is manufactured to approvals requirements and your work is inspected. While these measures of performance will remain, the SAA standards will be revised, the apprenticeship training requirements will change to include a better understanding of the technologies developed to deliver lower emissions and the inspection of work completed will be extended to include measurement of the emissions.
Will there be more or less work? For the next generation, there will probably be more work, certainly there will be opportunities as buildings are retrofitted to become more energy efficient, clients will be looking for certifications that their products or processes are suitable and adapted to low emissions requirements. All clients will be looking for advice from those they see as specialists in the particular field ie their electrical and communications contractor, plumbing contractor and builder.
Are the jobs of electricians, plumbers and carpenters green jobs? They all have the skills to be green, and if they chose to be involved in projects that reduce the environmental footprint, then those jobs are green jobs.
The more you participate in the training offered by Neca, MPA, MBA and HIA the better will be the prospects of being prosperous in a low carbon marketplace.
For more information, contact your industry association.
Green Gold Rush: How ambitious environmental policy can make Australia a leader in the global race for green jobs, Australian Council of Trade Unions and the Australian Conservation Foundation.
www.acfonline.org.au/GreenCollarJobs October 2008
Green Jobs: Towards Decent Work in a sustainable, low-carbon world. UNEP,ILO,IOE,ITUC September 2008
International Labour Organisation. Green Jobs in the context of the ILO Employment Sector, Duncan Campbell. July 2009