A greener economy is an absolute necessity

There is no denying that in order to make Bangladesh an environment-friendly country, we have to address two of the defining challenges of the twenty-first century: achieving environmental sustainability and turning the vision of decent work for all into a reality. These challenges are not only urgent, but are also closely linked. Hence, they need to be addressed together.
While it is certain that environmental degradation and climate change will increasingly require enterprises and labour markets to react and adjust, the goal of achieving an environmentally sustainable economy will remain a far cry without the supportive role of the decent works across the globe. An integrated approach to environment and social development could turn the drive towards environmental sustainability into a significant step for development, with more and better job creation, social inclusion and poverty alleviation. Such drive requires country-specific policies that seize the opportunities and address the challenges of integration. The opportunities for gains may in fact be the greatest in developing countries and emerging economies.
It is now evident that a decisive turn from business as usual (BAU) policy of "grow first and clean up later" is urgently needed. Most international policy institutions such as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the World Bank (WB) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) have made urgent calls for a change of direction. The need for an integrated approach has been articulated further by the outcome of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development 2012 (Rio+20), which also highlighted decent work as a pivotal goal and the engine for sustainable development and a more environmentally sustainable economy.
The International Labour Organisation (ILO) and its constituents have a history of active engagement and support for sustainable development, and the new emphasis from the international community provides the ILO with an important opportunity to advance its mission while contributing to environmentally sustainable economies. ILO constituents can leverage the momentum in the process of structural change towards sustainable production and consumption patterns for creation of large-scale quality employment opportunities, extension of adequate social protection, advancement of social inclusion and realization of fundamental principles and rights - for current and future generations alike.
A greener economy, as a way to achieving sustainable development, is not optional for sustainable enterprises and labour markets, it is an absolute necessity. Escalating the use of natural resources and attendant pollution will compound the growing scarcity of fresh water, and degradation of land fertility accelerates the loss of biodiversity and climate change beyond tolerable levels. The overuse of natural resources, such as forests, fishery and clean water, and the rising levels of pollution, including emissions of greenhouse gases are increasingly exceeding planetary boundaries. The damage to economies and to society caused by environmental degradation has the potential of undoing many of the gains in development and poverty reduction achieved over the past decades. Sectors that are the most threatened by climate change, such as agriculture, forestry and fisheries, employ well over a billion people.
Models undertaken by the International Institute for Labour Studies (IILS) confirms the conclusions of other assessments: that much higher concentrations of Green House Gas in the atmosphere will increasingly curb economic output and aggregate productivity levels. In particular, the IILS's Global Economic Linkages (GEL) model suggests that productivity levels in 2030 would be 2.4 per cent lower than that of today and 7.2 per cent lower by 2050 in a business as usual (BAU) case.
Currently, extreme weather conditions with likely links to climate change are leading to direct losses of jobs and incomes. In New Orleans, United States, Hurricane Katrina led to the loss of some 40,000 jobs in 2005, with African-American women being the hardest hit. In Bangladesh, Cyclone Sidr disrupted several hundred thousands of small businesses and adversely affected 567,000 jobs.
Unresolved social challenges such as unemployment together with education, health, sanitation and infrastructure, add complexity to resolving environmental challenges. Poverty and poor job quality still affect hundreds of millions of people around the world, while the widespread lack of basic social protection increases the vulnerability of many to environmental and economic shocks.
Although the environmental and social challenges may appear daunting, addressing them together can lead to positive outcomes and create powerful synergies for development. For example, investment in rural water management infrastructure and social protection will not only create jobs and restore soil and water reservoirs, it will boost incomes, increase agricultural productivity and improve resilience to climate change. By combining policy instruments such as market-driven policies, regulations, public investment, procurement policies and awareness raising, governments can support enterprises and create an enabling environment which promotes adoption of green workplace practices, investments in new green products and services and job creation. However, the transition also clearly implies losses as well as gains in employment, particularly when it involves a wholesale shift in the economic development model of large companies, sectors and countries.
The number of jobs created at all stages of the greening process is a function of the size of demand and investment, the effect of trade and employment elasticity. The sum of gross gains and losses is equivalent to the number of workers who will have to change jobs. Whether the overall quantitative effect on employment is positive or negative depends on the complex interplay between these job flows and the policy mix.
The sectoral composition of a national economy is also an important determinant for employment outcomes. Eight sectors are particularly implicated due to their dependence on natural resources and the climate, their large consumption of resources and their role as significant polluters. These are agriculture, forestry, fisheries, energy, resource-intensive manufacturing, recycling, building and transport. Taken together, these employ half of the global workforce.
At the enterprise level, the costs of greening and job losses, can be attenuated by improving productivity. Numerous studies have shown that major gains in efficiency are possible and many of these are already cost-effective with today's technology and prices. Transitions can not only cause shifts in the overall level and composition of employment, they can affect the quality of employment.
The job content and profiles of many occupations are changing, and so are working conditions as a result of new technologies, processes and practices. The jobs created in the process must be not only green but also decent, that is, these should be productive, and provide adequate incomes and social protection, respect the rights of workers and give them a say in decisions which will affect their lives.
The shift to a sustainable, greener economy offers major opportunities for social development: (1) the creation of more jobs; (2) improvement in the quality of large numbers of jobs and (3) social inclusion on a massive scale.
Most studies on the net impact of environmental policy measures on employment show positive results. A review of 24 recent global, regional and country studies finds that appreciable net employment gains have been realised or can be achieved.
Gains may be higher in sustainable development, decent work and green jobs in emerging economies than in industrialised ones. By complementing environmental reform with labour market and social policies, the potential negative effects of these reforms can be offset. A greener economy could lead to net gains of up to 60 million jobs. These findings are in line with the double-dividend hypothesis, according to which policy measures can achieve economic benefits (in particular employment gains) and environmental improvements at the same time.
Much of the additional employment in a greener economy is created in the production of green goods and services. While evidence is limited, it suggests that these jobs tend to be more qualified, safer and better paid than other comparable jobs in the same or similar sectors.
An assessment of a broad range of green jobs in the United States, for example, showed that they compare favourably with non-green jobs in similar sectors in terms of skill levels and wages. Researches conducted in China, Germany and Spain have also found the quality of new renewable energy jobs to be good.
A competent, skilled and motivated workforce is indispensable for better environmental performance. Across a number of economic sectors, there is a significant opportunity and indeed necessity for increasing the quality of work through improved working conditions, better occupational safety and healthcare, and higher incomes to arrive at a more environmentally sustainable economy. Agriculture, waste management and recycling, and the building sector stand out in this regard, albeit for different reasons and with different options for achieving the necessary improvements.
Agriculture sector is the largest employer in the world, with a global workforce of over 1.0 billion, the sector on which most of the world's poor depend and one of the largest emitters of green house gases (GHGs). It is the largest user (70 per cent) and a significant polluter of water as well as a key cause of land degradation and loss of biodiversity.
Evidence suggests that these environmental challenges can be met if there is a strong drive to train and support farmers to adopt productive farming methods with a low environmental impact. Policy packages for sustainable agriculture including skills upgrading, enterprise and value-chain development, organisation and investments in social protection and infrastructure can yield major increases in output and incomes.
Employment in waste management and recycling will continue to increase as recycling rates rise. Of the 19/24 million workers currently in the sector, only 4.0 million are in formal employment. The vast majority work as informal waste-pickers in developing countries, with a large percentage of them presumed to be women. Recycling will only become a truly green activity with job formalisation.
Examples from Brazil, Colombia and Sri Lanka, where waste-pickers have been organised into cooperatives and established enterprises, demonstrate how formalisation can create significant opportunities for social inclusion and improved working conditions, safety and health, and earnings.
The building sector, which employs at least 110 million construction workers worldwide, has the highest potential for improving energy efficiency and reducing emissions in both industrialised and developing countries. Construction of energy and resource-efficient buildings requires competent enterprises and skilled workers. Therefore, skills up-gradation and certification of construction firms, formalisation, and improvements in working conditions to retain qualified workers will be a key factor.
The Writer is Secretary & CEO,              India-Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry. [email protected]