Renewable energy jobs hit 11.5 million worldwide

29th September 2020


Web solar istock 184643454

Related Topics

Related tags

  • Energy ,
  • Renewable ,
  • Solar ,
  • Global

Author

ptwongg

The number of people employed in the world's renewable energy sector grew to a record 11.5 million last year, which is half a million more than in 2018.

That is according figures released today by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), which show that 63% of these jobs were in Asia, confirming the region's role as a market leader.

Solar PV accounted for 3.8 million jobs – around a third of the global total – with biofuels jobs closely behind on 2.5 million. Other large employers in the renewables sector are the hydropower and wind industries, with close to 2 million and 1.2 million jobs respectively.

The figures also show that these sectors have a better gender balance than oil and gas, with woman holding 32% of total renewables jobs, compared to 21% in the fossil fuel industry.

Adopting renewables creates jobs and boosts local income in both developed and developing energy markets,“ said IRENA's director-general Francesco La Camera.

“While today we see a handful of countries in the lead, each country can harness its renewable potential, take steps to leverage local capabilities for industrial development, and train its workers.“

IRENA said that comprehensive policies, led by education and training measures, labour market interventions, and industrial policies that support the leveraging of local capacities, are essential for sustaining the jobs expansion.

Its latest report highlights promising initiatives to support the education and training of workers, such as vocational training, curricula-building, teacher training, the use of information and communications technology, promotion of innovative public-private partnerships, and recruitment of under-represented groups such as women.

The agency's recently-released Post-COVID Recovery Agenda found that an ambitious stimulus programme could create up to 5.5 million more jobs over the next three years than a business-as-usual approach, allowing the world to stay on track for creating 42 million by 2050.

“The world has seen encouraging growth in renewables jobs, but it can bring about much larger employment by adopting a comprehensive policy framework that drives the energy transition,“ IRENA said. “Never has the importance of such a push been clearer than at this momentous juncture.“

Image credit: iStock

Subscribe

Subscribe to IEMA's newsletters to receive timely articles, expert opinions, event announcements, and much more, directly in your inbox.


Transform articles

Facing the climate emergency challenge in local government

It’s well recognised that the public sector has the opportunity to work towards a national net-zero landscape that goes well beyond improving on its own performance; it can also influence through procurement and can direct through policy.

19th March 2024

Read more

The UK government’s carbon capture, usage and storage (CCUS) strategy is based on optimistic techno-economic assumptions that are now outdated, Carbon Tracker has warned.

13th March 2024

Read more

The UK government’s climate adaptation plans are ‘inadequate’ and falling ‘far short’ of what is required, the Climate Change Committee (CCC) has warned today.

13th March 2024

Read more

The UK’s net-zero economy grew 9% last year while delivering higher paid jobs than average and attracting billions of pounds in private investment, analysis by CBI Economics has uncovered.

28th February 2024

Read more

A consortium including IEMA and the Good Homes Alliance have drafted a letter to UK government ministers expressing disappointment with the proposed Future Homes Standard.

26th February 2024

Read more

Campaign group Wild Justice has accused the UK government of trying to relax pollution rules for housebuilders “through the backdoor”.

14th February 2024

Read more

Three-quarters of UK adults are concerned about the impact that climate change will have on their bills, according to polling commissioned by Positive Money.

13th February 2024

Read more

All major housing developments in England will be required by law to deliver at least a 10% increase in biodiversity under new rules that came into force today.

12th February 2024

Read more

Media enquires

Looking for an expert to speak at an event or comment on an item in the news?

Find an expert

IEMA Cookie Notice

Clicking the ‘Accept all’ button means you are accepting analytics and third-party cookies. Our website uses necessary cookies which are required in order to make our website work. In addition to these, we use analytics and third-party cookies to optimise site functionality and give you the best possible experience. To control which cookies are set, click ‘Settings’. To learn more about cookies, how we use them on our website and how to change your cookie settings please view our cookie policy.

Manage cookie settings

Our use of cookies

You can learn more detailed information in our cookie policy.

Some cookies are essential, but non-essential cookies help us to improve the experience on our site by providing insights into how the site is being used. To maintain privacy management, this relies on cookie identifiers. Resetting or deleting your browser cookies will reset these preferences.

Essential cookies

These are cookies that are required for the operation of our website. They include, for example, cookies that enable you to log into secure areas of our website.

Analytics cookies

These cookies allow us to recognise and count the number of visitors to our website and to see how visitors move around our website when they are using it. This helps us to improve the way our website works.

Advertising cookies

These cookies allow us to tailor advertising to you based on your interests. If you do not accept these cookies, you will still see adverts, but these will be more generic.

Save and close