The phenomenon of the Great Retirement, the wave of resignations that has characterized the world of work in the last two years, may also have positive consequences. Not only in terms of market mobility, but also in terms of climate. called changing of the climate and it is a phenomenon in which more and more workers will be willing to leave their jobs to pursue climate change careers, even in the face of lower wages. According to the International Labor Organization, with the right policies, more than 24 million green jobs could be created worldwide by 2030.. However, if the supply in the sector grows, there is a risk of insufficient demand: quickly finding people for these positions will not be easy.
A 2022 LinkedIn survey found that since 2015, green job postings have been growing at an annual rate of 8%, while green talent has only increased by 6% each year over the same period. Tranquilize the 2021 Yale School of Management study, according to which, of 2,000 students in 29 business schools around the world, 51% would accept lower wages if they worked for an environmentally responsible company.. Closing the workforce gap will require both new skills and people willing to leave work for new and rapidly growing industries. The biggest impetus comes from the realization that environmental issues and extreme climate events can no longer be ignored, because they concern us ever more closely. Periods of severe drought alternating with catastrophic storms have caused extensive damage to Emilia-Romagna, only to remain in our country. Not to mention the number of fires that break out in the summer in central and southern Italy.
Some climate change aficionados are inspired by the realization that without concrete and decisive action to curb global warming to within 1.5°C, life will be much more difficult for their children. in terms of “health, livelihoods, food security, water supply, human security and economic growth”, as stated in the sixth report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. “I burst into tears at my desk,” says Katherine Cleary on the Bloomberg Zero podcast. “My youngest child was eight years old at the time. So 12 years literally made him an adult coming of age in a world that was rapidly becoming uninhabitable.” After years of reviewing restaurants, he dropped everything in 2020 and founded Pocket Forests, which helps people connect with nature in urban areas by restoring the soil and planting native trees.
There are those like Justin Kennedy, who left his 20-year career as an oil lawyer in Australia on expediency after reading a 2021 report from the International Energy Agency that said meeting climate targets would mean refusing to build new fossil fuel projects. He now works for SunCable, which aims to build a 4,200-kilometer undersea transmission line to bring Australian solar power to Singapore. “I have a certain sympathy for people who remain in the oil and gas sector. But I think we’ve passed the tipping point. The transition is happening, the roles will be, ”he tells the newspaper. And there are those who not only changed jobs, but also began to lead a more sustainable lifestyle. Rebecca Cooke, for example, left her job in communications in London and moved to an off-grid (that is, completely independent of electricity) island in New Zealand, where she lives completely autonomously thanks to solar energy, grows crops in her own garden and collects water. from a nearby stream. Now a writer on energy and climate, she explains, “I’ve had a real sense of new purpose in living what I feel is right.”
After all, maybe it is not possible for everyone who cares about climate change to work full-time in the industry. But there are so many ways to contributemoving towards a more sustainable, respectful and inclusive lifestyle. “The corporate sector is responsible for more than 70% of global emissions, controls the huge capital flowing into the fossil fuel industry, and most importantly, has the power to lobby governments for progressive climate policies,” explains Lucy Piper, who left her position at the travel company and is now director of Work for Climate. “That’s why employees have such a big impact on how companies operate.” Always remember that politics can and should be the engine of change, but that politics is in front of all of us. And that if something doesn’t work, it’s always good to try something new.
Source: Elle