Energy efficiency and renewable energy create more jobs per dollar invested than fossil fuels, the Global Green Growth Institute and the UN Industrial Development Organization conclude in a review of energy development in five key economies: Brazil, Germany, Indonesia, South Africa, and Korea.
“The results in the five countries presented in this report show clearly that green growth investments are not just viable or beneficial for the most highly-industrialized countries,” said UNIDO Director General LI Yong. “On the contrary, all countries, be they developed or developing, can derive significant benefits from investments in clean and renewable energy.”
“Significant progress has already been made in overcoming the hitherto conventional wisdom that taking steps to cut [greenhouse gases] is incompatible with economic growth,” said GGGI Director-General Yvo de Boer. “This report moves the debate another positive step forward by showing that employment and development result from sustainable, green growth.”
The two-volume study contains job projections for each of the five countries for a given amount of capital investment. The results vary by location, but they have one thing in common: efficiency and renewables always deliver more jobs than fossil fuels. (h/t to Clean Energy Canada for pointing us to this story)
