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.”
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“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)
