Not Even a Pandemic Can Stop Green Jobs from Growing!

The number of jobs created in renewable energy worldwide reached 12 million in 2020, an encouraging signal proving that the industry is growing despite the corona pandemic and the economic turmoils it caused.

“The year 2020 demonstrated that not even a global pandemic can slow the advance of renewable energy,” says Francesco La Camera, Director-General at the International Renewable Energy Agency. The challenges of global warming and the pandemic crisis “reinforce the need for a just and inclusive transition toward a clean, reliable energy supply and sustainable, healthy, climate-friendly jobs.”

According to an annual report on clean energy employment, a third of all the jobs were in solar power. Indeed, in 2020, the solar energy industry accounted for 4 million jobs, biofuels for 2.4 million, hydropower for 2.2 million, and wind power for 1.25 million. The report also states that more women should hold renewable energy jobs. As of now, 32% of them are held by women. In the fossil fuel industry, that proportion reaches 22%. To curb the rise of global warming, some 38 million jobs should be created by 2030 and 43 million by 2050.