21 January 2011: The UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) has published a report titled “The Employment Situation in Latin America and the Caribbean No. 4,” including a special chapter on creating green jobs.

Green jobs are defined as those that make a crucial contribution to promoting the transition towards an economy with lower carbon emissions, in order to avoid the irreversible and dangerous effects of climate change on businesses and workers.

The report highlights that, although the debate about green jobs is fairly new in the region, examples already exist and a number of countries have moved ahead with the application of policies and programmes in this area. Costa Rica has formulated a National Climate Change Strategy, for example, the foremost achievements of which include professional training in natural-resource management. In Brazil, fuel production from biomass has increased, and social housing with solar panelling is being built. A number of other countries in the region are making progress in areas such as ecotourism, sustainable agriculture, infrastructure for climate change adaptation, and formalizing the work of people who recycle household waste.

The report notes that the shift towards a more environmentally sustainable economy may cause jobs to be destroyed in some economic sectors and created in others. It emphasizes that, through social dialogue and appropriate public policies, there is a chance to use this shift to create more decent jobs, thereby contributing to growth in the economy, the creation of higher levels of equality and protection of the environment. [The Report] [ECLAC Press Release]