Author(s)

G. Nhamo

Abstract

The term ‘green’ is often (mis)used in a number of ways. For example, we talk and hear of green buildings, green financing, green economies, green wash, green accounting, green schools, green agriculture, green tourism, green procurement, green ITC, the list goes on. In this paper, we address twin, but closely linked, green terms: ‘green economy’ and ‘green jobs’ and their implications for an emerging economy like South Africa. The paper conceptualises the transition to green economies and how this impacts on the jobs market in South Africa. Keywords: green economy, green jobs, South Africa. 1 Introduction A landmark and comprehensive publication in the area of green economies and green jobs is a 2008 joint document titled Green Jobs: Towards Decent Work in a Sustainable, Low-Carbon World produced by the United Nations Environment Programme (UUNEP), International Labour Organisation (ILO), International Organization of Employers (IOE), International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC). The publishers claim that the publication is in large part as a result of climate change (CC) and the need to meet greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction targets under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Kyoto Protocol market based mechanism (UNEP et al. [1]). The need to urgently address CC has led to changing patterns of investment flows leading to investment into areas from renewable energy generation up to energy efficiency projects at the household and industrial level. Many green jobs have been created during the transition to green economies. For example, a

Keywords

green economy, green jobs, South Africa