I’ve just been reading the OECD’s just-released outlook on employment for 2024. 📖
Can you guess what the core topic of the whole report is?
Yep, just transition. 🚨
How could it not? This is the biggest topic of our time on so many levels, including at work at a global level. 🌎
The OECD calls on governments to put addressing the social impact of environmental policies at the core of the net-zero strategies – and not at the periphery as an after-thought. The OECD calls on governments to not fall into the trap of scaling back climate ambitions in the name of a just transition. The OECD calls on governments to put plans in place now to manage the social and employment impact of the net-zero transition.
A strong call to action from the OECD to governments to take blinkers off and to step up big time on equipping their workforce for the green future ahead - in a way that ensures that the most vulnerable workers are not left behind. 📣
And just in case governments are short on inspiration, the OECD provides a full list of measure to consider. A number of these measures are relevant for companies as well. For instance:
- Can companies play a role in further developing the knowledge base about the potential new jobs and related skill sets to design training policies that are responsive to emerging needs? The OECD finds that the move towards the emerging green-driven occupations is more challenging for workers in low skilled positions than for the high-skilled, which means that we need urgent action to ensure that no one is left behind by the net-zero transition. Another recent report we reviewed recently (WEF on gender) found that women were less likely to be ready for the green jobs ahead - so investing in women in particular is needed, especially as we consider that - let’s face it - we are still in a man’s world (it will take 136 years to reach global gender equality, according to the WEF)
- Can companies invest heavily in collective bargaining and social dialogue? ‘Not so fun fact’ shared by the OECD: workers in low-emission activities are less well represented in collective bargaining than workers in high-emission activities. So as we transition, will we lose collective bargaining and social dialogue?
Speaking about ‘fun facts’, there are three that stick with me from the report: 🎯
- High emission industries account for almost 80% of GHG emissions, but represent only about 7% of overall employment
- 20% of workers are in green-driven jobs (incl. jobs that support ‘green’ activities)
- Adding jobs in high-emission industries means that over 25% of all jobs are set to be significantly impacted by the net-zero transition
So, there are already nearly four times as many jobs in green activities than in brown activities - amazing. And this figure is set to increase. But not at any cost…
In other news, we’ve been pushing for a rights-based approach to carbon credits for a while now. The stakes are very high for people - and for the planet, since a number of carbon credits do not offer the environmental benefits they claim to offer. It turns out the stakes are also high for companies. The latest is that the Colombian Constitutional Court just annulled a carbon credit project in the Amazon rainforest because it had not respected FPIC of Indigenous Peoples. This is a ‘first of its kind’ kind of court case - and a huge deal. We are talking about a $3.8 million carbon credit project that will not proceed (as originally envisioned) for human rights reasons.
So next time you need to make the case for a rights-respecting approach, you can say it’s just a matter of time before the business case for a rights-respecting approach will be made. So the question is: do you really want to risk it?
Happy Friday!
Anna💫
