Go green has become the new mantra of our times. To mitigate the impact of climate change, we’re moving fast in new directions that promise to usher in a new green and digital transformation aimed at addressing climate issues that reach well beyond the world of work. There’s an urgency to do this: as the world heats up, we’re running out of time. In this podcast, Moustapha Kamal Gueye, ILO Director of the Priority Action Programme on Just Transitions Towards Environmentally Sustainable Economies and Societies, explains how this transformation is coming about, and how it will affect the future of work.

Is green the colour of our future? The green and digital transformation and the future of work

In this week’s episode, host Kristin Hayes talks with Adewale OgunBadejo, vice president for workforce development at GRID Alternatives, the largest nonprofit installer of solar panels in the United States. OgunBadejo and Hayes discuss how an organization can recruit and train people effectively in the solar industry, how partnerships with organizations in clean energy industries can bolster workforce development, and how the clean energy transition offers important opportunities for positive socioeconomic change.

References and recommendations:

“Key Recommendations: Cultivating a Diverse and Skilled Talent Pipeline for the Equitable Transition” from the Interstate Renewable Energy Council; https://irecusa.org/resources/key-recommendations-cultivating-a-diverse-and-skilled-talent-pipeline-for-the-equitable-transition/

“National Solar Jobs Census 2021” from the Interstate Renewable Energy Council; https://irecusa.org/resources/national-solar-jobs-census-2021/

Shining Light on Clean Energy Workforce Development, with Adewale OgunBadejo

In this week’s episode, host Daniel Raimi talks with Alexander Gazmararian, a doctoral candidate at Princeton University, and Dustin Tingley, a professor at Harvard University. They discuss how a national transition to a clean energy system may affect communities with economies that historically have depended on fossil fuel production; the moral, economic, and political reasons for the US government to oversee a energy transition in these communities; and how a bottom-up approach to policy could help facilitate the transition.

References and recommendations:

“Uncertain Futures: How to Unlock the Climate Impasse” by Alexander F. Gazmararian and Dustin Tingley; https://www.uncertainfuturesbook.com/

“Can Federal Efforts Help Build Economic Resilience in New Mexico’s Oil and Gas Communities?” by Daniel Raimi and Zachary Whitlock; https://www.rff.org/publications/reports/economic-resilience-new-mexico-oil-and-gas-communities-energy-transition/

“The Fight to Save the Town” by Michelle Wilde Anderson; https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Fight-to-Save-the-Town/Michelle-Wilde-Anderson/9781501195990

“How We Survive” podcast; https://www.marketplace.org/collection/using-tech-to-adapt-to-climate-change/

“White Gold” episode of the “How We Survive” podcast; https://www.marketplace.org/shows/how-we-survive/white-gold/

Heatmap News; https://heatmap.news/

Bottom-Up Solutions for Fossil Fuel Communities, with Alexander Gazmararian and Dustin Tingley

This week's episode of the Business Brief podcast takes a look at the growth of blue collar jobs in renewable energy.

Then, the show examines a measure on next week's ballot that could open up legislative opportunities for addressing child care deserts.

The rise of teal jobs

Can Nature-based Solutions help us address environmental challenges, while laying the groundwork for creating millions of new jobs? A report by the ILO, the UN Environment Programme and the International Union for Conservation of Nature titled “Decent Work in Nature-based Solutions (NbS) says NbS has the potential to add up to 32 million jobs by 2030 to the already more than 60 million working to protect, and restore and sustainably use natural resources with the greatest gains in Africa, Latin America and the Arab States. At the same time, NbS will also require new skills training and reskilling of some workers. In this podcast, two lead editors of the report, Maikel Lieuw-Kie-Song, Senior Technical Specialist of the ILO Employment Policy Department, and Rowan Palmer, Programme Officer in the United Nations Environment Programme’s Economic and Trade Policy Unit explain.

Nature-based Solutions: How protecting the planet can create jobs

The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations and is devoted to promoting social justice and internationally recognized human and labour rights, pursuing its founding mission that labour peace is essential to prosperity.

Today, the ILO helps advance the creation of decent work and the economic and working conditions that give working people and business people a stake in lasting peace, prosperity and progress. Its tripartite structure provides a unique platform for promoting decent work for all women and men. 

Its main aims are to promote rights at work, encourage decent employment opportunities, enhance social protection and strengthen dialogue on work-related issues.

Missouri Business Alert’s Business Brief is a podcast covering business news and issues shaping the state.

Resources Radio is a weekly podcast by Resources for the Future. Each week we talk to leading experts about climate change, electricity, ecosystems, and more, making the latest research accessible to everyone.

New tracks tagged #green jobs