More People Are Employed in Clean Energy Than in Fossil Fuels
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- Updated December 7, 2023 2 min read
From engineers through operators to geoscience professionals, about 65 million people worldwide are currently employed in the energy sector.
It’s indeed a remarkable number, taking into account that it represents 2% of global employment. And what’s even more notable is that the larger part of these jobs falls under the clean energy sector.
So what companies does the energy industry cover in general? According to the Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS), it includes the establishments that research, produce, refine, trade, supply, and transport oil and gas, coal, and other consumable fuels.
Simply said, the energy industry jobs have everything to do with either fossil fuels (such as gasoline, oil and petroleum products, diesel fuel, natural gas, and nuclear fuel) or clean energy (such as solar, wind, and hydroelectric power). And the latter might now be among the most promising industries on any job board.
In 2019, fossil fuel jobs still slightly outnumbered the clean energy ones, the International Energy Agency report says. Since then, renewable energy has seen the most notable rebound, reaching nearly 56% of total energy employment in 2022, providing jobs to more than 39 million workers globally.
Almost 70% of these employees are now part of new projects and engage in building renewable energy technologies.
Clean energy jobs will continue rising
In the current situation, it is almost inevitable that the jobs in clean energy expect a further increase. Striving to fight the climate crisis, more than 70 countries have pledged to reach net zero emissions by 2050. It is, however, not the only reason for switching off fossil fuels.
It has also become an urgent imperative for the sake of sustainable recovery from the covid-19 pandemic and in an attempt to reinforce security of supply amid an energy crisis fueled by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
It’s estimated that 14 million new clean energy jobs will have been created by 2030 and the energy shift will call for 5 million workers to be moved away from fossil fuel sectors.
Renewable energy job boards will continue to embrace all kinds of occupations. Got your sights on designing next-gen solar panels or constructing energy-efficient buildings? Fancy growing organic fuels or charting the legal grid of the renewable sector? Then it’s time to embrace your bright, renewable future!
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Julia is a professional writer, translator and graphic designer. She holds degrees in translation and interpretation, and has international work experience from a number of different countries in Europe as well as China and Panama. Julia formerly taught academic writing and as a graphic designer contributed to outlets such as The Business of Business. She has a passion for lifelong learning and good coffee.
