Green employment

Although coal remains the largest source of electricity in the U.S., a combination of factors is driving a decrease in profitability and employment in the coal-sector. Meanwhile, the solar photovoltaic (PV) industry is growing rapidly in the U.S. and generating many jobs that represent employment opportunities for laid off coal workers. In order to determine the viability of a smooth transition from coal to PV-related employment, this paper provides an analysis of the cost to retrain current coal workers for solar photovoltaic industry employment in the U.S. The current coal industry positions are determined, the skill set evaluated and the salaries tabulated. For each type of coal position, the closest equivalent PV position is determined and then the retraining time and investment are quantified. These values are applied on a state-by-state basis for coal producing states employing the bulk of coal workers as a function of time using a reverse seniority retirement program for the current American fleet of coal-powered plants. The results show that a relatively minor investment in retraining would allow the vast majority of coal workers to switch to PV-related positions even in the event of the elimination of the coal industry.

In recent years, climate change and excessive use of natural resources obligated the decision makers to divert their economical decisions towards sustainable development goals, including green economy. Green jobs –green employment is a related new concept in the world and in our country; providingalso socioeconomic benefits by changing welfare regimes.UNEP defines a green economy as the one that results in improved human well-being and social equity, while significantly reducing environmental risks. This new approach leadthe decision makers to search for sustainable development strategies coveringgreen economy and green jobs. Green jobs–green employment is a very new concept in the world of job creation; providing economic and socioeconomic benefits by increasing economic growth and development rates and also positively changing the level of welfare in the societies, while reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities.During the campaign period of 2008 Presidential election, there was an importance put on green jobs by the candidates and President dedicated $150 billion to be spent in the following ten years to develop the green job sector; Rio+20 Declaration (2012) attracted attention to the efficiency of eradicating poverty and inequality by putting green economy and its tools, they were specified asincreasing potential of green jobs in 8 main sectors, which all had close relationship to environmental sustainability: agriculture, forestry, fisheries, renewable energy, resource intensive manufacturing, recycling, construction, and transportation. Provision of 15-60 million additional employment opportunities in the next 20 years were predicted globally. In Navarre Region of Spain, for instance, 183% increasein employment rate was observed at renewable energy sector between 2002 and 2006 years, where 100 companies were established in 2007, and approximately 6.000 jobs were created too. In spite of the economical crisis in 2009, lowest unemployment level was experienced in this area of the country. In the Tenth Development Plan (2014-2018) issued in Turkey, attention was drawn to the importance of green growth and rising investment on R&D in related innovative technologies, and stimulating the green job potential of industrial sector. In the scope of 2011-2013 Climate Change Action Plan of Turkey, standardization of building energy management systems and related incentives, includingits contribution to green employment, to mitigation of global warming, and finally developing human resources were mentioned. In this articles; green economy and green employment will be analyzed on sectoral basis and experiences of some countries will be shared in the scope of the present study, evaluation of the investments made and the benefits obtained from green economy.

India is a developing nation with majority of agricultural population and high cultivation area when compared to the other developing countries. According to 2011 census 71 percent of the Indian people are living in rural areas and mostly they are employed in agriculture and related activities. It is a primary source available for generation of income and employment in rural area. The growth rate of agriculture has come down to 1.1 percent from 4.69 percent in contrast to the 6 percent growth rate of Indian economy for the last ten years. Around 93 percent of the farmers are small farmers having land holdings of less than 4 hectare but the average farm size is only 1.57 hectares and they cultivate nearly 55 percent of the available land and the reasons are as follows, due to Industrial growth in India more number of industrial units was started in the past decades. In recent years, the climate changes have been a complex issue due to foreign climate policy. The climate changes affect the existing cultivating areas due to unscheduled rainfall, high temperature, high tensed cyclones and so on. This micro level study made on attempt to make an assessment about the level of changes occurred in the cultivation area, temperature and rainfall and its effects on the area of cultivation and cropping pattern in study region.

India is a developing nation with majority of agricultural population and high cultivation area when compared to the other developing countries. According to 2011 census 71 percent of the Indian people are living in rural areas and mostly they are employed in agriculture and related activities. It is a primary source available for generation of income and employment in rural area. The growth rate of agriculture has come down to 1.1 percent from 4.69 percent in contrast to the 6 percent growth rate of Indian economy for the last ten years. Around 93 percent of the farmers are small farmers having land holdings of less than 4 hectare but the average farm size is only 1.57 hectares and they cultivate nearly 55 percent of the available land and the reasons are as follows, due to Industrial growth in India more number of industrial units was started in the past decades. In recent years, the climate changes have been a complex issue due to foreign climate policy. The climate changes affec...