Max Pichon | business@ben-global.com
Following a light contraction over the last few months, the September GreenCollar Talent green jobs index was stable in September, at 1.5% of all jobs.
This is despite a decidedly lack-lustre performance by the solar industry. The end of federal subsidies and cuts in NSW and Victoria to the feed-in tariffs have left the industry struggling.
The latest casualty is Solar Shop, who after 12 years in the industry and a staff of around 200, went into receivership on September 9.
But despite solar losing its shine, the future looks bright according to
Peter Hooper, GreenCollar Talent’s MD. “In other sectors apart from
solar ‘green job’ creation is thriving,” he says.
Hooper spoke to BEN about the latest Index findings, “we were actually expecting a bigger drop than the previous month, one was 1.5% and the other month was 1.48% so that tells us that the rest of the market apart from dollar is actually doing well.
“We are seeing quite a bit of activity around the Carbon Farming Initiative (CFI) and certainly seeing plenty form WA, one mining company is talking up 200 environmental job positions in the next 12 to 24 months.”
“We have seen a lot of medium sized buildings getting engaged in energy efficiency a lot of property companies are advancing in energy efficiency, and waste in particular is seeing a rise especially around landfill owners getting involved in options around retrofitting waste facilities with waste capture plants especially around methane, and water is seeing a big growth."
“One key reason for an increase in these green jobs is Australia’s insatiable demand around the resources sector, most mining operations require environmental expertise and GFC or not they are going to keep pushing these projects through.
He explains that a good part of the new green jobs, especially in WA, are around environmental management in the mining sector. “In the mining sector we are seeing a demand for jobs in energy efficiency and around waste and water projects.
In the corporate sector, there are a number of sustainability related positions being created by companies and organisations keen to bolster their CSR credentials, as well as take advantage of the costs savings that a good sustainability plan can produce.”
“The carbon price will also have an effect, but it will ultimately be a combination of climate change factors with issues like water availability, salinity, and soil issues, that is where the CFI is creating a healthy environment for green professionals."
For Hooper the boom in green jobs for the next 12 months will depend on the four big issues these are:
- A boom in the mining/resources sector.
- Environmental and climate change issues affecting Australia.
- The introduction of the Carbon Farming Initiative.
"It will bode well for the industry no doubt. If we keep maintaining this sort of growth we should see 25% growth year on year and we should see green jobs taking up 2% of the national workforce by the end of 2012," adds Hooper.
“It's certainly not going to be 1.2 million that the CSIRO has predicted, we are basing these numbers on our methodology that we use with the Green Jobs Index. There is no perfect index but we have maintained a consistent methodology for the last 18 months.
Hooper also notes, “The City of Sydney Council is a good example of green job development, leading the way with its ‘Sustainable Sydney 2030′ plan. Of course, if the carbon price is introduced next year then the likelihood of a ‘green job boom’ is good. We have a solid base of highly skilled and experienced environment professionals on our database and as we continue to see growth in green collar jobs we are confident that the supply will keep pace with the demand.”
GreenCollar Talent will continue to track changes state by state of green job creation Australia-wide.
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