Climate transition will lead to small job growth, study shows

Climate transition will lead to small net job growth in Belgium by 2030, a study by engineering firm Climact, KU Leuven and ULiège has shown. The results of the study were presented on Monday in Brussels by federal Climate minister Zakia Khattabi (Ecolo).

Macroeconomic studies estimate the net impact on total employment to be between 1 and 2 per cent growth by 2030, the report says. In absolute numbers, tens of thousands of jobs are involved, but figures from different studies vary.

The report, called The Impact of Climate Transition on Employment, Skills and Training in Belgium, comes as part of federal plans to be climate neutral by 2050. A draft update of the federal contribution to the National Energy and Climate Plan 2021-2030 is due to be submitted to the European Commission at the end of this month.

The job creation linked to climate transition can be broken down into three categories: emerging jobs created specifically for climate change, such as climate renovation coordinator, existing jobs that add green skills, such as architects, and jobs that do not need to change, such as bus driver.

Job loss in energy sector

According to the report, sectors affected by climate change account for half of the jobs, with 25 per cent due to direct impact and 20 per cent due to indirect impact.

The sectors in which most jobs will be added by 2030 are services and construction, followed by manufacturing, transport, communications and agriculture. A net loss of jobs is expected in the energy sector, probably due to falling demand for fossil fuels.

(BRV)

^{Environment and Climate minister Zakia Khattabi © BELGA PHOTO HATIM KAGHAT}