'Green Jobs India Fair' at India Habitat Centre from Sept 24-26
After IT & ITES, Green Jobs sector opening up new employment opportunities
Tweet-- Delhi will witness the first attempt to focus on the emerging Green Jobs market sector with the'Green Jobs India Fair' being organized by The Climate Project India and Sierra Club's Green Livelihoods Centre. The Green Jobs Fair, at India Habitat Centre from September 24-26, is part of thecountry’s 1st ever Habitat Summit.
The Information Technology revolution barely two decades ago opened up several hundred thousand new jobs in software, hardware and IT Enabled Services. Now, a new Green Jobs sector promises millions of new employment opportunities, as consciousness about the environment and climate change grow. But in order to avail of these opportunities, appropriate policy changes in education and other fields need to be made now.
Green jobs relates not only to renewable energy, biodiversity preservation, waste management, water conservation and treatment, and carbon management, but also to the change in employment patterns in favour of greener, cleaner and more sustainable employment. Green jobs can be work in any fields that contribute substantially to preserving or restoring environmental quality
Experts say that the vast majority of green jobs in India will come from managing natural resources such as water and land, not just from deploying renewable energy like wind and solar power. Each of the 600,000 villages in the country would require a water and waste manager – that alone means 1.2 crore jobs.
The objectives of the Green Jobs Fair in Delhi are to:
1) provide a platform for disseminating information and creating synergies between employers and students, policy makers and community members, and the public and private sectors;
2) make students and job seekers aware of the real and growing careers available in the sector and demonstrate to employers that some of the best students and employees are seeking careers in this space;
3) make educationists, Government officials and Education Ministers aware of the potential of this sector, and the need to provide suitable support to develop suitable Green Job skills.
The Green Jobs Fair is part of the first ever Urban Habitat Summit and will display stalls where organisations can market their green careers. Among them will be the winners of the Sierra Club’s “Green Energy & Green Livelihoods Achievement Award” – Barefoot College in Rajasthan with its Barefoot Solar Engineers and SEWA with its innovative solutions to tackle climate change through the ‘Women, Water and Work Campaign’.
The Fair will feature a number of guest speakers from a variety of fields who have contributed to the development of the emerging green economy. This will allow for deeper content discussion and direct engagement with policy makers on the need for Green curricula to support future Green jobs
As the first large-scale Green Jobs event in India, the organizers are actively seeking companies and organizations taking earnest steps towards building sustainable businesses as exhibitors at the fair. “These organisations will have an unparalleled opportunity to market careers to thousands of motivated job seekers in one of India’s premier settings,” said Gaurav Gupta, Director of The Climate Project India. “Already, several well-known organizations such as UNDP, The World Wildlife Fund (WWF), SELCO, Godrej and SEWA amongst others have confirmed their participation in this unique event,” he added.
"Sustainability is no longer a niche concern. Businesses are becoming aware that green credentials are an integral part of achieving strategic business objectives and ensuring a competitive advantage in the future. Similarly, policy planners know that for India to sustain economic growth, a significant number of the population will need to be trained in managing fast dwindling natural resources. The result of this recognition has made green careers most attractive and a growth driver in coming years.Now is the time to create mass awareness of the potential for Green Jobs to be the next IT revolution of India. This is what we are setting out to do – inspiring job seekers to take an interest in this sector, connecting them with employers and asking educators to provide support through appropriate Green Skills curricula," Gupta added.
Sierra Club International Programs director Stephen Mills said: "The focus of our work in India and in the U.S. is to create a new green economy, green livelihoods and green jobs. This is our first step in India as part of our thrust towards enabling Green Livelihoods.”
The fair is one of several steps towards building and sustaining a green jobs movement in India. A website to provide that impetus to drive this outcome has been created at: www.greenjobsforindia.com. The objective in this is to bring together various civil society initiatives, provide expert opinion, invite comment and spur a debate to influence policy at the highest level.
For more information, please also visit www.climateprojectindia.org / www.sierraclub.org/india
Notes to Editor
TCPI is a chapter of an international non-profit org consisting of 2,500 dedicated volunteers across the globe. All personally trained by Al Gore, we give clear and concise presentations on the impacts and solutions to Climate Change. In India, we aim to inspire our country to take a leading role in solving this crisis by spreading awareness on the critical urgency of action towards green.
About The Sierra Club
Established in 1892, the Sierra Club was named “the most influential environmental organization” in Washington D.C. by the Aspen Institute after a survey of every member of the U.S. Congress and key federal officials. Its 1.4 million members and supporters possess the unique ability to empower people and influence public policy through community activism, public education, lobbying, and litigation. Working with some of the world's top climate scientists, engineers and energy experts, the Sierra Club has developed a Climate Recovery Agenda – a set of initiatives that will help cut carbon emissions 80% by 2050, reduce oil dependence, create a clean energy economy and protect natural heritage, communities and the planet from the consequences of global warming.
About Urban Habitats Forum
Urban Habitats Forum is a professional multi-disciplinary public awareness platform, a civil society initiative and partnership between the India Habitat Centre and Mirabilis Advisory. Underpinning its commitment to developing a sustainable environment, the Forum is co-hosting the first ‘Habitat Summit’ with the India Habitat Centre from September 24-26 2009.