Renewable Energy and Jobs – Annual Review 2021.
International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) & Internationale Arbeitsorganisation (ILO) (2021): Renewable Energy and Jobs – Annual Review 2021. International Renewable Energy Agency, International Labour Organization, Abu Dhabi, Geneva.Abstract
This eighth edition of IRENA’s Renewable Energy and Jobs – Annual Review series provides the most recent estimates of renewable energy employment. It is part of IRENA’s ongoing eort to refine and improve underlying data. In addition to IRENA’s employment factor calculations, the reported job numbers are based on a wide range of studies and reports by government agencies, industry associations, non-governmental organisations and academic experts, with information of varying focus, detail and quality.
This special edition, co-published with the International Labour Organization, expands on the scope of earlier editions. Following a discussion of impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, Chapter 1 surveys the renewable energy employment landscape as of 2020, with findings at the global level and for individual industry segments. It then discusses employment results for selected countries in relation to deployment trends, policy contexts and pandemic impacts, with an eye to job quality as well as job numbers.
The need to accelerate the energy transition through expanded use of renewables is evident in the face of a growing number of extreme weather events and other repercussions of climate change. Ambitious policy action in response to these realities will translate into more jobs in renewables, as indicated by IRENA’s World Energy Transitions Outlook. Chapter 2 oers key employment findings from the Outlook’s scenarios for 2030 and 2050. Education and skills training, including eorts to retrain workers from fossil fuel industries, will be essential to building the workforce of the future. Chapter 3 presents key challenges and opportunities in this regard. Skills training is among the broad array of policies needed to create large numbers of good jobs, develop a diverse workforce and address other aspects of the unfolding energy transition. Finally, Chapter 4 examines priority actions within a holistic policy framework and considers the kinds of jobs that are likely to be created.
