GREEN TRANSITION
GREEN JOBS FOR THE FUTURE From mushroom farming, to community food schemes and soil tech – Anna Turns hears from those already pioneering the green jobs of the future and how you could join them.
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ith a looming recession and more than 700,000 job losses since Covid-19 began, could now be the best time to retrain for a greener future and futureproof your own career? Forward-thinking Oxford University economist Kate Raworth, who is helping Amsterdam reimagine its route to net zero, believes that: “Our future economy will thrive on reusing, repairing, refurbishing, remaking and repurposing - and this transformation will create new kinds of jobs, many of them creative, all of them purposeful because they serve to align our economies with the cycles of the living world.” The scale of this challenge is enormous, according
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to Martin Hunt, a principal project manager at nonprofit Forum for the Future. He insists that it’s not all about chasing new tech, though: “We already have 90 per cent of the innovation we need to reach net zero but some barriers are cultural or financial. We need four D’s: decarbonisation, decentralisation, digitalisation and democratisation,” says Hunt. A recent Local Government Association report suggests that more than a million new green jobs could be created by 2050, from renewable energy and electric transport, to energy efficiency. And in fact, a green revolution is already underway, led by some inspiring ethical citizens and social entrepreneurs.