COP18 focuses on green jobs: a new form of employment for the future

When the world faces environmental problems such as climate change, it adopts adaptation and mitigation as its response, and green jobs are precisely an important link in adaptation strategies. Through the three major elements of the green economy - "Environmental, Social, Economic" - we shape the viability of the economy and the environment, Viable; the acceptability of the environment and society, Bearable; the feasibility of society and the economy, Equitable, thereby creating the ideal of sustainable development, and green jobs have become the ideal form of work and may even be a basic demand of future work.

Green jobs were once defined as: work whose content exists in order to solve climate change and environmental problems, and therefore only positions in public agencies such as environmental protection departments and energy bureaus, or teaching positions related to environmental education, count as green jobs. But in an issue like climate change, the scope of the problem is so broad that it cannot be solved by a small group alone; rather, it requires everyone to solve it together, so such a definition narrows green jobs. Another way of putting it is that if the essence of green - the sustainable development of the natural environment - can be found in all work, then any work meeting such a condition can be defined as a green job; simply put, that means "introducing green thinking into work." *The feasibility of green jobs: this is not just about "doing good!" From the perspective of the private sector, overall environmental conditions are affected by the broader environment, and the natural economic environment and even the industrial environment are greatly affected. If at such a time the private sector can make changes in its business approach in response to environmental changes and accurately solve the problems brought by the broader environment, then responding to environmental needs can create economic profit - why not do it? For example: information service providers. Many people may wonder what information systems have to do with the environment. Through information systems, large amounts of data can be organized and analyzed; applied in urban systems, they can effectively improve traffic congestion, or urban pollution levels, and even corporate efficiency in water resource use can all show significant benefits. If cooperation with the local government can be carried out, is it possible that the entire locality or country would come to rely on that information service provider, thereby creating enormous economic profit while also solving social and environmental needs? *What do green workers need? If there were this kind of work that could both do good and make money, who would not want to do it? That said, before finding huge green economic opportunities, how long can the passion of those engaged in green work last? If many people are all doing green work at the same time, does that incentive then disappear? In the Job Characteristic Model (JCM, Job Characteristic Model: Task Significance, Job Variety, Task Identity, Autonomy, Feedback), we can understand the relationship between employees' psychological state toward work and outcome performance. Through the task significance of green jobs (solving environmental problems), job variety (cross-disciplinary integration of multiple specialties), and task identity (fully engaging in the process of solving climate change problems), green workers can feel a sense of meaning in their work, and through green jobs with high autonomy and strong feedback, their sense of responsibility and intrinsic work motivation are strengthened. That is to say, for green workers who care about environmental issues, the main sources of motivation are: making improvements through their own hands, witnessing the growth of their own abilities, and discovering more like-minded partners joining in cooperation, which raises group consciousness. In 2013, Northern Hemisphere Focal Point appointee Jamie Peters once worked in a UK government agency on environmental education for young people. Speaking of past experience, he said that at first he also knew nothing about climate change, until he came into contact with environmental engineering courses and discovered how important and how urgent this was. The most fundamental thing is to start from basic education, and to introduce green experience and skills into education systems at all different levels, inspiring school-age children to understand environmental protection, and afterward develop environmental protection skills. Through education, step by step, young people are guided to become one of the solutions to climate change. Figure job: Taiwan Youth Climate Coalition and UK Youth Climate Coalition (UKYCC) held a mini-side event to share on green jobs. From left to right are: 2012 Focal Point MJ, Taiwan youth Lai Bo-hong, Chang Liang-yi, UK youth Sarah) Those engaged in climate change and sustainable environmental work are actually not displaying high moral standards; on the surface it looks like saving the environment and saving the Earth, but in reality it is actually self-rescue! As environmental awareness rises, international regulatory standards become strict, corporate CSR competitive strategies... and so on, raising corporate demand for green skills, making it possible that green jobs will, as time changes, become the basic form of future work. At that time, will the term green jobs still exist?

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