Millions of Green Jobs Possible With Right Investment: U.N.

Transforming the economy of the world to run on renewable energy can create millions of jobs, but even staving off the worst consequences of global warming won't prevent the loss of jobs in agricultural and tourism sectors, according to a new United Nations report.

In other words, acting to curtail global warming can create jobs, but we'll lose some jobs to climate change whether we act or not. The only way to add jobs is to act.

Among the report's findings:

• The global market for environmental products and services is projected to double from $1.37 trillion to $2.74 trillion by 2020. Clean technologies are already the third-largest sector for venture capital in the U.S., and investments doubled to 19% in China in recent years.

• Energy efficiency will make up half the market, with the rest coming from sustainable transport, water supply, sanitation and waste management. Among the most important economic sectors are renewable energy, buildings and construction, transportation, basic industries, agriculture and forestry.

• 2.3 million new jobs have been created in renewable energy in recent years, and there may be as many as 6.3 million new solar power jobs alone by 2030, and as many as 3.5 million jobs to improve energy efficiency of buildings. Further, renewable energy sector investments create more jobs per dollar than fossil fuels do.

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