Fossil fuel industry jobs still linger around 1.3 million below pre-pandemic levels, while clean energy opportunities continue to overshadow losses in the fossil fuel workforce.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) has released its latest World Energy Employment 2023 report, which shows a significant shift in the number of jobs created globally: 35 million jobs in the clean energy sector compared to 32 million in the fossil fuel industry.
Released on Wednesday, the report highlights the resilient lead of clean energy jobs, growing at an impressive 3.6 times the rate of their fossil fuel counterparts.
Globally, clean energy sectors contributed an impressive 4.7 million jobs, surpassing the slower recovery of fossil fuel employment after pandemic-induced layoffs in 2020. Fossil fuel industry jobs still linger around 1.3 million below pre-pandemic levels, while clean energy opportunities continue to overshadow losses in the fossil fuel workforce.
In India, fossil fuel employment has rebounded beyond 2019 pre-pandemic levels. Simultaneously, the nation also witnessed the creation of the fourth-highest number of new clean energy jobs globally. The report underscores that India and West Asia were the only major regions experiencing growth in both clean energy and fossil fuel employment from 2019 to 2022.
On the global stage, India now holds the third-highest number of energy workers, following China and the Asia-Pacific regions. China, a behemoth in the energy sector, experienced the most significant surge in clean energy jobs between 2019 and 2022, coupled with the largest decline in fossil fuel employment, highlighting the magnitude of its energy transition.
The report pinpoints that over half of the clean energy job growth since 2019 can be attributed to five key sectors: solar photovoltaic (PV) cells, wind, electric vehicles (EV), battery manufacturing, heat pumps, and critical mineral mining.
These sectors collectively employ approximately 9 million workers, each witnessing an annual growth rate exceeding 6 percent. Solar PV, with around 4 million jobs, stands as the largest among these sectors.
Notably, the manufacturing of EVs and batteries emerged as the primary source of growth, contributing over 1 million jobs since 2019. Many of these new positions are concentrated in construction and manufacturing, comprising over half of today’s energy jobs and growing by 2.6 million positions since 2019, according to the report.
The IEA’s findings underscore a pivotal moment in the global energy landscape, where clean energy not only surges ahead in job creation but also plays a crucial role in shaping the future of the workforce. With the continued growth of clean energy jobs, the report signals a transformative shift towards a more sustainable and employment-rich energy sector.