The green jobs boom in renewable energy

Take a look at virtually any international job board and you’ll find: “Green” jobs are flourishing. Though still a niche, they’re at the cutting-edge of development assistance, providing ample opportunity for aid workers to advance sustainable growth around the world.

Green jobs come in many colors. They’re in agriculture, manufacturing, environmental conservation, and research and development. They help to protect ecosystems and biodiversity, reduce energy, materials and water consumption, and minimize waste and pollution.

On any given day, the Devex jobs board – the largest in international development – lists a plethora of opportunities for everyone from watershed managers to experts in reforestation, sewage and sustainable agriculture.

Particularly growing is the demand in the area of renewable energy – the United Nations declaring 2012 the “Year of Sustainable Energy for All” is evidence that this is an idea whose time has come. Recent jobs advertised on the Devex website include a senior development associate for energy and climate, impact evaluation and climate change specialists, and a senior energy economist in Iraq, among many others.