The fair will enable students and job seekers know more about the careers in the green economy. It will seek to inform government officials of the growing potential of the sector and the urgent need to provide education that supports it. “At present, we are seeing Indian industries making huge investments in developing their existing processes and identifying sustainable alternatives. Certain industries are already adapting to green technology, for instance, the construction sector which is focusing on green buildings and other cost effective alternatives. There are some initiatives that have come up out of necessity like water harvesting and setting up of solar energy panels to deal with water and electricity crisis. In the rural sector organic farming and biogas are picking up quickly,” said Gaurav Gupta, founder and director of The Climate Project India.

However, the emergence of demand alone cannot make the green job revolution successful, points out Gupta. “We do not have trained workforce with the right skills because we lack the necessary infrastructure. Our education does not provide for enough courses in subjects like sustainable development,” Gupta said, adding that we need to learn from the IT revolution in which private institutes trained people on a large scale.

The Climate Project plans to start a national movement to stir support for the green economic revolution by organising similar exhibitions in other cities. Some of the companies that are part of the exhibition are WWF, SEWA, Swechha, i volunteer, Indigreen, Nature First, Centre For Social Markets among others.

ILO report says green economy holds promise

Mumbai:
At a time when the economy is showing signs of recovery, it is the green economy that holds promise, according to a recent report by the International Labour Organisation (ILO). The report states ‘the global market for environmental products and services is projected to double from US$1,370 billion per year at present to US$2,740 billion by 2020’. As many as 2.3 million people have in recent years found jobs in the renewable energy sector alone and the sector has a huge potential for growth. Employment in alternative energies may rise to 2.1 million in wind and 6.3 million in solar power by 2030. India could generate 900,000 jobs by 2025 in biomass gasification of which 300,000 would be in the manufacturing of stoves and 600,000 in areas such as processing into briquettes and pellets and the fuel supply chain.