19

ENVIRONMENTAL GREEN CAREERS

“Your work is to discover your work and then with all your heart to give yourself to it

—Buddha”

The UN meeting on sustainable development held at Rio De Janeiro in June 2012 declares in its “The Future We Want” in paragraph 18: “we are determined to reinvigorate political will and to raise the level of commitment by the international community to move the sustainable development [SD] agenda forward, through the achievement of the internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals. We further reaffirm our respective commitments to other relevant internationally agreed goals in the economic, social and environmental fields since 1992. We therefore resolve to take concrete measures that accelerate implementation of SD commitments.”

In the above UN declaration in the Rio +20 Earth Summit “we” means everyone and the “respective commitments” means that it is the responsibility of everyone to preserve and protect the planet earth from degradation. It takes the entire crew and even passengers to turn this ship of unsustainable development around; we cannot leave it to the captains alone! The declaration proclaims that more needs to be done by taking concrete measures that accelerate implementation of sustainable development goals. When this “everyone” is aggregated to stakeholder categories, governments, corporates, NGOs, community, media, and educational and research institutions and each group commit to become the most significant group to move the SD agenda forward, a better future is created. Sustainable development means economic, environmental, and social concerns become an important part of the strategy and transactions of the business of each stakeholder group, as opposed to being factored in at the end. Following the principles of “Polluter Pays” and “Common but differential responsibilities,” it is the corporates with the resources, who have greater responsibility to move the SD agenda forward. The principles of Stockholm conference of 1972 and Rio Earth Summit of 1992 enjoins upon each stakeholder group, commitments to prevent degradation of the ecological environment. For example, previously the role of corporates was simple: to provide safe goods and services to consumers; to provide a reasonable return to shareholders and comply with legal obligations. With increasing community awareness and communication revolution, each stakeholder group is demanded from other stakeholder groups to “show us” the commitment to SD. This scenario of the turbulence throws open many opportunities to pursue environmental and green careers.

Each of the stakeholder category having specific roles in moving forward the SD agenda requires professionals having the sensitivity and expertise to accelerate implementation of SD commitments. Each of the environmental issue, as given in Table 19.1 is a classification scheme for green career streams having tremendous potential to accelerate SD commitments.

Green careers include industry leadership, job training, and placement in diverse jobs that protect environmental integrity and systems, human health, and social justice. Green careers are found in every sector and are more about environmental strategies and actions than specific job categories; every job can be a green job.

 

19.1 GREEN CAREERS IN THE ECONOMIC DOMAIN

The economic domain is dominated by business firms that produce and market goods and service complying with the regulatory framework. Corporates are divided into sectors, industries, and industrial segments. Each sector and each industry within each sector has respective commitments to take concrete measures that accelerate implementation of SD agenda in pursuance of the paragraph 18 of the Rio +20 Earth Summit. When these respective commitments are translated to concrete measures, many green career opportunities open up. Already many corporates have started having full-time sustainability officers in their management cader and some progressive firms have created “corporate environmental sustainability cells” at senior management levels. Recognizing the relationship between social, environmental, and economic performance of a firm, economic institutions including corporates are developing a number of green initiatives, green policies and programs integrating social, ecological, and economic objectives. Greening of business represents creation of new market opportunities, thereby driving up revenues, reducing internal costs through resource optimization, and improving a company’s reputation. Some important career opportunities in this context are elaborated below:

19.1.1 Energy-efficiency professionals

A Santhal Girl named Shweta from Dumka Village in Bihar traveled to Norway when she was 12 to make a presentation on energy conservation. She made another presentation at Rio +20 Earth Summit in 2012 to plead everyone to make a promise that they would save 100 watts of power a day by substituting two electric bulbs with CFL ones. The money saved can be used to light up the lives of deserving people (social equity), while the power saved would lighten the atmosphere from pollution risks. Even though she has an eco-activism spirit, this message of energy conservation makes career opportunities in energy-efficiency application, renewable energy technology, energy audits, energy-saving process innovations, energy-efficient appliances, and in other related fields. Some specific green jobs in the energy sector are as follows:

• Energy engineers focusing on power plant efficiency
• Design, manufacture, installation, and monitoring of renewable energy
• Research on energy storage, fuel cells
• Energy-efficient appliance design
• Construction of power plants, cogeneration facilities
• Waste-to-energy consultants
• Networked energy management consultants
• Energy-efficiency consultants
• Energy-audit professionals
• Research and development of alternate fuels
• Green electricians, retrofitting for increasing energy efficiency.

19.1.2 Up cycling of wastes and reverse loop value chain professionals

Waste management is an area having tremendous value creation potential in business organizations. Any waste in gaseous, liquid, or solid form is a waste of material resources of the firm. Zero waste targets are now being set by environmentally conscious firms, without professional supervision.

19.1.3 Green jobs in transportation and logistics

Transportation in its various forms such as road, air, rail, and water transport has a huge impact on the carbon footprint not only in actual ferrying using fuels resulting in emissions but in degrading and disturbing the environment while making the infrastructure as well. Environmentally conscious consumers are demanding more sustainable transportation options, which use less of fossil fuels, or other innovations reducing the impacts that mean more job opportunities. Alternative vehicles for personal travel, public transportation systems, specialty vehicles, packaging and forwarding and so on are growth areas. Some examples of potential jobs in green transportation are:

• Vehicle design and engineering
• Battery development
• Transportation engineering
• Green ports
• Logistics and operations as freight planner, transportation specialists, highway safety specialists.

19.1.4 Corporate sustainability strategy professionals

Environmental stewardship is becoming a top priority of reputed companies around the world and it is being used to transform every aspect of their businesses. The shift from green being “just a fad” to green initiative as part of corporate strategy for green growth is gaining momentum. Strategy formulation and implementation with a green culture shift is an ongoing process seeking to secure competitive advantage in the market. Investors are demanding the disclosure of information on companies’ environmental and social policies, practices and performance to support their investment and lending decision making including company valuations. Fig 19.2 gives some of the aspects included in calculating an organizations performonce score. The natural, intellectual, human, and social capital in their interdependence with financial capital contribute to a company’s success and strategy professional’s role is to enhance this multidimensional capital stock of a company.

19.2 GREEN CAREERS IN THE SOCIAL–CULTURAL DOMAIN

 

“Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life

—Confucius”

Poverty and increasing inequality are concerns in the social sphere having a bearing on business performance in the long run. Each business can make an analysis on how poverty prevalent in the community, in the neighborhood, and poverty prevalent in its market segments impact its overall sustained performance. Growing disparity in incomes and standards of living in a world of rising aspirations and expectations, thanks to the reach of mass media, has the seeds of internal strife and disruptions in business activity. Similarly, lack of proper sanitation in the neighborhood of a company or where its employees stay, affects the health of employees and the productivity. Malnutrition affects the productivity and medical expense of future employees of a business firm. Thus the social issues are of concern to a business firm in its long-term performance, which prompts forward-looking companies to consider social development as an area of priority.

To achieve better social performance, token CSR initiatives alone is not enough, but identifying one or two significant social issues with which the company need to align itself on a continuous basis. Such continuous engagement requires the support and expertise of professionals, which throws open career opportunities. Most of the organizations currently outsource this function through NGOs or civil society organizations. Such outsourcing or partnering with an NGO may not provide the required integration of economic, social, and environmental imperatives at strategic and all operational levels. Hence, internally evolved and internally guided social development initiatives by a firm are essential for achieving sustainable competitive advantages, even if partnership with NGOs is done for implementation.

The career options available in NGOs that pursue sustainable development or eco-activism are numerous. A list of NGOs with which a major company in India such as Mahindra and Mahindra has alliances demonstrates the multiplier effect of a major company having sustainability integrated in its corporate strategy. When a major business firm supports an NGO either financially or by providing employee time, the company facilities or by sponsoring projects, it creates not only career opportunities for many, but provides means of livelihood or better quality of life opportunities for the community as well.

There are many reputed international, national and local environmental NGOs offering very good careers. Some of them are listed in Section 12.3.

In-house CSR divisions in many companies focus on the CSR initiatives directly carried out with professional inputs. Some professional jobs in this domain are as follows:

• Handwashing experts (Fig 19.3)
• Nutrition and hygiene experts
• Environmental educationalists
• Green transportation planning experts
• Heritage conservationist
• Poverty reduction professionals
• Indigenous knowledge documentation

19.3 GREEN JOBS IN THE ECOLOGICAL DOMAIN

Companies have moved from the earlier corporate social responsibility focus to corporate environmental responsibility to sustainability strategy. There is tremendous scope to become green in the buildings of a company, the equipment and devices used in a factory or office, the food everyone eats, the clothes one wears, travel one makes, the lighting used in the office, the raw materials the company purchases, the paper used in the office, and so on (Fig. 19.6–19.8).

The buildings account for 30% of energy use, 39% of all CO₂ emissions, 40% of raw material use, 30% of waste output, and 12% of all potable water as per assessments done in the United States. Green building business is growing fast as can be seen from the increase in the number of applications for LEED certification and that means more green jobs in this sector. In addition to energy, rain water harvesting technology and its installation is another field in the green building sector. Architectural and building firms are increasingly employing green building technologists. A few of the green jobs in the ecological domain are listed below:

• New species exploration and identification
• Biodiversity valuation experts
• Wildlife conservation specialists
• Forestry specialists
• Climate change specialists
• Natural resource management professionals
• Landscape architects
• Bio-remediation experts
• Landscape designers
• LEED project manager
• Residential energy auditor
• Home energy consultants
• Project designer
• Resource architect
• Retrofitting operations manager
• Software professionals [example: BEES software (Building for Environment and Economic Sustainability), ATHENA software].

19.4 GREEN JOBS IN THE POLITICAL–LEGAL DOMAIN

 

“It is not titles that honor men, but men that honor titles

—Nicolas Machiavelli”

Environmental movement was globalized after the Stockholm conference of 1972 convened by the United Nations. Several United Nations agencies sprang eventually offering full-time job to professionals in the environmental field. There are also multilateral and regional political organizations focusing on environment.

The components, structure, and emphasis of the green economy and the speed of its development are dependent on the policies formulated by the dominant coalition in any country. The dominant coalitions in democratic societies are led by the elected politicians and the top bureaucracy. Areas such as data collection, conducting research, data analytics, analyzing issues, trend analysis, lobbying, campaigning, and policy making have become specialized services with the objective of influencing voters. In nondemocratic societies also the services of professionals are used increasingly to manage the perceptions of the public. Political executives, government officials, journalists, and industry leaders require in depth information on various issues in order to make decisions that are appropriate and contextually relevant. Accurate and up-to-date knowledge on environmental matters and aspects that are local and global becomes a critical component in campaigns, elections, policymaking, and advocacy. There are about 22,000 lobbyists and 2,500 lobbying firms in the United States who work with 12,000 client organizations to influence the bills and votes of 535 Congress members. The green jobs opportunities in the political–legal domain are as follows:

• Public policy advocates
• Transportation policy advocates
• Grass roots campaign manager
• Program organizers
• Ecological economists
• Environmental science policy scholars
• Outreach and communication coordinator
• Public affairs program assistant
• Climate legislative director
• Policy analyst
• Environmental policy advisor.
• Head, Environmental health safety division
• Environmental law specialists

Jobs in many regulatory agencies such as pollution control boards, biodiversity boards, coastal zone management authorities, maritime boards, electricity boards, water authority, town planning departments, environment, and forest departments have a high influencing ability in changing the environmental practices by business organizations and others. Number of environmental laws, number of regulatory agencies, and jobs in regulation are increasing.

19.5 GREEN JOBS IN THE MEDIA–INTERNET DOMAIN

 

“The difference between a job and a career is the difference between forty and sixty hours a week

—Robert Frost”

Environment awareness spread rapidly owing to publication of the book “Silent Spring” in 1962. The newspapers and magazines carried forward the story of environmental degradation, climate change, biodiversity depletion, and pollution issues. The green wave and the green economy leading to more green jobs and green careers are primarily developed by the awareness-creation efforts of mass media including the Internet. The growing awareness among the consumers making them demand environment friendly products is as a result of environmental journalism.

19.5.1 Environmental journalism

Environmental journalism is the collection, editing, production, distribution, and exhibition of information on current events, issues, and trends regarding the nonhuman world and its interaction with the humans. It started with nature writing and combines it with science writing on environmental topics. An environmental journalist should have an understanding of the science of environment, historical environmental events, work of environmental organizations, and current environmental concerns. Environmental journalists mostly address issues like water, climate change, pollution, GM crops, biodiversity, waste, energy, occupational health pesticides, and environmental policy.

19.5.2 Environmental advocacy

Opinionated environmental information is presented to an audience in order to convert them to be ecologically intelligent and have more bio-centric or eco-centric world views. Some of the causes advocated by these agents are sustainable living, vegetarianism, wildlife and nature preservation, animal welfare, and so on. These are nonobjective viewpoints of advocacy journalists. There are advocacy journals and alternative publications also targeted at specific audiences.

19.5.3 Environmental publications

There are environmental books, environmental journals, environmental magazines, and newsletters as general publications. Environmental journals publish peer-reviewed scientific/research articles periodically on specific themes such as entomology, ornithology, forestry, earth and atmospheric sciences, environmental economics, environmental governance, and so on. A few of the journals are listed below.

• Journal of Environmental Engineering
• Energy and Environment
• African Journal of Environmental Assessment and Management
• Alternatives Ethics
• American Journal of Agricultural Economics
• Journal of Environmental Economics and Management
• Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health
• Environmental Health Perspectives
• Toxicology and Industrial Health
• Journal of Land Use and Environmental Law
• Applied and Environmental Microbiology
• Chemosphere.
• Environmental Earth Sciences
• Journal of Ecology
• Environmental Biology of Fishes
• Global Environmental Politics
• Journal of Environmental Psychology
• Organization and Environment
• Population and Environment
• Environment Values
• Commonwealth Forestry Review
• Canadian Journal of Forest Research
• Journal of Tropical Forestry
• Journal of Forestry
• Pittsburg Journal of Environmental and Public Health Law
• Journal of Entomology.

Editing and publishing environmental journals, magazines, and newsletters is a field offering jobs to persons having environmental sensitivity. Environmental writers, reporters, and nature/wildlife photographers get their ideas and reports communicated far and wide by such relatively objective publications.

Popular magazines such as the “Green Guide” published by National Geographic Survey, Green Car Journal, the “Environmentalist,” ECOS (UK), “Earth First Journal,” Coco Eco, Resurgence, and XoVer, Natural Life have wide readership. Some of the magazines are online and many are even now published in print form (online magazine is relatively more environment friendly).

19.6 GREEN JOBS IN THE TECHNOLOGICAL DOMAIN

Innovations and technological advancements are on a faster pace in the environmental science and environmental management fields. Technology is a solution for many of the environmental problems that were created by technology of yesteryears. Better technology is needed to reduce emissions, to enhance energy efficiency, find cheaper alternate energy, lighting solutions, waste management, water management, and reverse/stabilize global warming.

Some reports speak of career changes by mid-career professionals with advanced technical degrees to clean and green technology jobs, drawn to a promise and the financial benefits (and possibly psychic benefits too). Educational institutions also reorient to provide green education for the evolving green economy.

Enviro-tech, green-tech, or clean-tech is the application of environmental science to monitor, model, and conserve the natural environment and resources and to remediate the negative impacts of human involvement. Photovoltaic, wind turbine, bioreactors, e-gain forecasting, green computing, bio-filtration, biosphere technology, wave energy, electric vehicles, ocean thermal energy, composting toilet, bioremediation, and water and air purification are established environmental technology areas.

19.7 POLICY FRAMEWORK FOR GREEN JOB CREATION

 

“The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and if they can’t find them, make them

—George Bernard Shaw”

Factors shaping the new green economy have the capacity to bring growth or contraction with the flick of a pen. New policies, national programs, treaties, incentives, disincentives, and funding sources come from the policy framework of a country. New law and policies create new institutions or strengthen the existing environmental institutions that provide jobs directly. The policies also influence the direction of the economy. Adoption of sustainable development principles in the national planning process or strategy formulation creates many green jobs in the economy. Every country is now changing/shifting their policy framework and national development plans toward creating a green economy in pursuance of international declarations by UN conferences.

19.7.1 Environmental initiatives from 6th to 12th five-year plan in India

The Indian Planning Commission started emphasizing environmental issues from 4th and 5th five year plans. However, greater emphasis on environmental issues started from the 6th five year plan (1980–1985) in which a section on environmental planning and coordination was included. This gave the planning commission veto power over development projects that might damage the environment. The main objectives of the 6th plan having environmental content are as follows:

• To concentrate on the promotion of efficient use of resources
• To develop indigenous energy sources and efficient energy usage
• To protect and improve ecological and environmental assets.

The 7th plan gave emphasis on pollution monitoring, environmental impact assessment, natural living resources conservation, environmental research promotion, eco-development, and environmental information. Ganga action plan was the major project in the 7th plan with a budget outlay of 2,400 million INR in an annual budget of 4,280 million for the sector of environment and ecology. The 8th five year plan had an outlay of Rs. 6,750 million for ecology and environment subsector and Rs.5,250 million for forestry and wildlife subsector. Afforestation programs, river pollution prevention, regeneration of degraded ecosystems, promotion of renewable energy sources and environmentally benign end use of energy were focus areas.

In the 9th plan carbon emissions and biodiversity became major issues of discussion. India’s per capita CO₂ emission was 0.3 million tons compared to 5.3 million tons in the United States and 2.9 in Germany in 1996. Solid wastes and hazardous chemicals, market-based economic instruments, national river conservation plan, involvement of NGOs for awareness building, involving the industry, ensuring scientific and technological inputs were some important elements of the 9th plan.

The strategy for the 10th plan was to ensure ecological security, scheme for clean development mechanism, conservation of natural resources, and greening India as thrust areas. An outlay of Rs. 59,450 million was fixed for environmental and forest in the 10th plan. The first national environment policy was put into place in May 2006. A new environmental clearance notification was also issued in 2006. The 11th five year plan focused on climate change, disaster management, biodiversity, life cycle assessment studies, integrated forest protection, and other ongoing programs of MOEF.

India’s 12th five year plan covering 2012–2017 focuses on “inclusive growth” in which infrastructure in rural areas to improve the quality of life of rural population will get more outlay. Faster, sustainable, and more inclusive growth is the approach to 12th five year plan of India. Energy, transport, rural transportation, health, education, social and regional equity, farm sector, sustainable management of natural resources and science and technology get the major share of the plan allocation in the 12th plan of India.

19.7.2 Policy statement on environment and development

A policy statement details the intentions and the direction, the country or an organization proposes to take on an issue. It precedes the development of specific procedures, programs, practices, and budgets for achieving the objectives set out in the policy document. A policy may build on an existing policy or may be altogether new. The policy statement on environment and development of India builds on several existing policies such as National Forest Policy 1988, National Conservation Strategy, and Policy Statement on Environment and Development 1992, policy statement on abatement of pollution 1992, National Agriculture Policy 2000, National Population Policy 2000, National Water Policy 2002, Auto Fuel Policy 2003, and Coal Transport Policy.

The policy intends to stimulate partnerships of different stakeholders and harness their respective resources and strengths for environmental management. The policy assumes that the most secure basis for conservation is to ensure that people dependent on certain resources obtain better standards of living from the fact of conservation than from the degradation of the resources. The first comprehensive policy document on environment in India is the 1992 “National Conservation Strategy and Policy Statement on Environment and Development” published by Ministry of Environment and Forests (MOEF). The Development policies from environmental perspective are described on the following sectors along with support polices on eight domains:

• Agriculture and irrigation
• Animal Husbandry
• Energy generation and use
• Industrial development
• Mining and Quarrying
• Tourism
• Transportation
• Human Settlements.

To support environment friendly development in the above sectors and areas, the following support policies are published by the MOEF:

• Strengthening of institutions and legislation
• Natural resources accounting
• Training and orientation programs
• Promoting environmental awareness
• Promoting appropriate environmental technologies
• Rehabilitation of project oustees
• Role of nongovernmental organizations
• Women and environment.

A few of the action points in the industrial development area in the policy are as follows:

• Incentives for environmentally clean technologies, recycling and reuse of wastes, and conservation of natural resources.
• Operationalization of polluter pays principle by introducing effluent tax, resource use for industry and implementation of standards based on resource consumption and production capacity.
• Fiscal incentives to small-scale industries for pollution control and for reduction of wastes.
• Encouragement of use of environmentally benign automobiles/motor vehicles and reduction of auto emissions.
• Introduction of environmental audit and reports thereof.
• Dissemination of information for public awareness on environmental safety aspects and stringent measures to ensure safety to workers and general population against hazardous substances and processes.
• Public liability insurance.
• Setting up of environment cells in industries for implementing environment management plans and for compliance of laws.
• Internalizing the environmental safeguards as integral component of the total project cost.
• EIA from planning stage.

The environmental policy gives a unifying vision that will guide the actions of a nation or country. Policy statements are long lasting and hence, by knowing the environmental policy of a nation the movement of employment opportunities can be predicted. The policy statement of the government, when communicated effectively to all stakeholders and when it starts to engage and inspire all, green jobs are bound to increase in the society in all the domains listed in Table 19.1.

19.7.3 National Committee on Environmental Planning

The National Committee on Environmental Planning and Coordination was established in 1972 in the Department of Science and Technology, immediately after the Stockholm conference. The committee existed for eight years up to 1980. The main objective was to investigate the main environmental problems such as land degradation, flooding, pollution, forest loss, and other similar problems and propose solutions in the context of continued population growth and the need for economic development. Many environmental laws, institutional arrangements and monitoring mechanisms came into being as a result of the recommendations of the committee.

The Shore Nuisance (Bombay and Colaba) Act, 1853 was one of the earliest laws concerning water pollution in India followed by the Oriental Gas Company Act of 1857 to regulate pollution by imposing fines. In addition to the enactment of law more than 150 years ago on environmental issues, India has a long tradition of environmental protection in the form of worship of plants, animals, sacred groves, mountains, and rivers. However, the state of the environment was not healthy and as of 1980, only 4.0% of India’s land area is protected, many species are on the endangered list, and how many species are lost permanently is unknown. (The need for protecting the land from its own citizens shows the low level of environmental consciousness or powerful sections of society disregarding local people’s sentiments.)

In 1981, National Committee on Environmental Planning was established based on the recommendation of the Tiwari Committee of 1980, which had the following functions:

• Preparation of an annual “State of Environment Report” for the country.
• Establishment of an Environmental Information and Communication System to propagate environmental awareness through mass media.
• To sponsor environmental research.
• Arranging public hearings or conferences on issues of environmental concern.

In 1985, the committee evolved as a separate “department of environment” and then reached a full-fledged “Ministry of Environment and Forests.”

Different countries have different institutional and fiscal mechanisms that carry forward the environmental agenda. After the Stockholm conference, many countries instituted committees and then policy documents were created. The green agenda was incorporated into the national planning process and it was gradually became embedded in the national strategy. When the national green growth strategy is translated into effective programs and budgets, many green jobs are created, thereby giving rise to many more green careers.

Significant learning for management

Green economy can be carried forward effectively by developing professions for green growth. The jobs in the expanding green economy are growing almost at the rate of 20% per year and salaries are also increasing. By keeping informed about the investments being made in an industry, policy incentives to an industry, a prediction can be made about the job creation potential. More investments and incentives are being committed to make a green economy in many countries. However, there will be a time when all jobs will tend to be green when all organizational processes become green. At that time everyone will have the right attitude, knowledge, and skills about the concepts of environmental management.

Questions for discussion

1. How social entrepreneurship and careers in social development NGOs save the planet earth from degradation?
2. Distinguish between the green tech jobs and conventional jobs in the energy and water sectors.
3. Describe the link between a nation’s policy and green career growth.
4. “Unequal societies hasten environmental degradation.” Critically assess this statement.
5. Why are soft skills important for effective job performance of a chief sustainability officer?
6. Compare and contrast the policy framework of two neighboring countries in your region with respect to the elements/programs/actions that promote the growth of green jobs.
7. Make a list of actions an educational institution can make that promote green careers in the country.

Exercises for better understanding

1. Identify internship opportunities for MTech/MBA/BTech/MSc Environmental science/LLB students in 10 different environmental institutions and write the procedure of getting and then handling an internship assignment.
2. Draw the career chart with skill requirement at each level of an environmental officer in an MNC.
3. Make a list of job titles and green career opportunities in public policy domain in your country.
4. Make a journal review of three environmental journals.
5. Make your CV and identify what additional activities are to be planned to green your CV.
6. Identify five websites listing green job vacancies.

Project

1. Design and create an environmental newsletter for the institution in which you are studying or working and electronically send to 100 persons requesting for feedback for improving the second issue of the newsletter.