Climate change and the global credit crisis are seismic events that could shake the make-up of our economy. US President Barack Obama speaks of creating five million new green jobs. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd wants green-collar jobs to insulate the economy against a recession.

With record-breaking temperatures, bushfires burning at super intensity and electrical blackouts from air-conditioners in overload, it’s hard not to be concerned about the impact of our energy use. But will consumer anxiety and political pronouncements translate into a boom in technical roles-or any green-flavoured jobs for that matter?

Supporting any potential growth will be difficult. The CSIRO report, Growing the Green Collar Economy: Skills and Labour Challenges, models the economic impact of emissions reductions. The authors predict that in the event of the economy going green, many new roles will be created even as some old ones disappear, producing a zero-sum effect.

But, they conclude, much needs to happen for this to occur, including government incentives for improved environmental performance and to develop the skills needed to deliver this performance. And all in the labour market need to understand how they connect -business, jobseekers, government and training institutions.

In their co-released report, Green Gold Rush - How ambitious environmental policy can make Australia a leader in the global race for green jobs, the ACTU and the Australian Conservation Foundation suggest that strong policy settings will be needed to create market demand, but if this happens, Australia will be well positioned to succeed in six key market segments: renewable energy, energy efficiency, sustainable water systems, biomaterials, green buildings and waste and recycling.

David Mussared, the director of NRMjobs.com.au, an environmental employment website operating for more than 10 years, sees potential job growth in obvious areas such as solar and wind power technology. However, he suggests, most of the job creation canvassed in the CSIRO report will occur in ancillary positions supporting the industry, such as administrators, consultants, project managers and the like.

Mussared says many jobs in the environmental sector need specialist skills. “In the early days, you could get a job with almost any background,” he says. “The first batch of land care co-ordinators, for example, came from all over -ex-farmers, ex-public servants. It was a bit of a wild west, with no tertiary courses required and no recognised career paths.’’ Twenty years on, the picture is different, he says-almost every permanent job requires a relevant degree.

Mussared has also noted a dramatic change away from “talking about environmental change’’ to “actually doing environmental change”.

“In the early days, every second job in the environment was about raising awareness,” he says. “These days it’s very different. Technical skills are coming to the fore and employees are increasingly expected to deliver measurable outcomes according to industry standards. I think people who are not involved in the environmental industry do not appreciate the high levels of technical skills which most positions require. Even quite poorly paid positions often demand complex and detailed skill sets.”

Griffith University has developed a Sustainable Energy systems program, based on an electronics engineering degree with specialist subjects covering renewable energy generation, power storage and distribution and efficient energy consumption.

They aim to fill the knowledge gap in university offerings at the design and development level. James Ness, an environmental engineering lecturer who assisted in the development of the degree and specialises in sustainable energy, sees graduates being employed across all sectors of the economy.

In the short term, Ness believes big opportunities are associated with solar energy, wind power and biomass -areas that have attracted government support such as the rebate system under the Mandatory Renewable Energy Targets. Longer term, he suggests geo-thermal technology—but this will depend on government funding.
Much job growth, it seems, will come down to real government support.

And on this, Mussared is pessimistic about the future of the industry in the short term.

“The Government has no major environmental initiatives in the pipeline, and certainly nothing on a scale to address Australia’s future low-carbon energy needs, nor our water crisis,” he says.

“The Government’s initiatives on the Murray-Darling Basin have been tentative and confusing, and the emissions targets are too low and loaded with too much compensation to offer incentives to new players.”

Reflective of the broader economy in a downturn, Mussared has also seen the number of jobs drop on his website, down 24per cent in December 2008-January 2009 compared with the same period last year, after 10 years of steady job growth. He’s also noted a shift away from permanent jobs into short-term contracts.

Typical of an industry bolstered by government funding, the environmental employment market is characterised by short-term contracts and flexible work arrangements. In this economic cycle, Mussared sees employers continuing to offer flexibility to keep staff and extend the life of contracts.

For the future, he is optimistic. “The only thing that will prevent a major boom in environmental employment over the next 10 years will be a societal meltdown of some kind,” he says.