Renewable Energy Now Employs Almost 10M People Worldwide

Renewable energy isn’t just good for the environment – it’s good for the worldwide workforce, too.

A new report published earlier this week by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) says that the renewable energy sector now employs 9.8 million people worldwide. That figure is expected to reach 24 million by 2030.

“Falling costs and enabling policies have steadily driven up investment and employment in renewable energy worldwide since IRENA’s first annual assessment in 2012, when just over seven million people were working in the sector,” said IRENA Director-General Adnan Z. Amin. “In the last four years, for instance, the number of jobs in the solar and wind sectors combined has more than doubled.

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According to the report, Asia accounts for 62% of the jobs, as China, Brazil, the United States, India, Japan, and Germany are the leading nations in renewable energy employment. Most of the installation and manufacturing jobs for solar photovoltaic products are centered in Thailand and Malaysia.

Solar power is shown to be the most lucrative sector, accounting for 3.1 million jobs, which is 12% more than 2015. In the United States alone, the solar market has increased 17 times faster than the overall economy.

“Renewables are directly supporting broader socio-economic objectives, with employment creation increasingly recognized as a central component of the global energy transition. As the scales continue to tip in favor of renewables, we expect that the number of people working in the renewables sector could reach 24 million by 2030, more than offsetting fossil-fuel job losses and becoming a major economic driver around the world,” said Mr. Amin.

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