“It’s time to transition beyond our fossil fuel addiction to a just economy based on green jobs, renewable energy, and local organic food.” – Winona LaDuke, internationally renowned environmentalist, author, and economist.
Sustainability has now become a corporate imperative. Consumer awareness continues to soar and businesses across various sectors strive to go green. As a result of this rapid transformation of the business landscape toward sustainability, the demand for “green jobs” is noticeably rising. According to a report released by International Labour Organization (ILO) in 2018, globally, 24 million jobs could be created by the green economy by 2030.
Understanding Sustainability as a Career
A career in sustainability management aims at thriving the economy through the balanced use of resources so that they can be preserved for future generations. There are numerous career opportunities in sustainability management in India across healthcare, agriculture, government institutions, manufacturing, academics, research, etc. One can work as a consultant, energy manager, sustainability specialist, landscape architect, or ecologist and the role essentially involves enabling a balance between the environment, economy, society, and culture, with the help of sustainable solutions. A critical element of the role also includes the creation of an ecosystem of stakeholders who are conscious of their impact on climate and are willing to contribute positively.
Destination India for Sustainability Careers
With an ever-increasing number of Indian corporate leaders gaining over global giants; India has emerged as a major industrial force. As brands continue to grow, they are also increasingly becoming conscious of their social and environmental responsibilities, signifying that embracing sustainability has become a strategic imperative.
While organizations progress on the path to sustainability, there is an increasing need for suitable personnel who can ensure the incorporation of sustainability as a central tenet in business action. The Government of India is actively engaged in up-skilling and re-skilling candidates to meet the evolving demands. Established in 2015 to directly handle the Green Skill Development Programs of India, Skill Council for Green Jobs (SCGJ) is one of the most important initiatives by the Government of India.
Further, India’s COP26 commitment for net-zero emissions by 2070 will likely create a large number of new jobs in the climate sector as the country strives towards achieving this target. A report ‘Mission 2070: A Green New Deal for a Net-Zero India,’ released by WEF after India’s pledge at COP26, states that India’s transition to a green economy could create over 50 million jobs and have an economic impact of more than $1 trillion by 2030 which could increase to $15 trillion by 2070.
The report also notes that India will soon become a global green innovation hub, which when supported by other factors like Govt. initiatives for the development of green tech business incubators and R&D centers along with subsidies and incentives, will advance the growth of job opportunities in the country manifold. The strong focus of Union Budget 2022-23 on climate action is further set to give an impetus to career opportunities in sustainability.
Academic Courses on Sustainability
As social, environmental, and governance issues significantly influence a company’s decisions as well as its profits, it is becoming all the more critical for educational institutions to train future leaders in this emerging domain. A number of Indian universities now offer specialized courses in sustainability at graduate as well as postgraduate levels. Some of these institutes include Tata Institute of Social Sciences, IIT, IIM, IP, TERI, SIU, and XIMB amongst others. Additionally, there are various professional certificate courses on sustainable products, green economy, green marketing, green manufacturing, etc.
Such courses equip students with the skills and knowledge necessary for managing issues related to natural resources in a local, regional and global context. That said, we need to constantly revise the curriculum to match pace with evolving requirements. A requisite education policy and accreditations that support this talent pool creation is the need of the hour in the country. Additionally, climate science and environment should be a significant part of the school curriculum. Leading business organizations should also increasingly partner with educational institutions to help bridge the talent crunch. This will encourage more people to discover sustainability as a job opportunity.
Sustainability – the Next Big Job Wave in India
Sustainability is a great space to be in for any discerning individual as it accounts for a multi-dimensional evolution as employees positively impact climate action as part of their professional jobs.
As companies increasingly imbibe climate goals and ambitions as part of their business focus, the job market for sustainability will witness increasing growth. The increasing CSR focus of companies will also hasten this pace given the need for personnel specializing in sustainable development and natural resources management for these jobs.
While it is still early days for sustainability as a core business tenet, it is certainly set to become a mainstream function and one of the most popular career choices amongst other conventional careers in India.
