The think tank Policy Exchange (2017) also researched diversity in different occupations. They found in their research that, of the 202 occupations, farmers were the least diverse and environment professionals were ranked 201.
In a key 2014 US report by Dorceta Taylor (2015), commissioned by Green 2.0, ‘The State of Diversity in Environmental Organizations’ she highlights:
The current state of racial diversity in environmental organizations is troubling, and lags far behind gender diversity… Environmental jobs are still being advertised and environmental organizations recruit new employees in ways that introduce unconscious biases and facilitate the replication of the current workforce… Moreover, environmental organizations do not use the internship pipeline effectively to find ethnic minority workers
This challenge is being met by many organisations and individuals who campaign and have activities in the area. These include
Green 2.0
Black2Nature
www.yearofgreenaction.org/green‐actions/black2nature
Bird Girl
Diversity Joint Venture for Conservation Careers (DJV)
www.diversityinconservationjobs.org/about
Center for Diversity & the Environment
Student Conservation Association ‐ Career Discovery Internship Program
SACNAS – Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science
Women for Wildlife
Changing Patterns in ‘Hot Topics’ and Funding
If your aim is to develop a long‐term career in the environment sector, there are significant challenges in the fact that the areas of work that attract funding, and therefore offer more jobs, shift from year to year. Government funding priorities can have an immediate impact on the sector, such as announcements on support for areas such as wind power and solar. The classic way to respond to this is to become a generalist, with skills that enable you to shift across areas, but ultimately if your aim is to be, for example, a fisheries or ecology professional you need to develop your skills to enable you to develop a career in the area and to ride out any periods of recession in your sector. In the early 1990s when I graduated, there were few jobs being created in fisheries, but there was still ‘movement’ in the sector which enabled me to get a job and get on the career ladder.
The media hot topic of plastic pollution has increased the profile of water pollution, life cycle analysis, materials production, waste minimisation and management and recycling, but it has had minimal effect on global green jobs. However, the need for solar and wind energy, for multiple reasons including energy production diversity, lower energy costs, climate change response and non‐renewable resource limitations, has led to a rapid increase in global employment. The drivers for green jobs growth are many and varied. As noted earlier, a sensible approach is to develop skill sets which enable you to respond to sectoral changes but stick to the main core of the roles which led you to work in the green sector in the beginning.
However, there are a number of sectors displaying increasing investment and global jobs growth which are worth exploring if you want to develop a green career.
Fastest Growing Sectors
Renewable Energy
The renewable energy sector has experienced significant global growth in recent decades. As noted by Deloitte in their 2018 Deloitte Insight ‘Global Renewable Energy Trends’ article, renewables are becoming a ‘preferred’ energy choice globally. Deloitte’s report notes seven ‘enabling trends’ and ‘demand trends’ driving this process:
Enabling trends: price and performance parity, balancing the grid and new technology and innovation
Demand trends: smart cities, community energy, new emerging markets and growing corporate energy buying
Renewable energy offers a very good opportunity for jobs to migrate across to the green sector from traditional heavy industry roles. The sector has roles in areas, including manufacturing, site installation and engineering design, as well as research, environmental management, and impact assessment. This ‘role transferability’ makes it an attractive choice for governments globally, as the transition process for jobs, skills and infrastructure is streamlined, compared to implementing very ‘different’ new technologies. This book has a chapter on Renewables and Energy.
Fastest Growing Sectors
Environmental Consultancies
There has been a rapid growth in consultancies, especially global environmental and engineering consultancy firms, who have diversified their areas of work. Many have grown significantly through mergers and acquisitions. These mergers continue as key players in the sector seek to secure their positions as ‘super consultancies’.
The so‐called ‘Global 23’ companies (now called the ‘Global 22’ by Environment Analyst in 2019) dominate the global market with over 40% of the total global market. These companies include AECOM, Tetra Tech and Arcadis.
The services delivered by consultancies have developed significantly. There are a small number of global consultancies who are able to manage virtually any engineering, technical and environmental service needed, from building a dam or bridge to developing policies and strategies for governments. There are also many more specialised consultancies who offer services in more specific areas such as ecological surveys, planning, policy development and environmental restoration works. Increasingly, the more successful of these smaller consultancies are being swallowed through acquisition by larger consultancies who want to be able to offer further services and gather the clients of the smaller companies. There is also a pool of experienced independent individual consultants who are hired as freelancers by the larger consultancies as and when they are needed.
Consultancies have become increasingly global in their reach, operations and main offices. This also rings true for employment within these companies – many multinational organisations have teams of experts who work on a global basis, as well as considerable numbers of local staff. This opens an opportunity for global environmental careers in a diverse range of areas of employment. However, the limitations of working rules and visas for certain nationalities can complicate the flexibility for some staff to secure global roles within consultancies. This book has a chapter on Environmental Consultancy as this is a key area to consider for a green career.
1.6 The Limitations of Online Searches
The Internet is an amazing resource for job seekers, especially those in such a diverse field as the environment.