The Environmental Careers Guide 2010, published by the ENDS Report sheds new light on green and carbon careers over the past year.

David Carr of ENDS finds that the numbers employed in UK 'green jobs' has risen to a level of 900,000 with the range and scope of such jobs widening all the time:

"With talk of 400,000 new ‘green jobs’ to be created in the UK by 2020, there has never been a better time to embark upon, or progress within, a ‘green’ career."

The report also sheds light on the impact of the recession on environmental industries. As unemployment rose to 2.5 million while the environmental sector fared better in the recession than most other industries green jobs did not escape the wider carnage. While growth continued in some sectors, others were hard hit, particularly those linked to construction and development. Environmental consultancies also came under pressure with many forced to lay off staff or introduce flexible working patterns to stay afloat.

The report also finds that the UK is lagging behind its competitors in nurturing green industries. Whilst there are growing opportunities for those wishing to pursue an environmental career several hurdles will need to be overcome if the UK is to significantly expand its work force by 2020. ENDS finds the UK to be underperforming in boosting the workforce’s ‘green’ skills in particular and failing to deliver sufficient political and financial clout to secure the employment benefits of the shift to a low-carbon economy. Despite a number of widely welcomed policy announcements, the UK is likely to stumble in the green jobs race with skills shortages proving to be the main hurdle. Those in engineering in particular will be key to meeting the UK’s emissions reduction and renewable energy goals.

The full and detailed Environmental Careers Guide 2010 is available from the following link:

ENDS Environmental Careers Guide 2010

Source: ENDS