As some analysts predict the financial crisis to be over, now the world looks to increasing its employment sector. Sustainable Energy Society of Southern Africa’s brand ambassador Irvan Damon said that studies have shown that 300,000 renewable energy jobs could be created in the next 10 years with 20,000 seen over the next two years. He said, “[The] government as well as key industry bodies have been focused on speeding up the local manufactur[ing] of key components for the green economy by focusing on local skills development programs.”
He added that by investing in green collar jobs, the manufacturing sector will also make South Africa more internationally competitive. “According to some, international experience has shown that programmes directed at the built environment can have a big impact and thus the greening of South Africa’s construction industry is important and could produce more jobs.”
Damon said that one of the biggest investors was China which has helped to produce over a million jobs alone with 600,000 in the solar water heating sector alone. Damon also noted that the government said that it wanted to create 5 million jobs in the next decade. “I believe that the renewable sector could be one of the primary drivers of not only helping to achieve this outcome locally, but also contributing to our competitive edge in the green-tech export market.”
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