Climate Jobs

The document reports that there were over 4.1 million climate jobs in the United States in 2020, despite an 8% overall decline due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It breaks down employment by sector, noting that energy efficiency supported the most jobs (2.1 million), followed by energy transmission, distribution, and storage (763,000), and renewable energy (504,600). The report highlights growth in specific areas like electric vehicles and wind energy, and emphasizes the emerging field of climate adaptation and resilience. It concludes that significant further job creation is possible through federal investment and policies targeting renewable energy targets and the plugging of orphaned oil and gas wells.

• In 2020, the United States had over 4.1 million climate jobs, although the COVID-19 pandemic caused an 8% reduction in climate employment that year.
• Energy efficiency was the largest climate employment sector in 2020 with 2.1 million jobs, with the highest concentrations in California (283,800), Texas (152,100), New York (121,000), and Florida (108,900).
• Other significant 2020 employment sectors included energy transmission, distribution, and storage (763,000 jobs), renewable energy (504,600 jobs), clean vehicles (261,300 jobs), and renewable fuels (103,000 jobs).
• Climate adaptation and resilience is a growing field; the American Society of Adaptation Professionals represents members employing over 100,000 people, and it is estimated that $1 billion invested in flood resilience would create 40,000 jobs.
• Future growth potential is high: achieving 50 to 70 percent renewable energy by 2030 could create 500,000–600,000 jobs in solar, wind, and battery storage, while a national Clean Electricity Payment Program could create 7.7 million job-years over ten years.

APA

Bertrand, S. (2021). Climate Jobs. Environmental and Energy Study Institute. https://www.eesi.org/papers/view/fact-sheet-climate-jobs-2021

Chicago

Bertrand, Savannah. Climate Jobs. Environmental and Energy Study Institute, 2021. https://www.eesi.org/papers/view/fact-sheet-climate-jobs-2021.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Bertrand |first1=Savannah |title=Climate Jobs |publisher=Environmental and Energy Study Institute |date=23 September 2021 |url=https://www.eesi.org/papers/view/fact-sheet-climate-jobs-2021 |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{bertrand2021climate, author = {Bertrand, Savannah}, title = {{Climate Jobs}}, institution = {Environmental and Energy Study Institute}, year = {2021}, month = sep, url = {https://www.eesi.org/papers/view/fact-sheet-climate-jobs-2021}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }