Realizing the Green Jobs Promise

The document argues that simply framing the clean energy transition as a trade-off between fossil fuel jobs lost and green jobs gained is insufficient and risks undermining public support. While citing data that renewables created over 12 million jobs by 2021, it highlights widespread skepticism and growing global inequality driven by climate change, technology, urbanization, and migration. The authors propose a shift toward 'regenerative capitalism' and a 'Great Regeneration' to foster a more equitable and sustainable global economy.

• Market-driven innovation in the transition to a carbon-free economy is projected to create between two and six green jobs for every fossil fuel job lost, with renewables alone accounting for over 12 million jobs as of 2021.
• Narrowly focusing on job numbers as a direct trade-off between fossil fuel and clean energy employment may jeopardize political and popular support for the transition, especially given existing pessimism regarding wealth inequality.
• The U.N.’s World Social Report 2020 identifies four megatrends—climate change, technological innovation, urbanization, and international migration—that are increasing inequality for over 70 percent of the global population.

APA

RMI (2023). Realizing the Green Jobs Promise. https://rmi.org/resources/realizing-the-green-jobs-promise/

Chicago

RMI. Realizing the Green Jobs Promise. 2023. https://rmi.org/resources/realizing-the-green-jobs-promise/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=RMI |title=Realizing the Green Jobs Promise |date=16 February 2023 |url=https://rmi.org/resources/realizing-the-green-jobs-promise/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{rmi2023realizing, author = {{RMI}}, title = {{Realizing the Green Jobs Promise}}, institution = {RMI}, year = {2023}, month = feb, url = {https://rmi.org/resources/realizing-the-green-jobs-promise/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }