BANGKOK, Thailand (ILO News) – ILO and development partners from Asia and the Pacific highlighted the importance of green jobs and saw discussion on ways to increase access to green jobs for youth in a webinar held on 24 April 2023.

With the rise in climate change related issues, youth in the Asia-Pacific region have begun to seek careers that place a priority on achieving environmental sustainability and promoting the circular economy. The webinar on the topic of Green Jobs for Youth in Asia and the Pacific showcased examples of green jobs for youth from the region and shared successful initiatives.

Eric Roeder, ILO Technical Specialist on Green Jobs and Climate Action and Resilience, highlighted the key components of green jobs, defined by the ILO as any decent job that contributes to preserving or restoring the environment.

He highlighted the urgent need to accelerate the transition from the linear economy to the circular economy as this transition has the potential to create more job opportunities for young people.

“Young people are quick to find innovative ways to reduce waste and remove environmentally harmful materials from the business production process and therefore quicken the transition to a circular economy,” Roeder said.

Dinh-Long Pham, Youth Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation Coordinator at UNDP Bangkok Regional Hub, detailed the UNDP and ILO’s joint efforts in providing green jobs training for Youth in Asia Pacific through the Movers Programme, which centered on educating youth on the green economy and providing them with ways to move towards a green profession. The programme's participants were able to hear from green entrepreneurs from different fields and learn about the three channels of green transition, namely: green careers, greening jobs, and green entrepreneurship.

The webinar was the fourth in a series under the Building Youth Capacity and Network in Asia Pacific project funded by the Government of Japan which aims to develop a network of development partners and youth, to equip young entrepreneurs with the skills needed to start their own business and become drivers of sustainable growth.

For further information please contact:

Mr Akira Kawasaki
Technical Officer on Entrepreneurship and SME development
ILO Decent Work Technical Support Team – Bangkok
Email: kawasaki@ilo.org

Audrey Samuel
Intern – Entrepreneurship and SME Development
ILO Decent Work Technical Support Team – Bangkok
Email: Samuela@iloguest.org