Jobs in green and healthy transport: making the green shift

This study on jobs in green and healthy transport has been carried out in the context of the ongoing Partnership on Jobs in Green and Healthy Transport within the Transport, Health and Environment Pan-European Programme (THE PEP). The study continues the work of THE PEP on evaluating the job creation potential of green and healthy transport by reviewing the economy-wide employment implications of an accelerated shift towards greener land transport. The study shows how changes towards green and healthy transport alter the structure of sectors and jobs across [Economic Commission for Europe] ECE member States and also in other parts of the world, given that greening the transport sector activates different national, regional and global value chains and employment in different industries and areas of the world.

A macroeconomic multiregional input-output model has been used in this study to analyse the employment implications of four 'green transport' scenarios in the ECE region. Projections up to 2030 obtained using a business-as-usual scenario were compared with projections from the modelling of each of those four scenarios, which envisage an accelerated expansion of public transport and the electrification of private passenger and freight transport. The projections indicate that there would be diverse job impacts across the ECE region, as each country's transport sector is linked through various supply chains to other economic sectors within the same country and to sectors in other countries across the world. The analysis carried out for this report suggests that employment opportunities would indeed be opened up by the promotion of green and healthy transport in the ECE region. Stimulating the use of public transport by doubling investment (scenario 1) and making public transport free (scenario 2) could create at least 2.5 million additional jobs in the transport sector worldwide. This increases to at least 5 million jobs if the wider impact on other sectors of the economy is considered. More than half of these new jobs would be in the ECE region alone. It is important to stress that the analysis focuses on job creation, job reallocation and potential job destruction. As already noted, the extent to which the job creation projected under the various scenarios contributes to decent work falls outside the report's scope. Nevertheless, decent work should be a key priority in the transition to green and healthy transport as part of broader efforts to promote social development and sustainability.

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