UNEP Factsheet
May 2020

Green Jobs
“For millions of workers, no income means no food, no security andno future… As the pandemic and the jobs crisis evolve, the need toprotect the most vulnerable becomes even more urgent."
International Labour Organization, Director-General, Guy Ryder
Green jobs1 are core to the United Nations’ andUnited Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)’s
response to COVID-19 recovery packages. Amid all
the loss and tragedy of the pandemic, hundreds ofmillions of people have lost their jobs as a result of
the Great Lockdown. Building back better means
creating jobs that take our economies one stepfurther towards the 2030 Agenda and Paris
Agreement, by accelerating and scaling up
sustainable consumption and production.

COVID-19 and Green Jobs
By the end of April 2020, 2.3 billion workers wereliving in countries with mandatory or recommended
closures. Global working hours in the second
quarter of 2020 are expected to be 10.5 per centlower than in the last quarter, equivalent to a declineof 305 million full-time jobs.2
Four sectors have experienced the most drastic
effects: food and accommodation (144 millionworkers); retail and wholesale (482 million);business services and administration (157 million);and manufacturing (463 million); totalling 1.25 billion
workers around the world and representing almost
37.5 per cent of the global workforce. 3
The effect on small and medium sized enterprises is
especially severe, particularly because of higher
levels of vulnerability and lower resilience related totheir size.

1 Definition: https://www.ilo.org/global/topics/greenjobs/news/WCMS_220248/lang--en/index.htm
2 https://ilostat.ilo.org/topics/covid-19/
3 ILO Monitor: COVID-19 and the world of work. Third edition, ILO, 29 April
2020

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Sixty-one per cent of the world’s workers are
employed in informal sectors and most, if not all, areleft out of basic labour and social protections.4 5
Women are especially vulnerable as an estimated
70 per cent of the women’s employment in low
income economies is in the informal sector.

UNEP’s Response
UNEP is committed to supporting countries as they
recover from COVID-19 by focusing on sustainableconsumption and production, green and decent jobs
and just transition. UNEP can help countries to:Adopt an integrated approach to economic
recovery and job creation with a long-termview to enhance resilience.
Building tomorrow better will demand an integrated
approach to economic recovery that leaves no one
behind, mitigates future threats to lives andlivelihoods–including from climate change anddegradation of nature–and advances the 2030
Agenda. The Sustainable Development Goals
provide a globally agreed framework that can guidethe revival of economies and jobs.
UNEP will repurpose its outreach on sustainableliving and smart choices, focusing on insights fromthe response to COVID-19 and the emphasis on
health, well-being, and relationships, including withnature; and using low carbon lifestyle challenges
and campaigns to support healthier working lives.

4Bonnet, F., Vanek, J., & Chen, M. (2019). Women and men in the informal
economy: a statistical brief. International Labour Office, Geneva.
http://www. wiego. org/sites/default/files/publications/files/Women%
20and% 20Men% 20in% 20the% 20Informal, 20.
5 The COVID-19 crisis: income support to informal workers is necessary
and possible, OECD April 2020

Links to successful programmesThrough the Partnership for Action on Green
Economy, together with the International Labour
Organization, United Nations Development
Programme, United Nations Industrial
Development Organizations and United Nations
Institute for Training and Research, UNEP is
supporting countries to develop integrated
policies that address the immediate challengesof creating jobs and long-term prosperity, asenvisioned in the Agenda 2030. To support
policymakers, the Partnership for Action onGreen Economy has produced the Green Jobs
Training Guidebook, which focuses on
measuring and modeling social and employmentoutcomes of climate and sustainable
development policies. The model can be used tomeasure the impact of COVID-19.
Through the One Planet Network, a multistakeholder partnership for sustainable
development, formed to implement the 10-Year
Framework of Programmes, UNEP generates
collective impact through six programmes thatare key to a green COVID-19 recovery: tourism;
food systems; buildings and construction;
consumer information, lifestyles and education ;and public procurement.

Global Network for Resource Efficient andCleaner Production with the UN Industrial
Development Organization.

Links to successful programmes
In partnership with the Resource Efficient andCleaner Production Network 7, UNEP has
supported small and medium-sized enterprises
to build more resilient value chains by adding
sustainability at the core of their businessstrategy:• By working on joint sustainable solutions tocommon problems, significant shared gains
can be achieved with better commercial,environmental and social value;• With lower production costs through greater
material or production efficiency, minimized
waste, optimization of distribution channels
and reduced lead-time;• Good relationships through the value chain
approach help develop proactive
communication on emerging challenges andrisks to adapt; and• Producers that rely less or not exclusively on
import supplies (for example, by sourcing
certain materials locally or through on-siterecycling) are less prone to the crisis.
http://unep.ecoinnovation.org/successstories/

Provide targeted support for micro and smallscale enterprises to build resilience throughsustainable and responsible value chains.
UNEP will work through its global and regional
programmes to stimulate recovery of micro andsmall-scale enterprises through partnerships with
UN agencies, finance, government and private
sector institutions. UNEP has several inter-agency
flagships, such as the Partnership for Action on
Green Economy, One Planet network, Global
Opportunities for Sustainable Development
Goals, and Green Growth Knowledge Platform,
which can support efforts to reach small andmedium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as they build
circularity and resource efficiency into recovery
efforts and business plans.
UNEP will support countries and SMEs to revitalize
markets and value chains for green and sustainableproducts6, using high impact partnerships such as
the One Planet network Programmes and theWork with the financial sector to play an integral
positive impact role.
Accelerate UNEP’s work with the financial sector tohelp economies recover from the crisis. In the shortterm, this would mean providing the liquidity fundingthat companies need to stay solvent and maintainemployees on the payroll. In the mid-term, thiswould mean helping governments channel a
combination of stimulus funding and private capital
towards new forms of development that assist
communities in building back better.
UNEP Finance Initiative members are supporting
companies to sustain their business during andbeyond the crisis, in line with the Principles forResponsible Banking8.
Green fiscal reforms can also channel public financefor Sustainable Development Goal-aligned labour
8 https://www.unepfi.org/banking/bankingprinciples/responsiblebanking-in-the-covid-19-crisis/

7 https://www.recpnet.org/

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market recovery and reallocate scarce resources
towards priority relief measures. Governments
could, for example, use the unprecedented oil pricedrop to remove inefficient, environmentally harmful
subsidies, like fossil fuel subsidies, to create fiscal
space, incentivize increased green economy activity
and jobs, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Link to successful programmesAs custodian agency for Sustainable
Development Goal indicator 12.c.1 (amount offossil fuel subsidies per unit of Gross Domestic
Product), UNEP supports countries inmonitoring and reporting the indicator. Othergreen fiscal policy options like environmental
taxation (e.g. carbon taxes) and green
budgeting can also contribute toenvironmentally sustainable COVID-19 relief
and recovery, helping create jobs and revenue,
while contributing to various Sustainable
Development Goals and the Paris Agreement
and preserving the macro-economic stability ofcountries.
UNEP supports countries on green fiscal policy
reform through the Partnership for Action on
Green Economy and through the Green Fiscal
Policy Network 9, a collaboration between
UNEP, the International Monetary Fund andGerman Gesellschaft für Internationale
Zusammenarbeit for knowledge exchange andcountry dialogue on green fiscal policy
experiences and best practices. This work will
also be supported through UNEP Finance
Incentive’s Responsible Banking andPositive Impact Finance.

Way Forward
UNEP is committed to using its expertise and global
platforms and networks to provide immediate
support to countries in their response to the COVID19 crises; and will continuously evaluate
opportunities with UN agencies, the One Planet
Network, the financial sector and other partners to
support countries towards a green recovery that
advances sustainable consumption and production
through circular approaches and other means tocreate green and decent jobs.

Contacts:
Elisa Tonda (elisa.tonda@un.org)
Adad Naqvi (asad.naqvi@un.org)
Charles Arden-Clarke (charles.ardenclarke@un.org)
Steven Stone (steven.stone@un.org)
Eric Usher (eric.usher@un.org)