UN forecasts boom in green jobs  

The BBC reports on a UNEP report predicting a green jobs boom ahead - UN forecasts boom in 'green jobs'.

The UN says millions of new jobs will be created worldwide over the next few decades by the development of alternative energy technologies. More than a million people already work in biofuels, but a UN report says that could rise by 12 million by 2030.

It says "green jobs" depend on a shift of subsidies from oil and natural gas to wind, solar, and geothermal power. New jobs could also include the expansion of recycling and making environmentally friendly vehicles.

The report, 'Green Jobs: Towards Decent Work in a Sustainable, Low-Carbon World', was commissioned and funded by the UN's Environment Programme (Unep). It says the manufacture, installation and maintenance of solar panels should add 6.3 million jobs by 2030, while wind power should add more than two million jobs.

Unep director Achim Steiner said that if the world did not transform to a low-carbon economy it would "miss a major opportunity for the fast tracking of millions of new jobs".

The report was written before the current global economic crisis. However, Mr Steiner said that to ditch green energy policies because of the crisis would be a mistake because in the long term the new jobs will make economies stronger and help make goods with less oil and gas.