China drives record growth in renewable energy jobs — report

DUBAI — A record 2.5 million jobs were created in the renewable energy sector in 2023, most of them in China, the International Renewable Energy Agency and International Labour Organisation (ILO) said on Tuesday.

Nearly two-thirds of the world's new solar and wind power capacity was installed in China, which added a total of 1.84 million renewable energy jobs, they said.

Global employment in the industry rose 18 per cent from 13.7 million to 16.2 million, Abu Dhabi-based IRENA and the ILO, a United Nations agency, said in a joint report.

But the report raised concerns about an "uneven global picture" with China accounting for 7.4 million jobs or 46 per cent of the total.

The sector employs 1.8 million people in the European Union, 1.56 million in Brazil and nearly a million in the United States and India.

However, "despite immense resource potential", Africa had only 324,000 renewable energy jobs as of last year, the report said.

"The story of the energy transition and its socio-economic gains should not be about one or two regions," IRENA director-general Francesco La Camera was quoted as saying.

"If we are all to fulfil our collective pledge to triple renewable power capacity by 2030, the world must step up its game and support marginalised regions in addressing barriers impeding their transitions progress."

The goal of tripling renewable energy capacity by 2030 was set at last year's COP28 UN climate talks in Dubai.

The report said solar panels, or solar photovoltaics, are the biggest employer with 7.2 million jobs globally, including 4.6 million in China.

Liquid biofuels employ 2.8 million, one-third of them in Brazil, while hydropower jobs shrank slightly from 2.5 million in 2022 to 2.3 million last year.

China and Europe accounted for 52 and 21 per cent respectively of the world's 1.5 million wind-power jobs, the report said.