The Green Economy is growing at an incredible rate, and good green jobs are being created the world over. Unfortunately, Canada's investment is lagging behind that of other countries. And as the race for green jobs heats up, Canada is falling behind.
Check out some of these facts:
- Canadians have missed out on approximately 66,000 jobs because the federal government has failed to match the U.S. in renewable energy investments.
- Globally, as of March 2010, an estimated $531 billion had been allocated to ‘green stimulus’ measures aimed at building the clean energy economy and creating new jobs
- But Canada dedicated less of its stimulus spending to clean energy than Mexico, the U.S., Australia, China and South Korea.
These Green Stimulus measures are successfully creating jobs in other countries, and allowing for green economic growth
- In the U.S. Employment in manufacturing for the wind industry has grown rapidly, from 2,500 jobs in 2004 to 18,500 in 2009.
- Germany had 278,000 workers employed in renewable energy in 2008, a 73 per cent increase since 2004.
- Green manufacturing in Germany is expected to produce more jobs than the country’s auto industry within the next two decades.
- Denmark has increased its GDP by close to 80% since 1980 with only a minimal increase in energy use.
- Britain is counting on a new green industrial strategy to drive job growth and is investing more than $300 million in the sector with a target of creating 260,000 jobs in green energy alone.
Perhaps one of the most surprising developments is the stunning rate at which China is investing in green energy.
- Amazingly, China invested almost twice as much in clean energy projects last year as did the U.S., and China is now the most attractive country to wind developers
- China employed 1.12 million people in renewable energy jobs in 2008.
- In 2009, China added 37 gigawatts of renewable capacity, which accounts for nearly half the global total for 2009 of 80 gigawatts
- China's total renewable capacity is now 226 gigawatts, dwarfing the 144 gigawatts of its nearest rival, the United States
- Investment in China's clean-energy companies by the financial sector hit US$33.7 billion last year — a 53% increase over 2008 and more than the $32.3 billion invested in North and South America combined.
- Last month, China's National Energy Administration announced a ten-year, 5-trillion-yuan (US$738-billion) plan that will help China realize its stated target of 500 gigawatts of renewable-energy capacity by 2020 — nearly one-third of the nation's projected power capacity for that year.
