China Leads The Way In Record Employment Growth Within Renewable Energy Sector

With 2.5 million new employment created globally in 2023, the renewable energy sector saw a notable increase, mostly due to China's substantial contributions.

Solar panels under construction at the Ningxia Tengger Desert New Energy Base, Zhongwei, China, May 9 Photo Credit: AFP file photo

With 2.5 million new employment created globally in 2023, the renewable energy sector saw a notable increase, mostly due to China’s substantial contributions.

With a total of 1.84 million renewable energy jobs, China has developed roughly two-thirds of the world’s new solar and wind power capacities, according to a joint report released by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and the International Labour Organisation (ILO). With this rise, the number of jobs in the industry worldwide increased by 18%, from 13.7 million to 16.2 million.

However, the report highlighted a concerning disparity in job distribution worldwide, with China accounting for 7.4 million jobs, representing 46 per cent of the total. In contrast, the European Union employs 1.8 million individuals in the renewable energy sector, with Brazil and the United States each contributing nearly a million jobs. Alarmingly, Africa only saw 324,000 renewable energy jobs despite its vast resource potential.

IRENA’s director-general, Francesco La Camera, emphasised the necessity of ensuring that the energy transition benefits all regions, stating, “The story of the energy transition and its socio-economic gains should not be about one or two regions.”

He further urged the global community to intensify efforts to support marginalised regions in overcoming barriers to their energy transition progress, particularly in line with the goal to triple renewable power capacity by 2030, set during last year’s COP28 UN climate talks in Dubai.

The report identified solar photovoltaics as the primary employment generator within the sector, providing 7.2 million jobs globally, including 4.6 million in China.

Liquid biofuels account for 2.8 million jobs, with one-third based in Brazil. Conversely, employment in hydropower has seen a slight decline, decreasing from 2.5 million jobs in 2022 to 2.3 million in 2023. Additionally, the wind power sector is predominantly supported by China and Europe, which collectively account for 73 per cent of global wind-power employment, with respective shares of 52 per cent and 21 per cent.