Green Paper on climate change to release low-carbon economy will not reduce employment

BEIJING, November 11 (Xinhua) The Low carbon economy will reduce labor input and lead to job cuts, but a recent empirical study by Cass suggests that this may not happen in reality. "If we can take positive measures to promote technological progress, the overall impact of low-carbon development policies on employment is very positive," said Pan, a researcher at the Center for Urban Development and environmental research at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. The results of the "preliminary study on the impact of Low-carbon development on China's employment" are listed in the newly published Green Paper on climate change. It claims that the global transition to a low-carbon economy is irreversible, as climate change has become an indisputable reality.　　Since 2008, the frequent emergence of extreme climatic phenomena and the green investment schemes launched by various countries and the promotion of green employment are enough to prove this. Pan that, because of the complementary effects of labour input and natural resources, it is clearly not good news for the job market that clean technology investment in theory often leads to fewer employees. However, the reality is not what people are worried about.　　A survey of 1500 companies in 5 EU countries suggests that investment in technology aimed at cutting costs will lead to shrinking employment, but environmentally friendly eco-innovation will still have a positive net effect on employment, particularly by extending technological innovation in the terminal sector to cleaner production processes for related products and services. Analysis shows that Low-carbon development on the one hand enhance the efficiency of the traditional energy sector, such as large units to replace small units, resulting in reduced demand for jobs; On the other hand, new energy technologies have led to new jobs in the energy sector, such as wind power, nuclear power, etc. Moreover, industries that use energy products can consume more energy products because of lower costs, or they can increase their production and employment with more investment because of cost savings.　　In addition, as the level of social productivity increases, people's income levels increase, so the purchasing power is increased, the total demand increases, which leads to more demand for new products and services, promotes further expansion of the economic system and leads to more employment in new sectors. Research by Pan and others has shown that investment in new technology that improves energy efficiency can lead directly to employment of about 10%, and 90% of new jobs come from the indirect and induced employment effects caused by the decline in the cost of power and the increase in related investments.