Young People in a Green Economy Discussion paper on Green Economy and Youth Employment

Sbastien Duyck, Michaela Hogenboom, Ben Vanpeperstraete

" Investing in youth training and employment to build the necessary skills base for the greening of economies which could enhance participation in the development process and their equitable sharing in the roles of development.."

Make it one of the high-order outcomes of Rio

(Table of Content) Executive Summary 0. Preface 1. Introduction 2. Setting the stage a. Green Economy: a primer b. Youth employment 3. Green Economy and Youth a. Views of governments and stakeholders on Employment and the Green Economy b. Youth Perspectives c. Status quo - impact of Green Economy 4. Youth-enhanced green economy a. Increased youth hiring b. Increased employability c. Increased entrepreneurship 5. Recommendations - Governance, policies and measures to improve youth in GESDPE a. General recommendations b. Increased youth hiring c. Increased employability d. Increased entrepreneurship e. International cooperation Annexes I. Bibliography II. Synthesis table of submissions

(Executive Summary)
For a transition to a green economy to deliver solutions to the challenges of poverty eradication and sustainable development, it will need to be able to enable job creation at a large scale in order to provide livelihood to an increasing number of men and women. In this context, and considering that 33.000 young people are expected to enter the job market daily between now and 2050, the degree to which this generation will be effectively integrated into the active work force will undeniably be a determining factor of the success of the transition to a green economy. The Zero Draft of the outcome document of the Rio+20 UN Conference on Sustainable Development addresses the issue of the creation of green jobs and social inclusion within the frame of the green economy. However it lacks references to the measures needed in order to specifically empower the young generation who represent a significant number of todays population, build on young peoples energy and creativity to address the current youth unemployment crisis. The analysis of the inputs submitted by states to the process leading to the Rio+20 conference also highlighted that, which many states consider young people as one of the most vulnerable group in the context of the current economic crises, few of them highlighted their unique potential to create jobs and support a prompt transition to a green economy. This discussion paper aims at providing concrete suggestions to address these three elements, responding to the following question:

How can the transition to the Green Economy build on the capacity of young people and thus address the growing issue of youth unemployment?

This discussion paper identified four main tracks for policies and actions to support youth employment in the context of the green economy: enhancing youth hiring though targeted policies, increasing the employability of young people through the development of relevant competences, supporting the entrepreneurship of young people with positive incentives, and last but not least international cooperation. a. General Recommendations: Consider youth as an asset for a green economy Encourage the development of national action plans for scaling up youth employment and employment creation through greening of economies

 Make an in-depth analysis of the impact of the transition on the availability and accessibility of jobs for youth and women Implement a youth-guarantee in national macro-economic policies as a whole and format green economy strategies as a crucial building block of such a youth-guarantee Support employment of young graduates in global south as development policy b. Enhancing youth hiring: Continue to facilitate a smooth and efficient school-to-work transition all the while promoting job quality and skills matching Create subsidies and fiscal incentives for employers to hire young people by e.g. discounting social fees and taxes Create jobs that are earmarked for youth Ensure youth participation in economic decision-making c. Increasing youth skills for a green economy: Use skills and education as an central dimension to define the green economy; Acknowledge and actively support non-formal education and voluntarism; Address the potential technical skill miss-match by subsidizing technological studies specialized in green technologies; Create a frame for study loans for green jobs with job guarantee Foster multi-stakeholders collaboration to equip students and pupils with the skills for the green job market Stimulate continuous professional activity for young job-seekers within a green economy Enable progressive green professionalization of youth in vocational training d. Empowering youth entrepreneurship: Foster the development of entrepreneurial competencies Provide an enabling environment for the creation of youth-led micro enterprises through seeds funding Establish knowledge assistance and mentorship

e. International cooperation: Develop a global strategy on youth employment based on green economy concept Global partnership on youth employment Integrate green professional skills acquisition as an element of the final years and follow-up of Decade of Education for Sustainable Development Mainstream the decent work agenda in the Sustainable Development Goals while paying specific attention to young people.

Preface

As one of the leading advocates and practitioners for the engagement and involvement of young people in environmental issues, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) develops and runs several global and regional initiatives, activities and networks to foster a generation of environmentally conscious citizens, capable of positive action. One such activity is the UNEP Tunza Youth Conference that brings youth from different countries, background and networks together to provide them with opportunities to showcase their environmental practices, share experiences and learn from one another and from experts, and at the same time to reinforce UNEPs work with young people and to use best environmental practices developed by young people to inspire others to take action. In 2011, UNEP organized a series of 6 regional and one global youth conference, with a central theme of 'Reshaping our Future through a Green Economy and Sustainable Lifestyles. Both the regional and global conferences discussed the role of young people in sustainable development and brought forward a youth input to the Rio+20 conference. The conference culminated with the Bandung Declaration which raised the profile of the Green Economy as "the only integrated framework that is truly sustainable, placing human well-being, social equity and environmental protection on equal footing." Youth also highlighted their concern over jobs, but not just any job: jobs that are fulfilling, worthwhile, decent and contribute to an acceleration of sustainable development. As the voice of children and youth in Bandung for Rio+20 reflecting the sense of urgency that young people cannot wait another generation (until a Rio+40) before the world acts, and that the Green Economy is their only future, and every efforts and action should be taken to fast forward a Green Economy.

Introduction
The Green Economy is a policy concept receiving increased attention and steady prominence in the current global political agenda. The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20 conference) scheduled for June 2012, is expected to take on the Green Economy in the context of Sustainable Development and Poverty Eradication (GESDPE) as one of its central themes and focus on how governments from around the world could come together and effectively support, move forward and deliver on the green economy agenda. However promising this concept is to shift our global economy to safe planetary operating margins, there is still some work to explore the challenges and opportunities of such a Green Economy. UNEP's Green Economy Report offers a contribution to this discussion, setting a firm foundation for debate but also leaving quite some questions open. This paper aims to offer a complementing perspective - Background The discussion on the green economy started in response to one of the most serious economic, ecologic and social crisis in modern history which led to the collapse of global market mechanism, a degraded environment and a further impoverishment of the poorest of the poor, putting their lives in jeopardy. As much as the concept of the green economy is at the highest level of the political agenda today, from the outset, this paper would like to acknowledge, the existence of ideological and conceptual divides on the definition of and what it means to different countries. Hence, this paper will follow the frame offered by the upcoming Rio+20 Conference by contextualising this Green Economy within Sustainable Development and Poverty Eradication. The purpose of this paper is not to define what a green economy is, rather what it can do to support youth employment while steering the global economy to operate into safe planetary boundaries. Indeed, one group that continues to suffer from the ramification of the global crisis is youth. Living in a world against a background of rising youth unemployment and decades long of systemic social problems which have not been addressed, postponed or completely overlooked. The global crisis has exacerbated this situation while putting young people in even worse conditions. Recent events like the Arab Spring and the Occupy Movement are clear signs of dissatisfaction and a reaction questioning the current system and order among young people globally. Not only are youth particularly affected by the global crises, but our societies currently fail to benefit fully from the creativity and dynamism inherent to youth. The UNEP-led Green Economy Initiative, launched in late 2008, and its flagship Green Economy Report: Towards a Green Economy: Pathways to Sustainable Development and Poverty Eradication proposes tools and policy options how to create decent jobs and eliminate persistent poverty by investing in green sectors and in greening environmental unfriendly

sectors. However, the report does not shed light on the role of youth in the green economy. The entire report mentions youth once, in relation to employment in tourism. But in the context of the Rio+20 process, the shared statement by the UN System Chief Executives Board (CEB) on the Outcome of Rio+20 include both youth and green jobs when listing a range of priority issues that warrant particular attention. (2011:2) Furthermore, UNEP secretariats input to the compilation document for Rio+20 states: investing in youth training and employment to build the necessary skills base for the greening of economies and to secure participation in the development process and their equitable sharing in the benefits of development (Rio Principle 21) (2011a: 3)as one of the high-order outcomes. Additionally, the input document stresses the need to invest in the next generation, which is the current youth, in order to address the pressing issues of todays global It is also worth noting that a transition towards a sustainable society and a livable future seem to be a general priority for young people involved in policy formulation. In the various youth workshops organized by UNEPs TUNZA-programme young people expressed their interest and concerns whether green jobs will be youth jobs. Therefore, in this paper, the central message builds on the concerns raised by young people in strong calls for action such as the Bandung Declaration and other youth submissions to the Rio+20 conference. The submission of the Major Group of Children and Youth provides a powerful echo stating that: young people request bolds steps to achieve this. According to young people, a green economy should cultivate societal and cultural well-being and thriving and resilient natural ecosystems. The transition to a green economy will require an improved notion of well-being, measured with indicators beyond just GDP, that fully take into account the limits of our common planetary and social boundaries. This paper is written with the aim to provide food for thought to the role young people could play in developing a Green Economy. A specific focus is given to the green-collar jobs in the Green Economy that would be taken up by youth. The paper touches upon employment creation, employability, entrepreneurship and international cooperation in order to provide recommendations for policies and actionable measures to improve youth employment through the GESDPE. The main question that will be addressed in this paper is: How can the transition to the Green Economy build on the capacity of young people and thus address the growing issue of youth unemployment? To answer this question accurately, first of all the stage will be set with exploring the concept of the Green economy and exploring the current state of youth unemployment. Secondly, the role of young people and green economy will be explored with a focus on employment, followed by a closer look at a youth-enhanced green economy. We finish with a set of recommendations for the upcoming Rio+20 process.

Setting the stage

a. Green Economy: a primer
As mentioned earlier, the Green Economy emerged recently as a central policy-concept within debates on sustainable development. However, its appeal and intuitive understanding tend to mask a lack of common definition and consensus on what the concept signifies. Hence a discussion on a satisfying consensus on what the Green Economy actually means is still ongoing. - The Green Economy Initiative One of the most prominent entrepreneurs in defining the Green Economy is the United Nations Environmental Programme. UNEP has launched the Green Economy Initiative as one of its flagships and the resulting Green Economy Report plays a major role in creating understanding on the green economy. It defines a green economy as one that results in improved human wellbeing and social equity, while significantly reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities. (2010: 30). It makes this more concrete by calling a green economy low carbon, resource efficient and socially inclusive. (2011b: 16) Its Green Economy Initiative builds on earlier calls of UNEP for a Global Green New Deal (2008) as a strategy to tackle the financial and economic crisis while at the same time solving others such as the energy and climate crisis.1 The Global Green New Deal echoes the Roosevelt New Deal 75 years earlier, by arguing that a pro-active investment is one of the best way to rise up to the financial crisis. These range from major structural changes to national and international financial systems including taxation coupled with a sustained investment in energy conservation and renewable energy generation (NEF, 2008) in order to set steps to a third industrial revolution not only in the field of energy, but in all sectors relevant for natural resource use. (Green European Foundation 2008: 53) More concretely, the central argument of UNEP in its Green Economy Report is not only to green the existing sectors of the brown economy by replacing existing activities with more environmentally friendly ones, but also to advance the improvement of the natural capital and an investment in nature as a key concept in the design of an economy. Hence, the report abandons the idea that there is a trade-off between improving economic and ecological capital. Instead it argues that efforts to improve nature and developing economy could mutually reinforce each other. It combines classical policy instruments such as standards and fiscal tools together with a business case to invest in environmental services. For the latter, it draws upon work such as The Economics of Ecosystem services and Biodiversity (TEEB) which puts a price on the contribution of ecosystems to a given economic system (e.g. the purification of water by a
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The lead author Mr. Shukdev, joins a range of thinkers who saw green as a way to escape the nascent crisis. (for example see Jones 2008, Friedmann 2008, the New Economics Foundation 2008 and the Green European Foundation 2008)

forest). According to UNEP this re-orientation of the economy should be a new engine for jobcreation. Hence, the initiative aims to give guidance on pro-poor green investment in both private and public sector. - Other views on a green economy The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) from their side propose to see the Green Economy in terms of green growth which it defines as promoting economic growth while reducing pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, minimising waste and inefficient use of natural resources, and maintaining biodiversity. Green growth means improving health prospects for populations and strengthening energy security through less dependence on imported fossil fuels. It also means making investment in the environment a driver for economic growth. (Visser 2010: 4) The OECD therefore proposes a definition that focuses mainly on green eco-efficiency as such. This makes issues such as employment invisible while providing an almost exclusive focus on the growth potential. Previous approaches seem to focus to a great extent to the production side of the economy. The idea of Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) offers a more global approach on how a green economy could take shape from both a offer and demand side. Achieving SCP requires both a changing behaviour of consumers as well as the drivers that influence product life cycles. According to the SCP paradigm, reducing the impact of production is not enough and the consumption part should be factored into the equation. For example, one is required to address the rebound effect whereby reductions in the intensity of material and energy usage and the subsequent reduction in the costs can lead consumers to demand and buy more products overall. Thus the final result is an increased pressure on the environment in absolute terms. Though broader in scope, SCP experiences will certainly contribute to the definition of Green Economy, by amongst other raising the dimension of consumption, as well as contributing to the formulation of strategies to achieve the Green Economy. Also noteworthy are a circular economy (Peoples Republic of China 2008), Cradle to Cradle (Braungart and McDonough 2002) and the Blue Economy (Pauli 2010). The main idea here is to close material cycles within production and consumption. These frameworks hope to offer a coherent model as part of a response to end of abundant energy and materials by proposing feedback rich systems instead of linear production and consumption cycles. They propose to look at the economic production and consumption system from a systems approach where waste becomes food and diversity a strength. A more radical critique is to be found within the Club of Rome proposing with their seminal report the limits of growth a zero-growth concept for the economy where planetary boundaries are a central idea. Later the Club of Rome assessed the need to reduce our resource consumption with a factor four (Von Weiszacker 1997) in order to provide reasonable living standards within planetary boundaries. Hence, technological innovation and resource-efficiency would not suffice to keep human induced destruction of the environment without addressing its root cause namely growth.

The whole quest for growth is therefore also questioned. Indeed, if we would consider the damages caused to the environment in our measurement of growth, we would often find that the wealth of countries is not growing or is even decreasing, despite current indicators suggesting otherwise (Latouche 2003). In return, an economy within planetary boundaries should be a steady state economy (Daly 1977 and Constanza 1991). A similar critique can be found by further questioning the need for growth and proposing de-growth economies focusing on social redistribution (Victor 2008 and Jackson 2009). To conclude, a lot of stakeholders and experts discussing the green economy do not define the concept comprehensively. Another major area where perspectives differ relate to the definition of which economic sector can be considered as being part of the green economy, low-carbon energy being cited most often, followed by construction, transportation and agriculture. The deployment of new innovation and technologies also seems to be a central assumption. As such the Green Economy seems to be founded a strong optimism of achieving environmental gains through (almost exclusively) technological innovation and modernisation (see Mol 2001; Spaargaren, Mol and Buttel 2001, Dickens 2004) and state that the economy has to gain seriously by moving to environmentalism. Hence there seems to be a broad consensus claiming that environmental productivity can be a key driver for growth in pretty much the same way that labour and capital productivity have done in the past. - A green economy, employment and poverty eradication There seems to be an implicit agreement that a move to a green economy would create more jobs. But some caveats apply. Many green economy proposals are simply requiring the substitution of traditional production processes with more resource-efficient and environmentally friendly ones. As such, they dont necessarily contribute to job-creation and in some cases might even contribute to job loss as economic agents figure out how to produce goods with fewer inputs. Furthermore, a significant lesser space is to the quality of jobs. Few publications such as the UNEP-ILO 2008 report and the book by Van Jones do seem to focus on dimensions of quality job defined in terms of an appropriate salary with benefits and opportunities for advancement. Van Jones for example defines a green collar job as a well-paid, career track job that contributes directly to preserving or enhancing environmental quality. Hence, the Rio+20 conference consciously puts Green Economy in the Context of Sustainable Development and Poverty Eradication. This can be interpreted as a clear political engagement that a Green Economy should be more than mere resource efficient production processes and needs to be framed in existing language about Sustainability. This includes both the idea of meeting needs by designing the green economy to become a pro-poor job engine as well as an instrument to keep production and consumption well within planetary boundaries.

b. Youth employment

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- Defining youth Before we look at youth unemployment, lets define youth. The United Nations defines youth as persons aged between 15 and 24. Other institutions such as the WHO and organizations stretch the boundary for youth to 30 years. UNESCO (2011) understands and acknowledges that young people are a heterogeneous group in constant evolution and that the experience of being young varies enormously across regions and within countries. It hints to a more qualitative definition of youth as the transitional period between childhood and adulthood. The Global Employment Trends for Youth Report (ILO 2010) however states that if one aims to measure youth on the labour market, the statistical definition of 15 to 24 years may no longer be useful. One the one hand more and more young people postpone their entry into labour markets well beyond the age of 25. Alternatively, there are plenty of cases, especially in the developing world, where the typical age of entry into the labour market may be below that of 15 years. Hence, the delineation between youth and child labour become blurred. (ILO 2010) Therefore, the need arises for definition of youth which is inclusive enough to encompass the larger age-range of individuals to analyze the youth dimension in the green economy. This report will whenever possible use a more comprehensive definition of youth in order to include a broader age range than the official UN definition. We hope to encompass not strictly youth as an age but also as a personal situation of young individuals, which frames the relationship towards employment. - Framing youth unemployment Another crucial element is how to frame the issue of youth unemployment. Whereas some publications tend to measure the number of unemployed young people as a percentage of the active labour population this gives potentially a distorted view. The ILO proposes in for example its recent report (2010a) the unemployment to population ratio. This frames the number of unemployed towards the youth population as a whole instead of just those active in the labour market. This indicator has the benefit of providing a more robust picture as a whole, as it factors in situations where there are more alternatives for unemployment. Full time education on a large scale leads to lower rates of labour market participation and can potentially distort statistics2. However, in its follow up report the ILO uses the unemployment rate which measures how many young people who are active on the labour market are unemployed. It demonstrates that while

Employment ratio is the number of unemployed divided by the active part of the labour market population. For example we compare France and Britain who have a both around 7 million young people. (Both countries have around 700.000 unemployed. Both have a comparable unemployment to total population ration of about 9%. However, because of a lower labour market participation in France (35,2% against 64,5% in the UK) it makes unemployment rates significantly higher (28% against 15% in the UK). This lower labour market participation is mainly due to high access to higher education. See Threlfall 2002 for a detailed discussion.

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imperfect, unemployment rates are often the only statistical material available and should be interpreted with caution on what they mean. Thus, focusing on the NEETs (Not in Education, Employment or Training) offers a helpful perspective on youth unemployment. According to the ILO it captures the non-utilized labour potential of the youth population, including young people who are unemployed as well as those who are inactive for reasons other than participation in education (thus including discouraged workers but also persons who are inactive for other reasons such as disability or engagement in household duties). It is especially this group which is not employed and doesnt have access to education and training as an alternative that is at risk and thus seems as a key priority in strategies aimed at tackling youth unemployment. However, data on NEETs is not always available which makes it difficult to use systematically. - The adverse effect of the crisis on youth employment In the current context of continued economic instability, youth faces increasing uncertainty in their hopes of participating satisfactory in the labour market. The ILO states that global youth unemployment (15-24 years old) stood at 13 percent at the end of 2009, equivalent to 81 million young people. Thats an increase of 7.8 million since 2007, prior to the global crisis. In the height of the crisis period, between 2008-9, the largest annual increase in global youth unemployment ever recorded was noted rising up to one per cent. A year later, the ILO states that the number of unemployed youth (aged 1524) is estimated to have declined to 77.7 million youth which equals 12.6 per cent in 2010, which is still well above the pre-crisis level. Yet, the unemployment rate understates the vast negative impact of the crisis on youth employment as the number of youth having dropped out of or delayed their entry into the labour market between 2007 and 2009 is estimated at 1.7 million. While some have the luxury of entering into training or education, there is an immense pool of discouraged youth on top of the large increase in youth unemployment. For those who become discouraged and drop out of the labour market are not included in the unemployed rate, they suffer from a lack of employment opportunities and all of the negative social and economic impacts that go along with this. Youth unemployment has proven more sensitive to economic shocks than adult unemployment. There is no doubt that the global jobs crisis has hit young people hard: of the worlds estimated 211 million unemployed people in 2009 a whopping 81 million were youth, which is nearly 40 per cent. Moreover the projections expect a longer recovery for youth compared to adults. Earlier experiences have demonstrated that it takes, on average, over 11 years for youth unemployment to return to pre-recession levels which can lead to adverse inter-generational effects. In its World of Work report the ILO (2010b) states that young men and women have been disproportionately affected since the onset of the crisis.

- Regional perspectives on youth unemployment

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Generally, youth unemployment is a pressing issue in both developing and developed economies. As most developing economies have a larger share of young people working in less-fixed establishments, like engagement in the informal economy through self-employment or family business, these young workers in the lower-income regions have been less visibly impacted by the crisis in terms available data on unemployment. Countries where education is readily accessible and affordable could also lead to distorted statistics. In Latin America, evidence proves that the crisis adds youth to the ranks of vulnerable employment and informal sector employment with an increase in the share of teenagers engaged in informal sector employment during the crisis (ILO 2010). In 2009, the economically active youth (15-24) amount to 620 million of which approximately 350 million (or 56 per cent) live in the Asia Pacific region. More than 36.4 million of these Asian Pacific youth are unemployed which amounts up to 54.1 % of the total unemployed in the region. The Middle East, with an overall unemployment rate of 10.3 per cent in 2009, has the highest regional rate in the world, demonstrating that the labour market as a whole in this region is highly affected by the crisis. The youth unemployment rate was nearly 40%, thus a fourfold of the average. In North Africa, an alarming 23.6 per cent of economically active young people were unemployed in 2010, with a specially challenging situation for young women. It is often argued that youth unemployment is one of the underlying reasons for the Arab Spring. In the European Union region and other developed economies, youth unemployment rose as well in 2010, with 18.2 per cent, compared to 12.4 per cent in 2007. Because of high enrollment in education and training this drops to 8.9% of unemployed to population ratio in 2009 which is significantly higher than the 6.6% a year earlier. The unemployment rate declined from 20.8 per cent in 2009 to 18.9 per cent in 2010 in Central and South-Eastern Europe (non-EU) and the Commonwealth of Independent States region but still remains well above pre-crisis levels. - Inequalities in youth unemployment When discussing the situation of youth on the labour market large differences exist within the younger part of the labour market. Some groups of young people are particularly vulnerable and disadvantaged on the labour market: Young women: There are generally higher unemployment rates among young women. Moreover, employed young women earn on average less than young men and work more often in the informal economy. In addition, a higher percentage of young women do not participate in the labour market at all, partly as they are discouraged by its unfavorable conditions. The younger segment of youth: Unemployment rates drop the older young people get. It seems that especially the newcomers on the labour market face the challenge of a lack of working experience. This is further exacerbated by the crisis. Higher educated youth in the global south: Unemployment tends to increase among better-educated young people as the supply of highly educated youth has outpaced the

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supply of jobs to accommodate them. This consequentially stimulates well-educated young people leaving their countries resulting in a loss to the country which invested in their education, the so-called brain drain. Lower educated youth in OECD/economically developed countries: Not only are their unemployment rates higher, lower educated young people have fewer perspectives of long-term contracts and obtaining full-time employment. Ethnic minorities: Unemployment rates are higher due to a reflection of both lower education levels among minorities and negative discrimination in the labour market. Income level of the parents: Young people from low income families face more barriers in entering the labour market than young people from middle and high income families. - Lost generation

High youth unemployment is a vast economic loss representing a underutilized economic potential. Unemployed youth generate less tax income and incur higher benefit spending, especially where unemployment benefits exists. This downwards cycle leaves less leeway to invest in for example training, education and greening the economy. From the vantage point of the jobless youth, there is a causal relation between unemployment and social exclusion as it creates a sense of uselessness and idleness among young people. Moreover it also leads to decreased employability due to erosion of skills and increased likelihood of entering unstable, low-paid occupations due to the stigma associated with unemployment (for a longer period) all of which can have severe long-term consequences for future employment. Hence several argue argues for the risk of lost generation as a legacy of the crisis. This generation comprises of young people who detach themselves completely from the labour market, especially affecting the poor in developing countries. (ILO 2010a) The result is a stagnated potential for a youth-driven push towards development in low-income countries. In conclusion, young people of today are the foundations for the economies and societies of both today as well as the those of the future. Young people bring energy, talent, innovative spirit and creativity to economies and make important contributions as productive workers, entrepreneurs, consumers, agents of change and as members of civil society. Therefore, youth unemployment is a serious global challenge, not only for the unemployed youth, but for the society at large and it represents a huge waste of human potential. Or as the ILO put is: there is no doubt that what young people strive for is the chance of a decent and productive job from which to build a better future. Take away that hope and you are left with a disillusioned youth trapped in a cycle of working poverty or in danger of detaching from the labour market altogether thus representing a vast waste of economic potential. (2010a: 2) - Quality of youth employment On the other side of the coin of the number of jobs available is the job-quality of those who do have a job. The number of unemployed obviously has a direct influence on the quality of the jobs available. The more (young) people are looking for a job to apply, the greater the downward pressure on labour standards. Again from the individual perspective of a young person, as there

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are fewer opportunities, one is easier persuaded to accept less than optimal labour conditions. A similar reasoning could be made for times of labor market shortages exerting an upward pressure on labour circumstances. But this seems to be mitigated by the globalisation of labour which offers opportunities to seek labour across borders. Next to a sort of conjunctural dimension, youth are also systematically seen as a generation to test new norms of employment situations. Given the unfortunate systematic higher unemployment amongst young people, they are at the forefront of labour precarisation and generally lower labour welfare standards. Young people also suffer disproportionately from decent work deficits such as working poverty or poor employment status. The ILO estimates that 152 million young people (between 15 and 24), or about 28 percent of all the young workers in the world, worked but remained in extreme poverty (earning less than US$1.25 per person per day) in 2008. (2010a) The ILO continues that in particular, while more flexible working arrangements, such as temporary and part-time jobs, can facilitate the entry of young people into the labour market, these arrangements may also lead to persistent job insecurity. (2010b: 14) According to the institution most of the young people in temporary jobs have not chosen such condition but failed to find permanent positions. This trend is observed in two-third of the countries for which data is available. Within this overall picture, we should acknowledge different segments of realities. Current trends do not affect all young people in the same way and highly skilled young people often find themselves in decent work conditions. While higher educated young people seem better protected against precarious working conditions, this is by no means a standard. The current generation of young people counts as the highest-educated generation in history, whilst facing at the same time record unemployment, underemployment and precarious working conditions.

Green Economy and Youth

The impact of the transition to a green economy on the employment of young people has been the subject of little focus up to the present. The Green Economy Report for instance only includes one reference to the manner in which the promotion of sustainable tourism could foster not only employment in general but would have a more specific benefit for youth employment. There has not been a single (serious) effort /moment to tackle the issue of youth unemployment. In fact, a lot of past and present youth policies are designed or focused on mitigating negative stereotypes of young people, with excessive attention given to substance abuse and violence. This type of policy focus ignores the majority of youth, who do not engage in such high-risk behaviors, and diverts attention away from the need for structural investments in education, environmental protection, health care and employment creation. This section addresses this gap in the existing literature by highlighting links between youthfocused policies and the transition to a green economy.

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a. Views of governments and stakeholders on Employment and the Green Economy

The consultation process engaged in the lead to the Rio +20 Conference provides an inclusive picture of the broad range of visions and understandings of the Green Economy among governments and stakeholders. The 2nd Preparatory Committee for the Conference issues in 2011 an open call for governments, intergovernmental organizations and civil society to submit contributions which will serve as a basis for the drafting of the outcome document of the conference. These contributions provide an interesting outlook on the assessment made by these different actors of the current situation. It also highlights the current priorities of their authors and presents some concrete proposals to facilitate the transition to a green economy. In the course of the preparation of the present report, we analyzed the references to the issue of employment, and more specifically youth employment (see the mapping of these references in Annex II), in the contributions made by governments, regional consultations, political groupings, youth-led/youth-related NGOs and most relevant intergovernmental organizations. The first conclusion from this analysis is that, while many states and IGOs assess the current rates of unemployment as a major crisis (included in 23% of the governmental contributions, 27% of the IGOs submissions reviewed). On the one hand, most of the states indeed consider the green economy as a solution contributing to the creation of new (decent) jobs (59% of governmental submissions, 51% of IGOs submissions reviewed). The energy sector (including renewable energy and energy efficiency) was quoted the most regularly by governments as the most promising sector for the creation of new jobs in a green economy (in 19% of the submissions), followed by agriculture (16%), the exploitation of natural capital & ecosystem services (11%), and forestry (11%) On the other hand, one tenth of the governments raised concerns about the potential negative impact that the transition could have on the jobs of some sectors of the economy, highlighting the need for special measures to address this issue. In the contributions by Youth-led or youth-related NGOs, the current unemployment situation is highlighted as frequently as an issue (24%), while the most promising sectors indicated are agriculture and innovation/technology. Consideration of the role of youth in the Green Economy does not reflect this relative convergence of views among governments, intergovernmental organizations and youth NGOs. When referring to this role, governments viewed more frequently the young generations as a vulnerable group or a group needing particular support (in 59% out of the submissions mentioning the role of youth in the green economy) than they considered them as an asset for the transition to a green economy (in 29% of these cases) with relatively similar figures concerning submissions by IGOs.

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Youth Organizations highlighted much more frequently the potential and dynamism that young generations can bring to the transition (79% of the submissions referring to the role of youth in the green economy, compared to 29% of the submissions highlighting their vulnerability). About a third of the governmental and youth submissions emphasizes the need to enhance the training and vocational education of young people to equip them with the skills enabling them to obtain green jobs, while the role of the promotion of entrepreneurship of young people was more frequently by youth NGOs than by governments.

b. Youth Perspectives
It is important to note that the views expressed by young people on a green economy often reflect concerns related to the transition to a more sustainable model of society. Hence, these youth perspectives address to a smaller extent the specific benefit for young people in terms of employment and economic opportunities. Within the context of youth unemplyment, green youth jobs may seem to be secondary. However, young people also acknowledge the key role they can play in greening economies. In that light, green jobs for young people are a stepping stone towards creating space for youth contributions to societal change. Another profound issue for young people is inter-generational and international equity, however, this paper will only touch upon these in the context of green jobs for youth.

It is also relevant to note that young people often perceive the scope of a green economy as going beyond the conceptualization of green sectors of the economy (such as renewable energy, food production and nature conservation). Youth reports and contributions on the outcomes of the Rio Conference highlight repeatedly the need to think beyond the distinction between green and brown sectors of the economy. For this report, green jobs are explored beyond the definition of environmental sustainability. The attempt is to see green jobs as a lubricant for achieving a green economy, within the context of poverty eradication and sustainability, thus a more holistic approach to the definition is embraced for this reason.

c. Status quo - impact of Green Economy (GE and employment)

The increasing awareness and concerns over the state of the global environment is seen by a growing group of thinkers as an opportunity. The opportunity for job creation in the transition to a green economy also generates hope for a new generation of green jobs. In UNEPs Green Economy Report (2011), the claim is forcefully made that economic progress and environmental sustainability can go hand in hand, and the green economy will deliver green jobs and thus lead to decreased unemployment rates. UNEP (2008) defined those green jobs as jobs in existing and new sectors that are aimed at alleviating threats. Those green jobs reduce the environmental impact of enterprises and economic sectors, ultimately to levels that are sustainable.

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The report states that various sectors will benefit from job creation, including forestry, agriculture, building, transport, services, administration and the renewable energy sector (2011: 13). As we have seen in the introduction, quite a lot of the focus is laid on the productive sectors with low-carbon energy productions and utilities leading the way in the minds of different authors. Together with sectors such as building, clean-tech, transportation and agriculture these definitely look like the sectors of a green future. The more detailed reports elaborate to include services, R&D, financial services, food processing, chemistry, waste, retail and urban goods movement systems which partially extends the scope to include consumption-oriented sectors. From our perspective, the UNEP Green Economy Report is one of the contributions that distinguishes itself with the inclusion of ecotourism as a promising sector of green economy. Similarly, as we have mentioned before, not all works on green economy see the issue of labour as an essential feature of the green economy worth looking at. UNEPs Green Economy Report however is among those which argue that new processes and business practices that are better for the environment should create a higher ratio of jobs per dollar invested while at the same time also create a higher industrial output than their polluting counterparts. The same report however suggests that in the longer term the employment ration may be similar to other, more mature sectors. A similar reasoning potentially applies for the green economy sectors that have to be developed, whereas a shift of activity and jobs in these sectors will not necessarily lead to a net employment gain when factoring in the economic and employment losses in the brown economy sectors that would be fading. Furthermore, green jobs do not automatically mean that the jobs are qualified as decent work. For example, the recycling sector is a classic example where the workers face health challenges. Therefore, green jobs should per definition be defined as decent jobs in order to be truly sustainable. (ILO 2011: 5) We can thus easily take the position that practices that bring the global production and consumption within planetary boundaries are highly desirable. At the same time, the very creation of green jobs, the creation of decent green jobs and green jobs benefiting young people is not an automatic result and the right policies and framework conditions should be put in place. However, making the green economy a pro-youth and pro-poor quality job engine would allow to harness a double dividend. Hence, options to ensure this will be explored more in depth in the next point of the text. In terms of decent working conditions, the difference between greening existing sectors of creating new green sectors might prove a useful guide. Whereas the greening of existing sectors inherits the existing labour-capital relations and existing labour conditions etc. they may demonstrate a significant inertia towards transforming employment quality. For the new sectors that did not yet reach maturity a lot of opportunity exists for setting new standards of quality jobs. These new sectors could also provide upward pressure to the labour conditions in the older greened sectors depending on the possibility of labour mobility between them.

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Secondly, significant share of the (existing and expected) green collar workers are low-income workers. We would argue that the green economy should see these green jobs as an opportunity to move green collar workers into higher-skilled occupations and upward careerpaths. Hence an important element of the design of green economy policies will be to foresee accompanying programs and career paths for an upward mobility. Therefore, workers in declining industries must be re-trained and paid a reasonable wage in the emerging green economy. Such people should be categorized as constituting part of that new economy, even if their job activities remain what could be described as traditional in nature (e.g., a carpenter undertaking traditional tasks at a wind farm, and so on). Accommodating people to join forces in the transition to a green economy should rely heavily through investing in the skill-base. As mentioned in the introductions, the educational element might very well be seen as an important, if not definiting characteristic of the green economy. We will further elaborate on this in the youth-related section on Green Economy. When looking at the young workforce, the distribution of the new jobs created among diverse sectors of the economy will play an important role in determining the impact of the transition to a green economy on youth unemployment. Indeed, some sectors are particularly welcoming for youth entering the labour market while others tend to privilege experienced workers. UNEPs Green Economy Report refers for instance directly to the potential for the creation of youth jobs only in relation to sustainable tourism (2011), sector which is not listed in the Zero Draft of the Rio+20 outcome document as one of the examples of activities providing job opportunities. While little research has been conducted on the demographics of the future workers in a green economy, in particular considering the position of various age-groups in the green job market, a study has highlighted in the US context a negative correlation: green jobs being expected from sectors traditionally less favorable to youth (Gracey 2011). While this conclusion was limited to the case of the US labour market, one can expect similar findings in at least several other countries. This highlights the necessity for further studies to understand the dynamics of the impacts of the transition on youth unemployment, as well youth-specific accompanying measures in order to make sure that the transition does not further the gap between the generations but rather promote intergenerational equity.

Youth-enhanced green economy

- Rationale for a specific focus on youth employment Generally the creation of green jobs is advancing too slowly to contribute substantially to the reduction of unemployment and underemployment in the world, according to the UNEP green job rapport. Moreover, it states that too few of the green jobs that are being created go to those who need them most: young people, women, poor segments of society in developing countries and those who suffer from climate change. This basically implies three challenges with green jobs: 1) First of all it could be said that green jobs will not automatically be beneficial for young people. 19

2) Green jobs may not lead to increased gender equality in the job market. 3) In addition, green jobs do not naturally address the social pillar of sustainable development as the emphasis is generally put on environmental sustainability. This acknowledges that green jobs are not by definition decent job, and also implies that the current definition of green jobs does not encompass jobs that build on the social pillar of sustainability and help eradicate poverty while developing sustainably. - Three approaches to maximize the benefits of a green economy for young people In this paragraph, the current seeds for a youth enhanced green economy will be described with a focus on three levels: increased youth hiring: young people taking part in the labour market within a green economy. increased youth employability: enhancing young peoples fitness for the labour market within a green economy. increased youth entrepreneurship: empowerment to co-create a green economy and labour opportunities through entrepreneurship.

The aim is to give an overview about what is currently happening to enhance the role of youth within the labour market and look forward to its potential for a green economy as well as to shed light on gaps in enhancing the role of youth. One general positive development which can be noted is the adoption in 2009 by the ILOs membership of The Global Jobs Pact, which includes a range of measures to help sustain youth employment, including incentives for job creation, skills development, income support, public works and youth entrepreneurship training. The pact outlines lessons learned that could be taken into account by governments in designing interventions aimed at promoting decent work for young people during economic recovery. This can be seen as a step in the right direction of combating youth unemployment which may create fertile soil for enhancing the role of youth in a green economy, depending on the implementation of the Global Jobs Pact.

a. Increased youth hiring

One of the main assessments is that young people face different forms of discrimination on the labour market, which is one of the main barriers to optimal youth employment. The ratio of adult to youth employment is nearly three, meaning that for each unemployed adult there are on average three unemployed young people. The labour market seems to favour knowledge and experience above innovative and creative power and the learning abilities of young people. The emphasis on work experience in most of current hiring practices creates an unfavourable condition for young people to get employed. Too often a certain amount of work experience is a prerequisite for getting hired. It could be said that certain qualities that young people can contribute to the labour market are not fully employed.

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The key assumption is that a lack of job experience, insufficient exposure to a working environment and negative stereotypes are contributing to a negative perception of young workers. Not only does this result in less hiring, it also often results in hiring youth on part-time basis or informally and therefore receiving lower wages than adults. In times of economic crisis, labour market discrimination against young people accelerates, also in term of redundancy plans. Policies that have been proven to be successful in addressing youth unemployment in general include offsetting the mismatch of technical skills amongst young people. Successful measures include counselling programmes, facilitating access to vocational training, creating an enabling environment for the development and expansion of a competitive job training sector and providing effective active labour market programmes to unemployed young people and especially those living in isolated areas where the market does not reach. Other proven measures are the promotion of subsidized on-the-job training programmes that provide financial incentives to employers. (ILO 2010a) Next to training, policies to ear-mark specific jobs for those entering the labour market have produced positive results. This can be done by generating enough enthusiasm to do so by employers, both public and private. Governments themselves are often provider of numerous jobs and have been known to sometimes act as a first employer and reserving specific jobs for young employed people3. However, pro-active attitudes towards new entrants in the labour market should not be unique to public employers and private employers could demonstrate similar leadership. Other examples try to particularly incentivize the hiring of young people. This can be done fiscally by reducing the taxation on job-creation aimed at young people and newcomers to the labour market. Another possibility is to provide subsidies to entities creating jobs aimed at young people. Both approaches are effective in compensating the asymmetry between lack of on the job experience and the resulting lower productivity and a decent remuneration on the other side. Hence, the lowering of the actual cost also lowers the threshold for engaging with young people. Both approaches are particularly useful to reach out to the identified groups of more vulnerable unemployed young people. A more recent and bolder measure is to limit the maximum time that young people can remain outside employment, training or education as a whole. The rationale is to prevent the unemployment-scar as a result of prolonged unemployment as mentioned above. A Youth Guarantee will ensure that youth labour market inactivity would not exceed a certain period (e.g. four months). Such an inter-generational social contract will help unemployed young people keep in touch with the labour market and keep updating their skills and competences, and contributing to their employability.
3

Successful examples include Bulgaria's Temporary Employment Program and the American Conservation and Youth Service Corps. The latter one has a strong environmental dimension and could thus serve as a best-practice within green economy discussion.

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A Youth Guarantees will offer a more tailored approach in helping young people deal with structural failures of the labour market will eventually build trust and confidence, and are more likely to strengthen the labour market ties and participation rates for the future. This could be targeted specifically to vulnerable groups as well as have a strong pro-green economy orientation in the design of the skill building programmes. Finally, in case there is grave discrimination based on age in the labour market, the provision of specific non-discrimination legislation combined with proper enforcement could improve greatly the position of young people on the labour market. If these measures were applied to green jobs, this would be an important step towards a youth enhanced green economy. Most of these measures could include strong pro-green economy policy options and hence be strong supporting policies for the green economy. The training, counseling, ear-marked jobs, supported jobs etc. could not only be specifically targeting young people, but as these intervene positively in the labour market, they could be oriented to help the transformation towards a green economy.

b. Increased youth employability:

Increased youth employability and green skills for young people are key to make youth contribute to a green economy. Relevant factors include the very basic opportunity to learn such as access to education and gender equality, as well as what we learn in our educational system and how we are encouraged to learn. - Access to education Millennium Development Goal 2 aims to ensure that, by 2015, children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling. The MDG report of 2011 states that enrolment in primary education has increased slowly in the developing world: the net enrolment ratio has gone up by just 7 percentage points since 1999, reaching 89 per cent in 2009. In more recent years, progress has actually slowed, with an increase of just 2 percentage points between 2004 and 2009. Only 87 out of 100 children in the developing regions complete primary education, dimming prospects for reaching the MDG target of universal primary education by 2015. - Potential Skill mismatches A considerable barrier for young people in the labour market is related to mismatches between jobs on one hand and skills on the other. It points to the diminished chances of finding employment due to lack of adequate competences. Mismatches occur both with technical as well as non-technical skills or so called life skills. As the green economy requires more skills in fields such as building, clean-tech, transportation and agriculture, it is likely that a mismatch on technical skills may occur if appropriate measures to overcome this challenge are not introduced. The importance of this also becomes apparent

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through the vast amount of references to youth in the Skills for Green Jobs report developed by the ILO. Mismatches in non-technical skills are increasingly recognized as a key barrier to employing youth. A recent study by the Youth Employment Network and the International Youth Foundation shows that lack of life skills, lack of initiative and insufficient literacy skills were seen as the primary constraints when hiring young people in Ghana and Senegal. (ILO 2011b). It has been shown effective to take an holistic training approach that combines in-classroom and on-the-job training, combining technical and non-technical skills. It also proves to be beneficial to foster the cooperation of prospective employers in the design of training content and its delivery through workplace training. In the case of moving towards sustainability, this could imply adjusting the content accordingly. The challenge of potential mismatching competencies seems to call for both a modification of what young people learn through their education as well as how young people learn. The UN Decade on Education for Sustainable Development contributes to addressing youth employability in a society where sustainability challenges are increasingly profound. The efforts to include sustainable development in studies positively influence what young people are thought through the education system. There are a number of key thinkers who stress the importance of transitioning how we learn, as the current educational system does not sufficiently prepare young people for addressing the pressing global challenges in our increasingly complex society. Ken Robinson (1998) argues that schools kill creativity, while creativity is precisely the driving force for innovation which is needed in sustainable development. Peter Senge (1990) stresses that society currently evaluates people on their ability to know and argues that it would be more constructive , and more in favour of young people to reward people on their ability to learn and embrace the concept of learning organizations in society. One of the current concepts that acknowledge and accommodate the need for emphasizing how we learn is in non-formal education. Youth organizations that foster peer-to-peer education, using creative learning methods are examples of this. Non-formal education is a powerful expression of the asset of young people in moving towards sustainability. Youth-led organizations and grassroots initiatives foster young peoples personal development and learning and often work contagious: when young people are engaged in something they are passionate about it is likely that they will inspire and engage other young people, especially in an era where social media is flourishing. One of the main reasons for this is that young people are able to develop education that is relevant to them. Therefore, the principle of empowering, facilitating, and developing skills by young people, with young people, for young people is key in enhancing the employability of youth in a green economy.

c. increased youth entrepreneurship:

Young people have demonstrated entrepreneurial spirit in several youth-driven bottom-up initiatives, which underline both informal and formal businesses globally. However young people face barriers to the creation and development of businesses, especially in gaining access to

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financial, physical, and social capital. Young entrepreneurs face particular challenges when their initiative is driven by necessity rather than choice, this is the case when entrepreneurship is chosen as a response to lack of opportunities in formal sector jobs or in education. Young people in general, and young entrepreneurs driven by necessity in particular often have a lack of personal savings and resources, lack of securities and credibility, lack of business experience and skills, and insufficient access to financial instruments to target youth. Successful measures to address this barrier are entrepreneurship skills training for youth seeking self-employment opportunities. It is seen as one of the most important investments to carry out in developing countries where employment opportunities are scarce and selfemployment is often the only option for disadvantaged young people. An integrated approach has been proven to be effective, including training, counseling and follow-up services, internships, and access to (micro) credit as well as financial and banking instruments that are tailored to young people, along with access to workspaces through free or subsidized schemes in a business incubator and other government-subsidized support services.

Recommendations - Governance, policies and measures to improve youth in GESDPE

In the following section, policies and actions for promoting and creating enabling environments for youth in society will be lined out.

a. General Recommendations:
consider youth as an asset for a green economy The overarching recommendation that we can draw from the report is that youth should be considered an asset within the green economy, rather than a vulnerability. As is mentioned in subsection 2.a, governments viewed more frequently the young generations as a vulnerable group or a group needing particular support than they considered them as an asset for the transition to a green economy. By viewing youth as an added value, both youth in specific and society at large will benefit: young people will be able to develop and employ their capacities and in doing so deliver unique contributions to society in terms of innovation, creativity and productivity. Several governmental submissions to the compilation document see young people as a source of helping society move towards sustainability and emphasis the role of young people in the green economy and the importance of the development of a skilled labour force.4
4

South Africa highlights the multiple developmental crisis (including the food, climate and financial crises) has a greater impact on the employment of young people. The Norwegian submission refers to the importance of educating and involving the youth to prepare them for the challenges that need to be tackled now and in the years to come. The United States contribution emphasises the importance of human capacity in transiting to a green economy. It refers to the importance of providing workers with the skills and protection necessary to participate in and benefit from the green economy.

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Encourage the development of national action plans for scaling up youth employment and employment creation through greening of economies5 The creation of a green youth employment agenda should be stimulated for all national governments. The main aims for such an action plan would be fourfold: to create more and better green jobs for youth and to ensure increased hiring of young people in green jobs, to invest in youth employability and empower youth entrepreneurship in the context of a green economy. Make an in-depth analysis of the impact of the transition on the availability and accessibility of jobs for youth and women The sectors most promising in terms of green job creation might not necessarily be those that employ the most youth - possibly the opposite. Also these sectors are currently relying to a large extend on a male work force. Studies should be conducted urgently in order to assess the impacts of the transition on youth and women employment, and to propose measures to ensure that this transition does not undermine further the position of these vulnerable economic groups. This includes making readily available adequate statistical material to grasp the position of youth and women in the labour market taking into account their reduced labour market participation. Implement a youth-guarantee in national macro-economic policies as a whole and format green economy strategies as a crucial building block of such a youthguarantee As mentioned in the section on youth enhanced hiring o limit the maximum time that young people can remain outside employment, training or education as a whole to prevent the unemployment-scar as a result of prolonged unemployment by ensuring that youth labour market inactivity would not exceed a certain period (e.g. four months). This measure could be targeted specifically to vulnerable groups as well as have a strong pro-green economy orientation in the design of the skill building programmes. Support employment of young graduates in global south as development policy Within developmental frameworks in developing countries, specific measures should be adopted in order to facilitate the insertion of young graduates in their domestic labour market. Such policies could contribute to reduce brain drain and thus have long lasting beneficial impact on national economic situations.6

b. Enhancing youth hiring:

One overarching condition in enhancing youth hiring is to emphasize just labour market participation, especially for youth, by ensuring that green economy strategies are proemployment and pro-poor, amongst others by anchoring this at the highest level.
5

The Central African Republic has for instance designated the reduction of youth unemployment as one of its national priority in the context of sustainable development. 6 The Central African Republic, Tunisia, as well as the regional consultations in both the Arab and the African region considered this issue a priority.

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Continue to facilitate a smooth and efficient school-to-work transition all the while promoting job quality and skills matching It is of crucial importance to ensure a smooth transition from school or study to work, as youth unemployment is a waste of potential. Therefore, National programmes should be designed to enable a smooth transition. Create subsidies and fiscal incentives for employers to hire young people by e.g. discounting social fees and taxes Subsidies and fiscal policies provide the state with an effective leverage to stimulate employers to hire young talent. This policy can be specifically applied as an advantage for businesses that take a pro-active stance towards greening their business and combat youth unemployment simultaneously. Create jobs that are earmarked for youth Governments can provide numerous jobs which are specifically for young people without any working experiences. They can act as a first employer and reserving specific jobs for young employed people and use this work-force to make headways in the transition to a green economy. Youth participation in economic decision-making To ensure that policies meet the needs of young people on the one hand, and allow for youth ownership and engagement on the other hand, it is mutually beneficial to foster youth participation in decision-making on policies regarding the green economy at large and the role of youth in particular. Therefore, the value of youth participation through e.g national youth councils should be acknowledged and stimulated.

c. Increasing youth skills for a green economy:

Investment in the capacity development is a key element of defining the green economy, as is highlighted in a large number of contributions to the consultation on expectations for the Rio+20 conference. The fulfillment of the Millenium Development Goal - 2 (achieving universal primary education) is a prerequisite to the establishment of a skill base for the green economy. Use skills and education as an central dimension to define the green economy There are several ways of defining the green economy. Education is here often seen as a measure to support the green economy. However, as the green economy demands a strong restructuring of the production and consumption system, it is crucial to take into account the different skills and attitudes needed. Hence, education should become a central dimension of the green economy which could even be used to distinguish it from the old brown economy. Acknowledge and actively support non-formal education and voluntarism; The value of non-formal education and voluntarism for skill-building and personal development of young people should be recognised and actively supported in different ways. Also, wherever 26

possible, bridges between the formal and non-formal education system should be developed. Some examples are grass-root initiatives and civil internship on high-schools and stimulating youth exchanges related to sustainable development in general and the green economy in specific. Address the potential technical skill miss-match by subsidizing technological studies specialized in green technologies; To ensure capacity building and knowledge development in the area of green technologies, countries should take measures to encourage related studies through active promotion and subsidizing. Those measures should be developed with a view at gender sensitivity, in particular with regards to ICT training.7 Create a frame for study loans for green jobs with job guarantee In order to support the participation to vocational and upper education of students with low resources, as well as to better facilitate their integration on the job market, public-private partnerships could be established in order to provide study loans schemes in supported by a specific Foster multi-stakeholders collaboration to equip students and pupils with the skills for the green job market Stimulate the development of public-private partnerships between educational institutions, (local) governments and organization to both spur a green economy, capitalize on the qualities of young people and increase fitness of young people for the labour market. Continuous professional activity for young job-seekers within a green economy Design a programme to link unemployed youth to organizations in government-supported programs to work on sustainability challenges within organizations accompanied with training and skills development, to keep young job-seekers in contact with the labour market. Progressive green professionalization of youth in vocational training In vocational training, stimulate experiments with hiring concept where young people are encouraged to devote day a week on societal work related to governmental environmental and social development projects, with government support to encourage continued learning in sustainable development and gain work experience. Monitor and evaluate the impact on both greening the economy and combating youth unemployment.

d. Empowering youth entrepreneurship:

One of the greatest contributions that young people can do to the transition to the green economy consists in creating new green economic opportunities themselves, through
7

Such policy could be based on the proposal by Turkey to better integrate the private sectors to the identification of key skills required for the job market and to be integrated to school curricula in order to avoid skills miss-match. It could also build on Serbias suggestion to promote education in ICT for girls to order address women unemployment.

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entrepreneurship and self-employment. Support measures could sustain the viability of such a vibrant context of bottom-up initiatives. Foster development entrepreneurial competencies8 Stimulate a more holistic approach to education where young people are encouraged to think creatively, innovation, entrepreneurship to empower youth for taking initiative. For example, by stimulating youth entrepreneurship through contests. Providing an enabling environment for the creation of youth-led micro enterprises through seeds funding9 Develop forward-thinking policies and programmes necessary to spur investment in youth green businesses including youth focused financial systems like micro-credits and seed funding for youth enterprises. Knowledge assistance and mentorship Stimulate the greening of youth enterprises through the development of tools to help youth businesses go green in collaboration with chambers of commerce. An example could be to provide trainings in sustainable business tailored to young starters and develop a starter kick which outlines measures and benefits for green business.

e. International cooperation:
The Rio+20 Conference provides a unique opportunity for governments and intergovernmental organizations to strengthen international cooperation and address collectively the issue of youth unemployment. Develop a global strategy on youth employment based on green economy concept Develop, on the basis of the Global Partnership referred to in the previous recommendation, a global strategy and action plan to mobilize existing and new resources to scale up youth employment opportunities based on green economy concept. This strategy should leverage the necessary resources and should start by investigating all possible means to identify and mobilize the necessary financial, human and technical resources in support of youth employment opportunities through the greening of economies. It should encourage international financial institutions and other donors to mobilize resources and to support innovative approaches for a long-term financing of youth employment opportunities and structures. Champions of the youth employment agenda, such as Denmark and its Youth Entrepreneurship (YEF) collaboration project in Eastern Africa, should be particularly invited to take actively part to the Global Strategy.
8

This proposal is also supported in the submission made by El Salvador and the European Youth Meeting. 9 This policy option is mentioned repeatedly in both governmental and youth submissions in the consultation for the Rio+20 draft 0, including in the submissions of the Philippines, Norway, the Pacific Island Forum, the Major Group on Children and Youth, the Asia Pacific Youth, the European Students Forum, and the European Youth Meeting.

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 Global partnership on youth employment Building on the youth focused activities and different competences of UNEP, UNFPA, UNESCO and ILO, establish an inter-agency partnership to promote cooperation in the areas of youth employment issues at the national level, inter alia, through exchange of best practices, joint training and capacity building. Such a partnership could best address the needs and opportunities identified by young people through co-management between representatives of the agencies and youth representatives, inspired for instance by the experience of the Council of Europe with such participatory decision-making. The Global Partnership would help intergovernmental organizations how to best design their policies and activities and utilize their existing resources to promote youth employment in the context of a green economy. Furthermore, as mentioned, specific indicators that adequately frame youth (un)employment could be developed in such a partnership. Integrate green professional skills acquisition as an element of the final years and follow-up of Decade of Education for Sustainable Development A more specific focus on the acquisition of the competences demanded by the green job market could provide a new dynamic to the final years of the UNESCO-led decade of Education for Sustainable Development. This focus would enable the Decade to better achieve its objective of contributing to the economic viability of the creation of a sustainable future. Mainstream the decent work agenda in the Sustainable Development Goals while paying specific attention to young people. Rio+20 could propose a defined set of goals or launch a process of coming to such a set. As these goals will underpin the progress on Sustainable Development, it is key that these goals include all dimensions of Sustainable Development. The ILO Decent Work Agenda is a key strategy to work on poverty eradication and prevention while the Green Economy Agenda offers opportunities to steer the economy within safe planetary boundaries. A combination of both agendas could form a strong engine for any such Goals. However, this should be complemented with youth specific targets and indicators to ensure the inclusiveness of such a concept.

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(Annex I. Bibliography)
Braungart M. and McDonough W. (2002), Cradle to Cradle. Remaking the Way We Make Things. Constanza R. (1991), Ecological economics: The science and management of sustainability. Daly H. (1977), Steady-State Economics. Dickens P. (2004), Society & Nature: Changing Our Environment, Changing Ourselves. Friedman T. (2008), Hot, Flat, and Crowded. Gracey K. and Davidson M. (2011), Green Jobs for Youth. http://www.academia.edu/attachments/6496987/download_file Green Economics Foundation (2009), A Green New Deal for Europe: Towards green modernisation in the face of crisis. International Labour Organisation (ILO) (2010a), Global employment trends for youth : August 2010 : special issue on the impact of the global economic crisis on youth. International Labour Organisation (ILO) (2010b), World of Work. http://www.ilo.org/public/portugue/region/eurpro/lisbon/pdf/worldwork_2010.pdf International Labour Organisation (ILO) (2011a), Global Employment Trends for Youth: 2011 update October 2011. International Labour Organisation (ILO) (2011b), Skills for green jobs: a global view. http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---dcomm/--publ/documents/publication/wcms_159585.pdf Jackson T. (2009), Prosperity Without Growth. http://www.sd-commission.org.uk/data/files/publications/prosperity_without_growth_report.pdf Jones V. (2008), The Green Collar Economy: How One Solution Can Fix Our Two Biggest Problems. Meadows et al. (1972), The Limits to Growth. Meadows et al. (2004), Limits to growth: the 30-year update. The Millennium Development Goals Report (2011) http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/11_MDG%20Report_EN.pdf

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Mol A. (2001), Globalization and Environmental Reform: The Ecological Modernization of the Global Economy. New Economics Foundation (2008), A Green New Deal: Joined-up policies to solve the triple crunch of the credit crisis, climate change and high oil prices. http://www.neweconomics.org/sites/neweconomics.org/files/A_Green_New_Deal_1.pdf Pauli G.(2010), The Blue Economy. Peoples Republic of China (2008), Circular Economy Law. http://www.chinaenvironmentallaw.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/circular-economy-law-cnen-final.pdf Robinson K. (1998), All Our Futures: Creativity, Culture and Education. Senge P. (1990), The Fifth Discipline, the Art and Practice of the Learning Organization. Spaargaren G., Mol A. and Buttel, F. (eds.) (2000), Environment and Global Modernity. Threlfall M. (2002), A Critique of the Statistics that Support the European Employment Policy in Radical Statistics. Victor P. (2008), Managing Without Growth: Slower by Design, Not Disaster. Visser R. (2010), OECD - The Green Growth Strategy. Presentation at the 2010 ESDN conference in Ghent. http://www.sd-network.eu/pdf/doc_ghent/presentations/Visser.pdf United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization UNESCO (2011), Social and Human Sciences: youth programme. http://www.unesco.org/new/en/social-and-human-sciences/themes/social-transformations/youth/ UN System Chief Executives Board (CEB) (2011), Common statement by the UN System Chief Executives Board for Coordination on the Outcome of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development. http://www.uncsd2012.org/rio20/content/documents/694RIO %20COMMON%20STATEMENT%20FINAL.pdf United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) (2008), Green Jobs: Towards Decent Work in a Sustainable, Low-Carbon World. www.unep.org/labour_environment/PDFs/Greenjobs/UNEP-Green-Jobs-Report.pdf United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) (2010), Driving a Green Economy Through Public Finance and Fiscal Policy Reform. http://www.unep.org/greeneconomy/Portals/88/documents/ger/GER_Working_Paper_Public_Fin ance.pdf

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United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) (2011a), UNEP secretariats input to the Compilation Document for the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development. http://www.uncsd2012.org/rio20/content/documents/217UNEP_secretariat_rev.pdf United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) (2011b), Towards a Green Economy: Pathways to Sustainable Development and Poverty Eradication. http://www.unep.org/greeneconomy/Portals/88/documents/ger/GreenEconomyReport.pdf

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You(n)GER Youth Unemployment in the Green Economy Discussion Paper Annex I Mapping of References in Contributions to the Compilation Document

(Annex II. Mapping of References in Contributions to the Compilation Document)

Status Quo Unemployment as a SD issue Actors highlighted in this category have in their contribution assessed unemployment as one of the current issue in relation to sustainable development. Employment in the Green Economy Job creation opportunity The Green Economy is seen in most contribution as an opportunity for job creation. Sectors (if specified) The sectors listed in this category are those mentioned in the contribution explicitly as a potential source of green jobs, or for which the transition might threaten jobs. Risk for job destruction Some of the actors have highlighted the need to address risks of job destruction in the transition to the green economy and/or suggested special attention for the reconversion of the work force of the sectors impacted negatively in this process. Youth in Green Economy Vulnerable group Youth are mentioned in many contributions as either a vulnerable group in the green economy, or a group needing particular attention. Often these references also raise the issue of other vulnerable groups such as women, or people with disabilities. Opportunity Some actors highlight the role of youth as an asset in transitioning to the green economy successfully. Youth-targeted employment policies Employment policy Some actors suggested specific employment policies aiming at prioritizing the employment of particular groups often those mentioned previously as vulnerable. Employability of youth While general references to skill buildings have not been collected in this exercise, this column lists references to the importance of equipping youth with professional skills in the context of the Green Economy. Entrepreneurship Stimulation of entrepreneurship is highlighted in some contribution as an asset for the green economy, either in general terms or more specifically in relation to youth. Legend Sectors of the economy Ag Agriculture Aq Water Bio Biodiversity (including Payment for Ecosystem Services)

Blu Blue Economy EH Education and Health Fi Fisheries (including Aquaculture)

33

You(n)GER Youth Unemployment in the Green Economy Discussion Paper Annex I Mapping of References in Contributions to the Compilation Document Fo En Forestry Energy (including renewable energy and energy efficiency) Ind Industry Lan Land management Mi Mining SCP Sustainable Consumption and Production Tec Tr Tou Urb Technology and Innovation Transport Sustainable tourism Sustainable Urbanism (including construction) Wa Waste (including e-waste)

34

Discussion Paper on Youth Employment in the Green Economy Annex II.a Mapping of References in Contributions to the Compilation Document - States

Governments Albania Algeria Argentina Armenia Australia Belarus Benin Bhutan Bolivia Bostwana Brazil Burkina Faso Burundi Canada Central African Rep. Chile China Colombia Costa Rica Croatia Cuba

Status Quo Unemployment as a SD issue

Employment in the Green Economy Job creation Sectors (if Risk for job opportunity specified) destruction Fo, En, La En En Blu, En, Mi, Ag

Youth in Green Economy Vulnerable Opportunity group

Youth-targeted employment policies Employment Employability Entrepreneurship policy of youth

En,Ag,Fi, Bio, Urb Wa, Bio Wa Ag

x Bio

Discussion Paper on Youth Employment in the Green Economy Annex II.a Mapping of References in Contributions to the Compilation Document - States

Governments Denmark Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Georgia Ghana Grenada Guatemala Holy See Honduras Iceland India

Status Quo Unemployment as a SD issue

Employment in the Green Economy Job creation Sectors (if Risk for job opportunity specified) destruction Fo

Youth in Green Economy Vulnerable Opportunity group

Youth-targeted employment policies Employment Employability Entrepreneurship policy of youth

x En, Tec Ag, Ind Ag Bio, Tou, Ag

Indonesia Israel Jamaica Japan Kazakhstan Kenya

Tou Ag, Blu, Lan Ag, Fo, En, Fi, Bio, Lan, EH SCP Urb, Ag Fi, Tec, Urb

Discussion Paper on Youth Employment in the Green Economy Annex II.a Mapping of References in Contributions to the Compilation Document - States

Governments Lao Peoples Republic Liberia Liechtenstein Mexico Monaco Montenegro Nepal New Zealand Niger Nigeria Norway Pakistan Paraguay Peru Philippines Republic of Korea Republic of Moldova

Status Quo Unemployment as a SD issue

Employment in the Green Economy Job creation Sectors (if Risk for job opportunity specified) destruction

Youth in Green Economy Vulnerable Opportunity group

Youth-targeted employment policies Employment Employability Entrepreneurship policy of youth

Ag, Fo Fi, En, Tou Tou Fo, Bio SCP, En

En, Bio, Fo Ind, Wa, Ag, Fi, Urb SCP, Fo

Discussion Paper on Youth Employment in the Green Economy Annex II.a Mapping of References in Contributions to the Compilation Document - States

Governments Russia Senegal Serbia Singapore South Africa Sri Lanka Switzerland Tajikistan Thailand Togo Tunisia Turkey Uganda Ukraine United Kingdom USA Uruguay Venezuela

Status Quo Unemployment as a SD issue

Employment in the Green Economy Job creation Sectors (if Risk for job opportunity specified) destruction

Youth in Green Economy Vulnerable Opportunity group

Youth-targeted employment policies Employment Employability Entrepreneurship policy of youth

En, Bio, Ag Aq Fo, En En Wa, Urb Urb

Discussion Paper on Youth Employment in the Green Economy Annex II.b Mapping of References in Contributions to the Compilation Document Political Groupings & Regional Consultations

Political Groupings CARICOM EU and its Member States Group of 77/ China Pacific Island Forum Pacific Small Island Developing States

Status Quo Unemploy ment as a SD issue

Employment in the Green Economy Job creation opportunity Sectors (if specified) SCP, Fo, Blu, Bio, Wa Fi Blu, Fi, Ag, Tou Blu, Fi Risk for job destruction

Youth in Green Economy Vulnerable group Opportunity

Youth-targeted employment policies Employment policy Employability of youth Entrepreneurship

Annex II.c Mapping of References in Contributions to the Compilation Document Regional Consultations
Status Quo Unemploy ment as a SD issue Employment in the Green Economy Sectors Job creation Risk for job (if opportunity destruction specified) Urb Blu Urb, Wa, En, Wa Youth in Green Economy Vulnerable group Opportunity Youth-targeted employment policies Employment policy Employability of youth Entrepreneurship

Regional Consultations Africa Arab Region Asia Pacific Europe and North America Latin America and Caribbean

Discussion Paper on Youth Employment in the Green Economy Annex II.d Mapping of References in Contributions to the Compilation Document Youth NGOs

Youth NGOs 2011 UN Youth Delegates 350.org Advocates for Youth AIESEC Alliance for Future Generations AYUDA Asia Pacific Youth

Status Quo Unemployment as a SD issue

Employment in the Green Economy Job creation Sectors (if Risk for job opportunity specified) destruction

Youth in Green Economy Vulnerable Opportunity group

Youth-targeted employment policies Employment Employability Entrepreneurship policy of youth

Ag, Fo, Tec, Ind, Bio Ag, Fi Tec Ind, Tec, En Ag, Tou x

BahaI CYCAN ECI-Nepal AEGEE YFJ European Youth Meeting Major Group for Children & Youth Plant for the Planet Reproductive Health Coalition

Discussion Paper on Youth Employment in the Green Economy Annex II.d Mapping of References in Contributions to the Compilation Document Youth NGOs

Youth NGOs Rio+20 Global Song Contest Save the Children Spire SustainUS TakingItGlobal UEA and TEJO UNESCAP Regional Youth World Youth Alliance YPCD Network

Status Quo Unemployment as a SD issue

Employment in the Green Economy Job creation Sectors (if Risk for job opportunity specified) destruction

Youth in Green Economy Vulnerable Opportunity group

Youth-targeted employment policies Employment Employability Entrepreneurship policy of youth

Ag x x

Annex II.e Mapping of References in Contributions to the Compilation Document Intergovernmental Organizations
Intergovernmental Organizations ADB Alpine Convention Blueprint Ocean Sustainability ECESA-Plus ECLAC Status Quo Unemployment as a SD issue Employment in the Green Economy Job creation Sectors (if Risk for job opportunity specified) destruction Youth in Green Economy Vulnerable Opportunity group Youth-targeted employment policies Employment Employability Entrepreneurship policy of youth

Fi, Tr, En, Tou

Discussion Paper on Youth Employment in the Green Economy Annex II.e Mapping of References in Contributions to the Compilation Document Intergovernmental Organizations

Intergovernmental Organizations EESC FAO/IFAD/WFD GEF IAC-DESD IAEA ICAO ILO IMF IMO IRENA IUCN OECD OIF UNCCD UNCTAD UNDP UNDPI UNECE UNHCR UNEMG UNEP

Status Quo Unemploy ment as a SD issue

Employment in the Green Economy Job creation opportunity Sectors (if specified) Risk for job destruction

Youth in Green Economy Vulnerab le group Opportunity

Youth-targeted employment policies Employment policy Employability of youth Entrepreneurship

Ag Ind En, Wa Tr

Bio, En, Wa, Ag, Fo Tec

Fo Urb Tou, Tec

Discussion Paper on Youth Employment in the Green Economy Annex II.e Mapping of References in Contributions to the Compilation Document Intergovernmental Organizations

Intergovernmental Organizations UNESCO UNFPA UN Global Compact UN Habitat UNICEF UNIDO UNITAR UNV UN Water UN Women UN WTO WHO WIPO WMO WTO

Status Quo Unemploy ment as a SD issue

Employment in the Green Economy Job creation opportunity Sectors (if specified) Tou, Ind Risk for job destruction

Youth in Green Economy Vulnerable group Opportunity

Youth-targeted employment policies Employment policy Employability of youth Entrepreneurship

Urb Ind

Ind Tou Tec