Canada does not produce annual, national disaggregated renewable energy employment data but has recently undertaken a study on energy efficiency employment using the USEER methodology (ECO Canada, 2019). We were unable to find recent national data on renewable energy employment for Mexico.
4.3.3 Asia Pacific Australia is covered in detail in the previous section, and we were unable to find national disaggregated data for employment in the renewable energy sector for Japan or New Zealand.
4.3.4 Global The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) produces the Renewable Energy and Jobs Annual Review (IRENA, 2020) with publications dating back to 2011. The report covers five main categories of renewables – hydropower, solar PV, bioenergy, wind energy, solar heating/cooling, plus other technologies. It includes direct and indirect jobs in renewable energy worldwide. IRENA provides data and analysis on issues such as local value creation, wages, education and training,
and gender equity in renewable energy employment. The IRENA jobs database provides a breakdown of employment data by sector for each country (IRENA Jobs Database, 2021). Employment numbers are based on a wide range of studies that use varying methodologies and the information is of variable quality. IRENA sources data from primary information provided by national entities such as ministries and statistical agencies, and secondary data sources such as regional and global studies. Where data is insufficient, IRENA uses estimates based on employment factors, capacity and manufacturing data. The International Energy Agency (IEA) reported on the job potential in the energy efficiency sector in 2021. The IEA has tracked funding for energy efficiency-related measures announced as part of governments’ stimulus packages to the end of October 2020. They estimate jobs based on these funding announcements. The jobs are categorised by country, region and sector (industry, buildings and transport) as well as efficiency measures (building retrofits, industry energy efficiency, new electric cars, railways, charging infrastructure, new buildings, material efficiency, public transport, walkways and bike lanes, new efficient cars).
Table 4. International approaches to energy sector employment – IEA countries
Australia
Canada
United States
MARKET VALUE/ EMPLOYMENT
BOUNDARIES MAIN APPROACH (LEVEL OF DETAIL)
ABS: Employment
ABS: employment factors, CEC: project calculations
ABS: employment in renewable energy activities (construction only)
Variable Ad hoc for example Energy Efficiency Council, Green Energy Markets (2019)
Variable
Variable
Yes
Statistics Canada
Both
Survey, census data, NAICS codes
Direct and indirect
Renewable energy
Limited period
Statistics Canada (from 2013 – 2017)
Market value only
Energy efficiency/ Environmental sector
Yes
ECO Canada (2019)
Both
Survey (focus changes year by year)
Direct employment, Value, Specific occupations, Hiring difficulties, demographics, Projections
Energy sector including EE (fuels, renewable & fossil fuel electricity, transmission & distribution, EE, transport)
Yes
NASEO & EFI (2020)
Both
Survey (25,000 businesses), census data (Bureau of Labor Statistics), NAICS codes
Direct employment, occupational details, hiring difficulties/ expertise gaps, 5-year trends, demographics, wage levels.
SECTOR
ANNUAL ORGANISATION
Renewable energy
Yes (limited period)
ABS (special report) (2020a)
Energy efficiency
No
Energy (petroleum, electricity)
Clean Energy Council (2020, 2021)
U.S. Energy and Employment Report
CEC: construction employment and investment
E3 Opportunity Assessment: Developing the future energy workforce
39
