The sector of renewable energies suffered a new setback upon learning that the industry experienced its first growth slowdown in the creation of employment in 2024, when this indicator increased only 2.3% compared to 2023despite the fact that some political leaders consider that these energies already control the world energy panorama.
The International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena for its acronym in English) and the International Labor Organization (ILO) launched this annual review yesterday during the first day of the 16th Irena General Assembly in Abu Dhabi.
In which they indicate as reasons for this slowdown “the growing impact of geopolitical frictions and geoeconomic, as well as automation in the sector’s workforce.
It was, in fact, in 2023 when the highest historical growth of jobs in renewable energiesgoing from 13.7 million in 2022 to 16.2 million, that is, a year-on-year increase of 18%.
China continues to be the undisputed leader in this field, accounting for 44% of the total global job creation in the sector, where the photovoltaic solar energy remains number one.
This, thanks to the continuous expansion of facilities and panel manufacturing plants, according to the report, which places 7.3 million jobs in this industry in 2024.
In second place are the liquid biofuelswith the creation of 2.6 million jobs in 2024, of which 46.5% were generated in Asia. Hydroelectricity came in third with 2.3 million jobs, followed by wind energy with 1.9 million.
Trump’s decision
The decision made last Wednesday by the American president, donald trumpof withdraw from Irena -among 66 other international cooperation entities- was one of the protagonists of this day, as it will be in general of the Sustainability Week from Abu Dhabi.
In his speech at the General Assembly, the general director of Irena, Francesco La Cameramade it clear that this measure – not yet formalized – will not “delay, but will promote the energy transition in renewables”, given that these “have taken control of the global energy panorama”, a process that he described as “unstoppable”.
