The chance for sustainability: green jobs at the centre of "Confronti 2024"

"confronti 2024", organised by the Institute for Economic Research (IRE) and dedicated to "green jobs", took place on 3 December at Università della Svizzera italiana (USI). The event was dedicated to exploring the future of green careers. Throughout the day, professors, researchers, institutions, and professionals delved into this important topic in depth.

It was "a space for public discussion with the region and its institutional players on relevant economic issues", as stated by USI Rector Luisa Lambertini, who spoke at the beginning of the event. The Rector of USI emphasised the need for an ecological and technological transition, representing an engine for development and an economic opportunity.

During the day, Prof. Barbara Antonioli Mantegazzini, adjunct professor at the Faculty of Economics and vice director of IRE, also took the floor. She emphasised that to effectively combat global warming, it is crucial to adapt our production practices by limiting the use of fossil fuels for primary energy production. Currently, 81% of primary energy worldwide comes from oil derivatives or coal. In the European Union, however, this rate is decreasing and currently stands at 68%. Professor Antonioli Mantegazzini provided a positive assessment of Switzerland's role in the 2050 strategy to achieve zero CO2 emissions: "Switzerland is well-positioned to meet European objectives, partly due to a significant portion of its energy being generated from hydropower plants. The goal is not only to create jobs but also to develop safe, stable, and value-generating professions within a responsible and inclusive framework".

Moreno Baruffini, a post-doctoral researcher at IRE, offered a country-wide assessment of the transition to a labour market increasingly oriented towards green jobs: "Sectors like construction and energy are expected to experience significant growth in labour demand due to increased investments in energy efficiency and renewable energy. However, the shift away from fossil fuels may lead to a decrease in employment in certain maintenance-intensive areas related to fossil energy sources". As Moreno Baruffini mentioned, "according to a study conducted by researchers at the University of Basel, green occupations grow more during economic growth phases compared to other occupations. This finding gives us hope that we can achieve the goals of the green economy". The IRE researcher also added that it is not easy for education to keep up with the development of new professions, but in Ticino, both the education offered by universities and UAS, as well as continuing education, are conforming to this new trend, as the example of the House of Sustainability in Airolo shows.