Climate protection is driving force for employment | Umweltbundesamt

Improved energy efficiency through better heat insulation boosts the purchasing power of homeowners and tenants as their heating costs drop. Modernisation of heating systems in buildings also cuts the demand for gas and heating oil imports, which in turn will stimulate domestic demand and counteract Germany’s high level of dependency on energy imports. At the same time, the large-scale investments necessary to remediate building stock will open up new employment opportunities, mainly in the construction industry and in related services such as construction financing.  In sum, this will stimulate the economy and provide growth and employment.

Considerable improvements in efficiency in the transport and business sectors have additional positive impact on employment. Should the automotive industry move to invest in the development of more efficient cars, market opportunities to create nearly 220,000 jobs in Germany by 2020 would ensue. Continuous efforts by businesses to improve energy efficiency would lower their energy costs and provide the opportunity to create new jobs. In so doing, more than 260,000 additional jobs could result by 2020.

It is thus clear that climate protection is more than a moral obligation. Increasing energy efficiency creates long-term employment and growth and could help Germany to recover from the economic crisis.