The Big Picture

Growth of specific Environmental Jobs

Describes the growth of particular environmental jobs.

Biodiversity

With rapidly declining biodiversity, there is currently growth in jobs related to Biodiversity Action Plans, as well as an increasing need for more research, monitoring, and conservation and restoration management.

Open Spaces

In a densely populated country, with conflicting demand for natural resources, increasing risk of flooding and the need for woodland as carbon sinks, there is likely demand for more intensive land and landscape management.

Food Production

With increasing demand for organic and local food, many farmers, horticulturalists, food processors and retailers will need advice, training, accreditation and consultancy from environmental professionals.

Pollution Prevention

With many aspects of air and water pollution improving, there is relatively more focus on the monitoring and remediation of contaminated land, as pressure mounts for housing and commercial development in post-industrial urban areas.

Sustainable Buildings

With the demand for more housing development, urban regeneration, sustainable design and reused building materials, there is a need for environmental professionals to work in teams with architects, surveyors, property developers, designers and planners.

Waste Management

As one of the poorest waste managers in the Europe, there is mounting pressure, and hence increasing jobs, for giving advice to householders and businesses, zero waste management, recycling, and the market development of recyclates.

Energy Management

With climate change as one of the highest UK and global priorities, there is inevitable and urgent demand for more technologists, engineers and managers who can improve energy efficiency in the home and workplace, as well as develop and promote the new renewable technologies.

Transport and Travel Management

As a major contributor to climate change transport and travel organisations as well as manufacturers will have to employ or contract more environmental professionals to work alongside engineers, designers and logistics managers.

Environmental Management, Auditing and Assessment

EU legislation and its UK implementation will mean more jobs for environmental auditing and assessment in increasingly smaller organisations and developments.

Environmental Engineering and Ecodesign

The continuing evolution of environmental technology will continue to play an important part in shaping the content of college courses. The need for process plants to meet tighter emission specifications will stimulate the research and development market and the manufacture of new, energy efficient, cleaner plants and production equipment. This in turn will provide career prospects for environmental engineers and technologists.

Planning

The development and regeneration of cities, towns and the countryside, as well as airports, ports and highways inevitably means greater professional links between planning and environmental professionals.

Environmental Research, Mapping and Measurement

The UK environmental research funders suggest that we are weak in research on environmental sustainability, enviro-informatics, human health and the environment, marine management and waste management. Geographical information systems will be applied to many aspects of environmental management. Information technology is already revolutionising the environmental profession. Environmental information systems, software and the management of environmental data are clear growth areas in the environmental career market.

Tourism and Recreation

Countryside and heritage management achieves a balance between conservation and recreational use and is likely to be another growth sector. Greening tourism businesses is a rapidly expanding area as ecotourism, healthy outdoor recreation and adventure/working holidays become more popular with increasing wealth, travel and leisure time.

Environmental Education and Training

New values towards the environment, skills for managing it, and knowledge to understand it, means more demand for university courses, school curriculum development, as well as popular and professional training courses.

Environment youth and community work

Environmental volunteering, working holidays and events are increasingly popular, especially with young and retired people. Volunteer managers and community workers will increasingly require professional environmental experience.

Policy Development

All local authorities, Government Departments and agencies now employ environmental professionals. This trend is likely to continue as policies and strategies need proofing for their inclusion of sustainable development.

Financial Management

Some environmental initiatives are creating a relatively new growth area – environmental economics, which covers ethical investments, mortgages, and enterprise development. This calls for a particular mix of skills across economics and environment and it is likely that some post-graduate training will provide the appropriate entry into this sector of the jobs market.

Environmental Law, Development Control and Regulation

A key driving force behind many environmental initiatives has been the rapid increase in environmental law and legislation, especially from the European Union. The opportunity and threat of litigation, developed in the US, is creating a new discipline of environmental advocacy.

Sustainable Production and Consumption

Shops are now paying increasing attention to their suppliers’ activities, to how customers use and dispose of their products and to environmental reporting. This is led by the larger progressive retailers and is likely to be a growth area for future employment. The potential threat of litigation will be a powerful spur to many companies to ensure their products are environmentally sound.