In 2021, BC suffered devastating environmentally driven crisis: a heat dome in July which killed six hundred people, destroyed the village of Lytton, and caused the worse spike of heat illness that doctors had ever seen. Then, Merritt was put underwater in the massive floods in November, destroying the town, doing massive damage to the only highways in and out of the lower mainland (to the point where it was impossible to get in or out for a few days) and nearly causing the return of the lake that was once where Abbotsford is now. On top of that, the usual wildfire season ripped through BC, Oregon, and California, causing yet more devastation.
Oh, and don’t forget about Covid-19 of course. Many scientists are grimly foretelling that there will be more zoonotic diseases coming due to wildlife being pushed more and more into urban centers and spreading their viruses around.
Setting aside the massive amount of anxiety, health issues, and damage done to houses and people due to violent weather, flooding, and wildfires, how will climate change impact employment in the future? And what can you do to prepare for it?
The Good
Assuming that governments and businesses take this seriously (and they’re starting to come around), there is a great deal of opportunity to be found in climate change as far as jobs are concerned. And the time to start thinking of it is now as many of these jobs will be highly specialized and require a good education. What sort of jobs could come out of climate change?
- New developments in architecture and design to create more energy efficient buildings with more renewable energy resources
- Jobs in renewable energy sectors
- A demand for more innovative solutions for things like wildfire, flood, and storm protection
- Agricultural jobs that will likely shift north as the arctic warms up
- Technicians for things like wind turbines
- Environmental engineering
- New urban planning to account for things like green spaces, new architecture, and transportation
- Scientists in soil, plants, and conservation
- Installation for solar panels
And of course, there is always a push for more innovation in everything from better recycling techniques and design of large centers to small things like awareness building, sustainable food and clothing, and marketing. Innovation is in demand now, from better insulation for buildings to designing apps to make people aware of how they can do more to reduce their carbon footprint. If you have an idea, there’s never been a better time to pitch it!
Even in jobs that don’t seem directly related to climate change, such as office, retail, and hospitality, there is still the opportunity to be part of the shift. This includes things like recycling more, using less water and more environmentally friendly cleaning products, paying closer attention to what is being purchased and even bringing your own cup to work instead of take-out. More and more, people are finding that no matter where they are and what they are doing, they can make a difference.
The Bad
Of course, the reality is that a change like this to society will not come easily, quickly, or without some pain. Many of the jobs that will come out of climate change demands will require a pivot in education with a particular demand on software engineering, technical engineering, math, science, and planning. Furthermore, we are still in the transitional period with people holding tight to the way things have been. It’s likely that for example, supply chain disruptions will continue as transportation makes the transition and ending fossil fuel use means wiping out a lot of lucrative jobs that were relatively easy to get into. There’s no doubt about it: that’s going to hurt workers a lot. And of course, this will make a lot of people angry and more likely to be radicalized by far right or left wing groups.
We have already seen this: look at the push back on things like carbon tax, pulling away from oil and gas sectors (albeit very slowly), and the impact it has on the people who work in those industries. It’s hard to convince people who worked in the oil fields to retrain for a job that won’t pay as much right away and will take time to learn. This was compounded by a campaign of misinformation spearheaded by major oil companies starting in the 1980s which was primarily to sow confusion about the impacts of fossil fuel burning in the population. We can stomp our feet and yell about this all we want now, but the reality is that two entire generations of people grew up on this and many people have made a very good living in the oil and gas sector. If it were to evaporate overnight, there would be a massive economic collapse. But the price of not doing anything is equally devastating, so the work is being done careful inch by inch.
If you work in oil and gas, it’s probably a good time to start setting money aside and look at retraining, just saying.
And of course, flooding, wildfires, heat domes, sudden arctic spikes, and zoonotic diseases wait for no one and, as 2021 proved, have a devastating and rapid impact on areas. It doesn’t really matter where you work if your town is on fire or flooded.
The Ugly
“Nature doesn’t ask your permission; it doesn’t care about your wishes, or whether you like its laws or not. You’re obliged to accept it as it is, and consequently all its results as well.”
-Fyodor Dostoevsky, Notes from Underground, White Nights, The Dream of a Ridiculous Man, and Selections from The House of the Dead
“The good thing about science is that it’s true whether or not you believe in it.”
-Neil deGrasse Tyson
Nature, and science, don’t really care how freaked out people are by the changes happening around them. Too much carbon dioxide in the air causes the temperatures to go up. Too much melted ice causes ocean levels to rise. This just is and it doesn’t matter whether one believes in it or not. If you lived in Lytton, it’s hard to deny that the summer of 2021 was not normal. If you’ve been choked by wildfire smoke in BC for several summers running, you know well that something has shifted.
Unfortunately, the problem lies in convincing people of this and then what to do about it. The ugly part of all this is the transitional stage. Many jobs and entire industries are poised to disappear while others will be transformed. Fight and argue all you like, but it’s likely that in the near future, drilling for oil will be a job of the past, akin to shoveling coal in steamships, or at least one for robots, not humans. Automated vehicles are still a bit of time away, but once they become mainstream, eventually long-haul truck drivers will no longer be required. And businesses which refuse to start the transition to something more climate friendly, or employees who refuse to see the reality of the jobs that are coming, will get left behind.
The other gruesome part of this is the shocking amount of money that will go into making the transition and in the meantime, the amount that goes into dealing with climate emergencies. For example, the 2016 Fort McMurray wildfire disaster cost $4 billion in insured damages, while the fires, flooding, and heat dome events of 2021 cost $2.1 billion in insured damages. And that is only a fraction of what the true cost was since many people fell through the cracks – uninsured, underinsured, or unable to get relief. That’s a lot of money, and furthermore, if things don’t change, $2 Billion (yes, with a B) in annual catastrophic losses is being described as the new normal for Canada. Sheesh. Clearly, if more isn’t done to climate proof towns, it’s going to cost a lot more to deal with the damage in the long run than it ever would have cost to do the work in the first place. But try convincing people of that reality and see how far you get.
But nature doesn’t care. In BC, firefighters are gearing up to be on call and ready year-round while the government budget is beefing their climate disaster response. And through it all, there’s opportunity for employment in new sectors – if you reach your hand and take advantage of it. And in the meantime, small things like drinking from your own cup, using recyclable materials, and spending less on disposable items all add up to help.
How has climate change and climate related disaster impacted your employment? What opportunities do you believe are coming? Sound off!
