As countries work to reduce carbon pollution, many job markets will change – and not only in the energy industry.

Burrow: “All industries have to change.”

Sharan Burrow is with the International Trade Union Confederation, which represents more than 200 million workers around the world. She says careers in heavy industry, transportation, and construction will be transformed. For example:

Burrow: “We’re seeing massive technological shifts in aluminum, in cement, in steel so that they are in fact able to be produced on a cleaner basis.”

But working with new technologies requires different skills – and not everyone is prepared.

So Burrow says governments and businesses should be making plans not only for reducing emissions, but for protecting vulnerable workers as well.

That means prioritizing education and training. And in some cases, people will need support and job placement to move into growing fields such as public transit, green building, and renewable energy.

Burrow: “These are big changes, but they’re also exciting opportunities if the investment is there and if workers and their communities are at the heart of the planning.”

Reporting credit: Sarah Kennedy/ChavoBart Digital Media.