Key findings
- Global employment in the energy sector grew by 3.4 million over pre-pandemic levels to 67 million in 2022.
- “Clean energy sectors added 4.7 million jobs globally over the same period and stand at 35 million.
- Fossil fuels jobs recovered more slowly after layoffs in 2020 and remain around 1.3 million below pre-pandemic employment levels, at 32 million.
- Job growth in the clean energy as well as fossil fuel sector remained positive in India compared to pre-pandemic levels of 2019.
- With this, the country saw the fourth-highest number of new clean energy jobs being created in the past three years.
- The report mentioned five major sectors of the energy industry that led to maximum job creation post-pandemic.
- These sectors were solar PV, wind, electric vehicles (EVs) and battery manufacturing, heat pumps, and critical minerals mining.
- These five sectors employed around 9 million workers till now. Out of all the sectors Solar PV emerged as the largest of the sectors with around 4 million jobs.
- On the other hand, the manufacturing of EVs and their batteries was the largest source of growth.
Q1) What are Critical Minerals?
It is a metallic or non-metallic element that has two characteristics. It is essential for the functioning of our modern technologies, economies or national security.
Source: Clean energy overtakes fossil fuels in the global job market: IEA report
Last updated on August, 2026
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