'Green Jobs Fair' arrives in India

India's first 'green' jobs fair is being held at the Indian Habitat Center
from Sep 24-26. The Green Jobs for India Fair is part of The Cimate India
Project, which itself is an extension of the project initiated by Al Gore's
Inconvenient Truth. Al Gore selected 19 professionals in India to spread
awareness and Gaurav Gupta, founder & Director, The Climate Project-India, is
one among those selected professionals.

Providing some stats and figures over a radio show, Gupta informed,
“According to a recent report green technologies and industries in India will
attract spending in the region of $150 billion (Rs 7.6 trillion) by the year
2017. The urban economy will certainly be profoundly affected by this shift. The
rural sector has already started doing their bit. But do we have the skilled
workforce to make the most of this opportunity? No. So, we are hosting a large
scale public 'Green Jobs Fair' to raise awareness about the matter.”

Gupta explained how there is an essential divide between requirement and the
implementation of the ideals of the Climate Project. So, the motivation for this
fair arose from a fundamental need for a solution for the successful
implementation of the project to overcome the lapses the project was facing in
India. It was essential to spread awareness in structural areas across India
about their project. Being the network coordinator of the project, Gupta
assisted 120 civic leaders in this endeavor. In the process, it was realized
that for the masses to get involved, an incentive such as a secure job
opportunity was required to ensure active participation. Also, while one wants
to work for environment friendly causes, India lacks the trained labor force.
The solution was to create 'Green Jobs for India'. This would also assist to
built a stable economic structure.

Both during the radio show and a telephonic interview, Gupta stressed that
parallels can be drawn between the IT revolution and the upcoming green
revolution. The vision is that Green Jobs will result in enhancement of job
opportunities,which is much needed in the current economy. But the parallel does
not end here. Gupta attributes the success of the IT sector mainly on the
contribution made by private institutions such as the NIITs, which provided the
basic training essential for IT jobs later. Only later, the government came to
recognize the strength of the IT sector and one saw a boom. Similarly, Gupta
believes that while Green Jobs avail many new employment opportunities, in order
to avail them, what is required is appropriate policy changes in education and
other fields as well as practical training of the the countries' engineers,
architects, labour, plumbers etc. One government affiliation of this project is
the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy. “Getting the support of more
government institution will be the next step for Climate Project for India”,
says Gupta.

“Certain industries are already adapting to green technology, for instance,
the construction sector which is focusing on green buildings, using biome
architectural designs, and other cost effective alternatives. There are some
initiatives that have come up out of necessity like water harvesting and setting
up of solar energy panels to deal with water and electricity crisis. In the
rural sector organic farming and biogas are picking up quickly,” said Gupta.
“Cisco envisions a future where the intelligent use of networking architectures
can transform urbanized societies, not only by boosting productivity and
spurring economic growth, but also by supporting environmental sustainability
and enhancing the quality of life,” said Varghese M. Thomas, Head — Public
Relations, Cisco — India & SAARC.

When asked how does he think the IT sector can help create Green Jobs and do
their bit for the environment according to him, “By using equipment, both in
terms of hardware and softwares, that promises efficiency while at the same time
saving energy, the IT sector is doing its bit too,” Gupta added.

Gupta relied largely on the usage of the availability of software that saves
energy and immediately spoke about video conferencing products as a significant
tool. Corporate use of video conferencing tools are both energy efficient and
time efficient for instance. They also also economically viable in the long run
as it cuts down on travel cost. Cisco has launched Telepresence applications
which already have customers from the corporates segments like Tata Consultancy
Services, Tata Teleservices, Tata Steel, GE India, Reliance World, Wipro
Technologies, Maharishi University, ANZ IT, Accenture to name a few.

Cisco is currently engaged in a cross-industry effort and has recently
launched EnergyWise, a technology that makes it possible for businesses to
reduce carbon emissions, by managing energy consumption of devices on the
network when they are not in use. He also informed that starting with IP-based
devices like VoIP phones and video cameras, Cisco plans to extend this to
computers and peripherals, and finally to improve energy utilization - systems
such as lighting, heating, surveillance and access - throughout a building.

Garima Goswamy