In the environmental sector, most people work in energy saving measures, renewable energy sources, environmental consulting, waste management and recycling.
In the environmental sector, there are relatively fewer science graduates. In comparison with the research-intensive life sciences sector, the difference is striking. This is remarkable given the difficult challenges we face in the climate and environment field.
The environmental sector employs:
- 159 000 people.
- More than 9 000 scientists work in the environmental sector.
- Between 2015 and 2020, the number of employees in the sector increased by 27%.
- The largest increases were in energy supply (57%) and construction (45%).
relatively few scientists in the environmental sector
The hope that the climate crisis and the environmental challenges we face will drive an increased need for scientists has not yet materialized. Despite the fact that scientists are the core competence in the field, there are still very few people in the environmental sector with basic scientific skills and even fewer scientific experts.
The lack of people with the necessary skills to ensure that the measures taken have a real impact is striking. To a large extent, other skills such as communication, marketing and finance are in demand today.
Common titles in the environmental sector:
- Environmental and health protection inspector (environmental inspector)
- Officer (environmental, environmental protection, nature conservation, water officer)
- Environmental consultant (consultant)
- Manager (environmental, unit, group, middle, department manager)
- Environmental investigator
- Project Manager (Project Manager)
- Environmental Strategist (Strategist)
- Researcher (Scientist/Researcher)
- Environmental specialist (specialist, senior specialist, expert)
- Environmental coordinator (Coordinator)