Job security/salaries on the up for climate change professionals

There's good news for people in the fast growing sustainability sector with a new global report showing that professionals in the carbon and climate change related industries are taking in about four percent more than last year, and that jobs are more secure despite the economic downturn.

A newly released survey from Acre, a recruitment specialist firm and consultancy Acona, found that the average salary for carbon and climate change executives reached USD79,000 which was up about USD3,000 from a similar report in 2009.

The global 2010 Carbon Salary Survey, which was conducted on-line among 944 respondents in nine different areas ranging from renewable energy and clean tech through sustainability. The report showed that the the highest activity for people in the carbon and climate change sector in Asia was working as consultants Clean Development Mechanism/Joint Implementation projects

Although the majority of the respondents were from the US and the UK, this may have been because the report was circulated only in English and concentrated on companies in those countries.

However, many respondents working in the Asian regions stated that their company headquarters were in territories outside of Asia. This suggests that carbon and climate change professionals are traveling to work on projects/activities in the Asia region, which was one of 10 geographical areas the report looks at.

The latest survey suggests wage packets are continuing to rise, although the report's authors admitted the 2010 poll reached a higher percentage of professionals in senior roles than in previous years, which may have boosted average salary levels.

The report found that 26 percent of participants earned more than USD100,000, up from 24 percent last year, while 48 percent earned between USD40,000 and USD100,000, down from 52 percent last year.

Around three-quarters of respondents also said they feel the same or greater levels of security in their jobs compared with 12 months ago.

"From the results of the survey the impression I get is that of a thriving industry, but also an immature one, with disparity in terms of salary and bonuses," wrote Evy Tykgaard, specialist in talent acquisition for Vestas Wind Systems in the report. "Set against the backdrop of a difficult economic climate, it's no surprise that nearly half of those earning USD100k+ received no bonus at all. That said, I believe this may change in the future as sustainability and environmental strategies begin to feed into mainstream company procedures."