What is the ‘green economy’.

The drive is on to make our planet a better place to live. Following decades of industrial growth and waste, sustainability is the new buzzword, as the perilous state of the planet's ecosystem becomes more and more evident.
There are several factors behind this:

• The relatively recession, and the stagnation of global growth witnessed in the first decade of the 21st Century. Also, it’s front and centre in many of the news stories involving the recent Paris Climate deal and also the efforts of the US Trump administration to overturn US participation on international climate change protocols.
• Growing awareness of climate change, with a specific focus on the reduction of carbon emissions.
• The rising cost of fossil fuel costs due to factors including the nature of supply and political instability in many oil and gas producing countries.
• At government level, worldwide, there has been a huge increase in the search for cheaper and more sustainable sources of energy, to make optimum use of existing supplies and to ease the dependency of countries on oil and gas imports. EU directives in crucial areas such as energy, landfill and wastewater define the sustainability obligations for both jurisdictions on the island of Ireland. The looming reality of Brexit could cause challenges in terms of how the island addresses environmental issues cohesively.

Graduates from disciplines as diverse as engineering, science, geography, IT and sustainable development are needed to help each jurisdiction achieve its sustainability goals.