As the Middle East continues to drive its green transition, Filipino engineers and architects are presented with unique opportunities to be part of a booming sector.
With the rise of green jobs, there’s a growing demand for professionals in renewable energy, environmental engineering, and sustainable urban development.
But why are green jobs popular, and how can Filipinos, particularly engineers and architects, get involved?
On a mission to address climate change
According to the World Economic Forum (WEF), the green energy and sustainability sectors are witnessing substantial growth in the global job market. In fact, the WEF’s Future of Jobs Report 2025 identifies climate-change mitigation as one of the most transformative trends, with 47% of employers expecting it to significantly impact their business in the next five years.
The energy sector is undergoing a massive transformation as countries aim to reduce their dependence on fossil fuels and invest in renewable energy sources. In fact, the demand for renewable energy engineers and environmental engineers is surging as part of the green jobs movement.
According to the Top 15 Fastest-Growing Jobs of 2025, Environmental Engineers and Renewable Energy Engineers are two of the most in-demand green jobs by 2030.
Filipino engineers and architects have a crucial role to play in this evolving market, especially as the green transition gains momentum in the region.
During the panel discussion on “Urban Sustainability: Redesigning Middle Eastern Cities for Walkability, Public Transport, and Green Spaces” at The Filipino Times Watchlist: Top Engineers and Architects in the Middle East Summit 2025, Srinivasan Samy, Sustainability Manager at KEO Sustainability + Environment, highlighted two major challenges to making our cities more sustainable in this region: climactic conditions and rapid urbanization.
“If you are investing in sustainability, there should definitely be a return on investment. It’s all about the duration. When we talk about the return on investment, what matters is how long the investor can wait to get their money back,” replied Samy.
Green jobs on the rise
Green jobs have seen a significant rise in recent years, growing from 13.7 million in 2022 to 16.2 million in 2023. This surge reflects the rapid expansion of renewable energy generation capacity and equipment manufacturing. The growth of green jobs is further driven by cities’ ongoing push for sustainability, as they are responsible for consuming more than two-thirds of the world’s energy.
“The major challenge we face, I believe not just big companies, but all companies focus on the CAPEX not on the OPEX,” Arsany Lourka, Senior Manager at Expo City Dubai, emphasized. “It’s really difficult to find a project having this exercise. The best project I’ve seen, they are putting it in the value engineering stage not as an initial stage.”
Moving to greener pastures
With cities becoming more eco-conscious, engineers and architects are well-positioned to help design and implement the infrastructures of the future.
Despite many job sectors facing disruptions, green energy jobs remain resilient and are expected to stay in high demand. These jobs offer stability and growth, making them an attractive career option for Filipinos in the UAE and beyond.
Nida Malik, Senior Sustainability Consultant at AESG, advised on key skills, certifications, or specializations engineers and architects should pursue to stay relevant and competitive in the Middle East’s evolving job market.
“If you look into sustainability ratings, you can always refer to the international ratings as inspiration, but the local ratings is what you want to see in the region, because they are tailored to the region and the climactic conditions over here,” Malik said.
“You don’t have to have certification, but you have to be well aware. The good thing about sustainability is that now it has grown so much, from technical, just from being introduced as green buildings and construction, into CSRs and ESGs.”
Whether in renewable energy or sustainable construction, the future of work is green, and the opportunities are boundless for Filipino engineers and architects who want to take part in shaping a more sustainable world.
