There are many claims and counter-claims about whether green growth creates or destroys jobs. But fully assessing the consequences of environmental policies for employment presents a considerable challenge, and at present it is not possible for policy-makers to assess conflicting claims about the quality and quantity of green jobs that have already been created, or may be created in the future. One approach would be to focus on changes in employment in industries that provide environmental goods and services. Another would be to count the jobs created when firms adopt technologies with less environmental impact and switch to less polluting inputs, regardless of their primary outputs. Both approaches can be helpful for assessing the direct impact on jobs and the scale of structural change required by the transition to green growth. But green policies also affect labour markets indirectly through supply chains and through changes in overall demand. The destruction of ‘brown jobs’ in polluting industries should also be taken into account. The consequences of green policies for labour markets working through macroeconomic channels – such as changes in labour productivity and the costs of employment – are often overlooked. This policy brief argues for a greater focus on these indirect channels, taking into account a country’s particular economic structure and labour market institutions. This is particularly important for comprehensively analysing the impact of green policies in developing countries.