Increasing numbers of green executives are commanding salaries in excess of £80,000 per year, with some top CSR professionals earning upwards of £120,000.

That is according to new research from green recruitment specialist Acre Resources, which claims that despite growing concerns about the state of the economy, demand for "green collar jobs" still increased by 20 per cent over the past year.

"Green jobs are clearly bucking the rest of the recruitment market," said Acre's managing director Andrew Cartland. "We may only be at the start of the credit crunch with the impact just beginning to filter through to recruitment policies, but the signs indicate that we will continue to see growth in green jobs."

This increase in demand is also beginning to drive up salaries, with Acre claiming to have seen a significant rise in the number of £80,000-plus roles it is advertising. Moreover, the firm's data shows that the average salary across the environmental sector rose five per cent in the past year to £34,000, while CSR professionals can expect to earn an average of between £40,000 and £60,000 with top earners attracting salaries of £120,000 a year.

Cartland said the company had also seen a significant increase in demand for more clearly defined environmental roles, such as climate change or energy managers. "In the past year jobs relating to energy management and emissions reduction have increased by 180 per cent," he observed. "The nature of the sector is changing and we are now seeing companies appointing more specialists to run their environmental strategies – it is no longer all being left to the CSR manager."