Some insights from Enterprise M3 Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) into green skills and jobs with some data and links to some fantastic resources for further reading. Should get the conversation started on Green Skills - they're not going away!
2. A GREEN JOB
‘…employment in an activity that directly
contributes to - or indirectly supports - the
achievement of the UK's net zero emissions target
and other environmental goals, such as nature
restoration and mitigation against climate risks.’
– Green Jobs Taskforce Report, 2021
3. GREEN SECTORS
§ Power – including renewables (such as wind,
solar and hydropower), nuclear power, grid
infrastructure, energy storage and smart
systems technology;
§ Business and industry – including hydrogen
production and industrial use, carbon capture,
utilisation & storage (CCUS) and industrial
decarbonisation;
§ Homes and buildings – including retrofit,
building new energy-efficient homes, heat
pumps, smart devices and controls, heat
networks and hydrogen boilers;
§ Transport – including low or zero emission
vehicles, aviation and maritime, rail, public
transport and walking or cycling;
§ Natural resources – including nature
restoration, tree planting and decarbonising
agriculture, waste management and recycling;
§ Enabling decarbonisation – including
science and innovation for climate change,
green finance, circular economy and energy
networks;
§ Climate adaptation – including flood
defences, retrofitting of buildings to be
resilient to extreme weather/climate events,
nature-based solutions to reduce climate
impacts and civil and mechanical engineering
for infrastructure adaptation.
4. GREEN SKILLS
§ strategic and leadership skills to enable policy-
makers and business executives to set the right
incentives and create conditions conducive to
cleaner production, cleaner transport etc.
§ adaptability and transferability skills to enable
workers to learn and apply the new technologies
and processes required to green their jobs
§ environmental awareness and willingness to
learn about sustainable development
§ coordination, management and business skills
to facilitate holistic and interdisciplinary approaches
incorporating economic, social and ecological
objectives
§ systems and risk analysis skills to assess,
interpret and understand both the need for change
and the specific measures required
§ entrepreneurial skills to seize the opportunities
relating to low-carbon technologies;
§ innovation skills to identify opportunities and
create new strategies to respond to green
challenges
§ communication and negotiation skills to discuss
conflicting interests in complex contexts
§ marketing skills to promote greener products and
services
§ consulting skills to advise consumers about
green solutions and to spread the use of green
technologies
§ networking, information technology and
language skills to enable performance in global
markets
Reference: Skills for green jobs: a global view: synthesis report based on 21 country studies, ILO (2013)
9. DON’T FORGET THE
HIGH CARBON ECONOMY
Reference: https://informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations/how-to-get-the-world-to-netzero-by-2050/
10. (SOME) FURTHER READING:
§ EM3 Economy and Labour Market reports: https://www.enterprisem3.org.uk/em3-economy-and-labour-market-reports
§ Green Jobs (Job board): https://www.greenjobs.co.uk
§ Green Jobs Taskforce report, BEIS (2021): https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/green-jobs-taskforce-report
§ Green skills needed for all construction jobs, CITB (2021): https://www.citb.co.uk/about-citb/news-events-and-blogs/green-
skills-needed-for-all-construction-jobs/
§ Local green jobs - accelerating a sustainable economic recovery, LGA (2020): https://www.local.gov.uk/local-green-jobs-
accelerating-sustainable-economic-recovery
§ Skills for green jobs: a global view: synthesis report based on 21 country studies, International Labour Organization
(2013): https://www.ilo.org/moscow/information-resources/publications/WCMS_345482/lang--en/index.htm
§ The ten point plan for a green industrial revolution, UK Gov (2020): https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-ten-
point-plan-for-a-green-industrial-revolution
§ These are the skills young people will need for the green jobs of the future, World Economic Forum (2021):
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/08/these-are-the-skills-young-people-will-need-for-the-green-jobs-of-the-future/