A new briefing note from POST, the UK Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology, looks at green skills, employment and education. It says that Green skills can be defined as ‘the knowledge, abilities, values and attitudes needed to live in, develop and support a society which reduces the impact of human activity on the environment’. But it notes that several other definitions exist, with some focused on technical skills for jobs that play a major role in reaching net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 (e.g., heat pump installation). Other definitions are broader, and include enabling skills and attitudes, such as public engagement and systems thinking. POST says that ‘the lack of a consistent definition can make it challenging to analyse the supply & demand for different skills in the UK workforce,’ but ‘evidence suggests that developing green skills will be achieved mainly by up-skilling the current workforce’, though ‘all components of the education system will play a role in increasing skills & raising awareness of green career paths’.
It notes that ‘sectors such as power generation, construction, waste and resources are likely to see growth and a significant update in skills as part of the net zero transition. These sectors also tend to have an ageing workforce with a substantial proportion approaching retirement. Stakeholders propose that improving diversity in key sectors may help to mitigate green skills shortages’. Stakeholders suggest that ‘the quality and uptake of vocational education & training (such as apprenticeships) are important factors for developing green skills in the workforce’. Stakeholders have also advocated ‘that green skills development could align with levelling up ambitions’. But it says it is all rather undeveloped at present and ‘there is strong consensus that policy certainty from government would support private sector investment in green technologies, demand for green skills, and provision of green skills training’.
A study by Economist Impact had already identified worrying skills and training shortages, while the IPPR think tank is concerned that the UK is falling behind some other countries in the number of green energy jobs it is creating: ‘we’ve failed to capture the economic opportunity the way other countries have’. Indeed, the UK may be actually loosing potential green jobs to rivals as Ed Miliband, the shadow energy secretary, put it : ‘Britain’s joiners, welders, engineers, technicians and construction workers are the people who are going to deliver a green future for this country. Yet under the Conservatives, far too many good jobs have gone overseas, as other countries get ahead in sectors like steel, electric car production, and clean energy.’
Clearly though it’s not just investment in new technology that’s important. Skill provision and development (as well as retention nationally) also needs urgent attention and won’t happen automatically. It’s part of the green transition that will need a lot of planning- not least to retrain those displaced from old jobs based on technologies that are being phased out. Indeed how quickly that can be done may define/limit the pace of the overall transition.
As the battle over Tata’s steel mills in Wales indicates, some big political issues loom. The government’s Green Jobs Delivery Group plans to publish a Net Zero and Nature Workforce Action Plan in the first half of 2024, and, there is a lot of talk about how to improve green engineering apprenticeship schemes. That would seem vital for younger people looking to create viable routes to new employment futures. But we also need retraining and re-skilling schemes to ease the path to the transition for older workers.
Big changes are likely. In addition to the consequences of post-industrial decline, which are are still evident around the UK, the transition to a climate neutral economy will have significant economic and employment impacts in regions with carbon intensive industries. In response there are some interesting local/regional initiatives. For example, Glasgow City Council has jointly prepared with Skills Development Scotland a Just Transition Skills Action Plan based on a review by the University of Glasgow which examined opportunities and challenges associated with green skills, focused on defining new skills, re-skilling, and up-skilling. Learning, education, and training were identified as the most important factor in successfully managing the economic transition. Skills were highlighted as an important entry point to a Just Transition.
At the national level, the UK 2019 Climate Change Act includes a ‘Just Transition Principle’ with a focus on future skills, which include a just transition for the built environment and construction sector. However, the Climate Change Committee say that the skills gaps inhibit the industry from implementing low-carbon construction. For example, the UK is slipping behind comparator countries in Europe in monitoring and controlling the embodied carbon in construction. France has a sustainability law that mandates that new public buildings should be built with at least 50% timber or other bio-based materials. This applies to buildings constructed for the 2024 Paris Olympics buildings which will have a significantly lower embodied carbon footprint compared to concrete and steel. A whole new (or at least revised) skill set may emerge from specific policies like this
Looking more broadly, the EU has a Just Transition Fund that invests in the re-skilling of workers to support regions in transition from carbon-intensive industries with significant employment impacts. JASPERS, the Joint Assistance to Support Projects in European Regions, is an advisory programme run by the European Investment Bank (EIB) and funded by the EIB and the European Commission. It supports the overall decarbonisation of industry by investing in the upskilling and reskilling of workers in regions in transition throughout the EU.
In particular, JASPERS assists EU Member States and pre-accession countries with economic diversification projects in regions negatively affected by the green transition. Its fundamental role is to help get sustainable project ideas off the ground in sectors such as transport, energy and water with up-skilling and job creation that will bring significant socioeconomic benefits to that region. It certainly seems to be supporting some interesting work in a wide range of areas, with new skill development being central.
*Terry Cook, who has been working in this area at the Open University, contributed to the above report and also to our earlier review of the issues.
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