Transitioning to a net-zero economy offers great opportunities for job creation and economic development. However, without attention to skills, some workers, such as those in declining industries or with limited access to education and training, may be left behind. Putting skills at the centre of the debate is essential to inform policies to address labour shortages, support workforce development, drive innovation and progress, and promote social equity in the emerging green economy. Ensuring that the workforce has the right skills is also crucial to avoid the slowing down of the net-zero transition, as novel technologies require new and enhanced competences. Investing in comprehensive and inclusive skill development programmes will help empower workers for success in the evolving labour market and contribute to ensuring that the transition to a net-zero economy is equitable and sustainable for all.
This chapter sheds new light on the skill needs of the green transition. Identifying the skills that are in high demand in a more sustainable economy is essential to enable individuals to develop the right set of skills and adapt to changing work practices. Skills are also key to promote effective labour market mobility and facilitate the transition from sectors with high greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to greener activities, while ensuring that businesses have the workforce skills they need to adopt greener technologies. Policy makers will have to take steps to promote the development of the skills needed for the green transition. This chapter reviews the policy tools and good practices governments and stakeholders can use to facilitate skill development and job transitions, with a particular focus on disadvantaged groups, notably those with low skills and limited labour market mobility.
The key takeaways of the chapter are as follows:
- Skills themselves are not inherently "green"; what matters is how they are used. The concept of "skills for the green transition" emphasises the role of human capabilities in driving environmentally sustainable practices. This underscores the need to apply existing skills to jobs and tasks that align with environmental goals, and to foster workforce development and acquisition of these skills. The focus is on enabling and empowering the labour force to contribute to a more sustainable future.
- The skills that workers in green-driven occupations need to master are those linked to the knowledge economy. Process skills – such as critical thinking, monitoring and active learning – and cross-functional skills – like complex problem solving and decision making – are both crucial in enabling workers to quickly adapt to the innovation-driven nature of the green transition. By contrast, the level at which technical skills – such as equipment maintenance and installation – are required by green-driven occupations is substantially lower, suggesting that there will be a shift towards high-skilled analytical jobs in the green economy. Furthermore, newer jobs emerging as a result of the green transition demand even higher proficiency across all skills compared with green-driven occupations already well established in the labour market, pointing to a rising demand for skilled workers in the labour market.
- When comparing the skill requirements of green-driven occupations with those of GHG-intensive and environmentally neutral occupations, the analysis shows that new green-driven occupations with low education and experience requirements generally demand higher skill proficiency than jobs with similar education and experience requirements in GHG-intensive and neutral occupations. Conversely, the skill requirements of green-driven and GHG-intensive occupations with high education and experience requirements are very similar. This suggests that, purely based on skill profiles, transitioning from GHG-intensive to innovative, green-driven occupations may be significantly more challenging for low-skilled workers than for workers in high-skilled positions. Ensuring sufficient and appropriate training for low-skilled workers will be paramount to address both skill shortages in green industries and the learning needs of low-skilled workers.
- These findings are confirmed when looking at skill distances between occupation pairs. Indeed, the majority of GHG-intensive occupations share similar skill requirements with at least one non-GHG-intensive occupation, suggesting that transitions out of polluting sectors are feasible with well-targeted reskilling.
- Looking at the feasible career transitions out of each single GHG-intensive occupation based on skill distances can provide additional information on the type and extent of retraining needed to successfully promote the required labour market transition. The case of petroleum engineers is illustrative of this. In fact, this GHG-intensive occupation shares very similar skill requirements with a number of green-driven occupations, including environmental engineers and climate change policy analysts. Retraining to be able to access either of these jobs would be feasible by focusing on specific skills: petroleum engineers would have to improve their knowledge of biology and chemistry to become environmental engineers, while more communication and advocacy skills would be necessary to take up a climate change analyst role.
- Training is crucial for individuals to adapt to the changing landscape of work in the green transition. Workers in green-driven and GHG-intensive occupations train less than those in other jobs, and skill shortages in key green sectors pose challenges for the net-zero transition. Flexible, short learning programmes, along with training leaves and financial support, are crucial to address some of the barriers adults face in participating in training. Training can also be made more accessible if it takes the form of an on-site and work-based learning that provides practical hands-on experience and is financially compensated. Initiatives in Australia and Canada offer targeted training enabling adults to enter in-demand green sectors, such as renewables and sustainable construction. Adults might require additional support to undergo training for the green transition, and countries like the United States and Sweden have programmes that provide holistic support and services, such as work-based training, financial support and career guidance for adults transitioning to in-demand green employment.
- Skill disparities among different groups of workers raise concerns about potential inequalities in the net-zero transition. Gender imbalances in employment and skills, with women being under-represented in the green economy, are of particular concern. Initiatives in countries such as Spain, Austria and Sweden aim to make the green transition just and inclusive and address disparities through targeted training programmes and financial support.
- The involvement of trade unions, employer associations and professional associations throughout the skill policy cycle is crucial to ensure inclusive and diverse perspectives in policy design and implementation. Collective bargaining also plays an important role in facilitating greater access to training opportunities. However, there are only a few policies promoting private‑public collaboration in the green transition.
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