Transitioning Green: Ensuring Every Worker Reaps Benefits
In the rapidly evolving landscape of business and sustainability, a significant challenge lies in ensuring that workers are equipped with the necessary skills to thrive in the green economy. According to recent statistics, only 30% of workers believe their companies are investing effectively in developing their skills, highlighting a pressing need for action.
Business leaders hold a crucial responsibility in steering sustainability, with employees at the heart of the mission. Managers play a pivotal role in encouraging new skillsets and enabling professional development. A people-centric green transition that meets workers’ needs for meaningful, secure employment and ongoing skills development is essential to advance broader sustainability objectives.
The shift towards circularity could cost 71 million jobs without proper skills development, potentially leading to catastrophic economic and social consequences. To address this challenge, key approaches include engaging employees directly in sustainability initiatives, investing in upskilling and reskilling programs, using data-driven frameworks, fostering a transparent, inclusive culture, aligning vocational education and training with green skills demands, and collaborating closely between educational institutions and industry.
Engaging employees in shaping and implementing green programs fosters a sense of ownership and shared purpose, helping to align company and employee goals around sustainability. Investing in tailored training programs for current and emerging green jobs, leveraging partnerships with community colleges, apprenticeship programs, and online learning platforms, ensures accessibility and quality. Data-driven frameworks like the Green Talent Accelerator support employers in designing effective training pathways, reducing onboarding time, and developing adaptable, job-ready teams.
A transparent, inclusive culture that openly communicates sustainability goals, progress, and challenges, while promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion, is more resilient and engaged in the green transition. Aligning vocational education and training with green skills demands ensures curricula reflect the competencies required for sustainable jobs, and continuous access to advanced training at all educational levels is critical to future-proof workers against labor market shifts.
Collaboration between educational institutions and industry ensures training relevance, provides hands-on experience with industry-standard technology, and facilitates employment pathways for trainees. Six in ten workers believe the green transition will compel them to learn new skills, underscoring the importance of these initiatives.
Efforts from various labour market stakeholders, including business leaders, unions, governments, regulators, workers, and students, are required to ensure opportunities are balanced across diversity, gender, and age. The green transition requires the right training and development opportunities to make new roles and ways of working available to everyone.
The corporate world is prioritising sustainability, energy policies, and environmental protection, recognising employees as central to achieving the green transition. However, many workers fear they will be left behind. In Australia, for instance, 57% of workers are concerned about the impact of the green transition on their jobs, compared to 17% in Japan.
To address these concerns, countries like India have launched initiatives such as the Skill Council for Green Jobs, a public-private initiative for developing standards for skills certification and training curricula, as well as a dedicated platform for green job matching. South Africa has launched a Just Transition Framework aiming to extend lifelong and work-based learning opportunities to more people, including enabling more online learning and raising the number of apprenticeships.
Business leaders have credible action plans for decarbonisation, including production and supply chain adaptation, ethical investment, shifts to low carbon options, and more efficient tech. The goal is to move into a climate- and human-positive economy.
A side-event at COP27, hosted in collaboration with the International Organisation of Employers (IOE), will explore these topics in more detail with experts from the International Labour Organization (ILO), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the Presidential Climate Commission of South Africa, the C40 Cities, and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
Australia has invested in creating 10,000 apprenticeships in new energy industries to boost employment and facilitate transitions from education to the labour market. The future of employment requires the right training and development opportunities to make new roles and ways of working available to everyone.
[1] World Economic Forum, 2021. Green Talent Accelerator: A Data-Driven Framework for Green Jobs. [Online] Available at: https://www.weforum.org/reports/green-talent-accelerator-a-data-driven-framework-for-green-jobs
[2] European Commission, 2021. Green Deal Skills Agenda. [Online] Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/info/strategy/priorities-2019-2024/european-green-deal/actions/green-deal-skills-agenda_en
[3] United Nations Industrial Development Organization, 2021. Green Jobs in the Energy Transition. [Online] Available at: https://www.unido.org/green-jobs-in-the-energy-transition
[4] Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2021. Skills for the Green Transition. [Online] Available at: https://www.oecd.org/education/skills/skills-for-the-green-transition-9789264321893.htm
- Business leaders need to focus on reskilling and upskilling the global workforce to navigate the shift towards a green economy, as only 30% of workers believe their companies are effectively investing in their skills development.
- The green transition involves more than just technology and finance; it requires education and self-development, as six in ten workers believe they will need to learn new skills to adapt.
- Industry leaders are playing a crucial role in encouraging career development through tailored training programs for green jobs, collaborating with community colleges, apprenticeship programs, and online learning platforms.
- To foster a transparent, inclusive culture and combat the impact of climate-change, companies should align their vocational education and training with environmental-science and green skills demands, ensuring access to advanced training at all educational levels.
- Job-search platforms and initiatives, such as the Skill Council for Green Jobs in India and the Just Transition Framework in South Africa, help to make the green transition available to all, balancing opportunities across diversity, gender, and age.
- In order to succeed in the green economy and achieve a climate- and human-positive future, it is essential for all labour market stakeholders - including business leaders, unions, governments, and students - to work together to provide the right training and development opportunities for everyone.
