Section 1 - Key Definitions and Aspirations
Green Skills: A catch all headline that incorporates the knowledge, abilities, technical skills, and behaviours that support society to address environmental challenges. Green skills are increasingly incorporated across a range of job roles and functions to support businesses to address environmental impact and sustainability challenges.
Green Jobs: Roles that will contribute to the restoration of the environment. These roles vary between sectors but may include specific sustainability roles, those that will support the transition to a greener economy and those in areas of the economy who can have an impact through the adjustment of business management practices.
The IEMA skills map focuses on the following thirteen competencies for green skills:
Core knowledge competencies
- Fundamentals of sustainability
- Principles and issues of Business Governance
Technical knowledge competencies
- Issues and Principles
- Policy and Legislation
- Management and Assessment Tools
- Innovative and Leading Practices
Skills for sustainable leadership
- Analytical Thinking
- Problem Reframing and Resolution
- Effective Communication
- Relationship Development
- Resilience, Risk and Continual Improvement
- Delivering Sustainable Solutions
- Leadership for Change
Green jobs can be split into the following categories as identified by the US Department of Labour’s O*NET.
Green New and Emerging Occupations: These are occupations that have unique requirements for working in or on the decarbonisation of goods, processes, and services, such as electric vehicle power unit designers. These jobs are closest to the definition used by LCREE. An increasing number of leadership and management roles are being sought by larger companies, public bodies and charities which specifically address sustainability issues. These involve co-ordinating activities across the corporate body and working in partnership with other companies in the supply chain to reduce scope 3 emissions for example encouraging waste minimisation. A key aspect of a sustainability co-ordinators role is to create a culture across their organisation which raises awareness of all sorts of employees across an organisation and through training and performance management standards setting stimulates cultural change which enables an organisation to not only be more sustainable but capable of working in partnership with other stakeholders whether they be customers (CSR), service beneficiaries or fellow businesses that are part of the supply chain. The finance sector is now beginning to address sustainability issues within its investment portfolios with specific outcomes targets that are expected to be delivered. This work is heavily dependent upon relationship building with businesses where meeting sustainability criteria is becoming increasingly important to shareholders and as a measure of the sustainability of a business and its ongoing commercial viability.
- Green Enhanced Skills and Knowledge Occupations: Occupations that currently exist but require a change in their competencies and/or context for working in or on the decarbonisation of goods, processes, and services e.g. maintenance of electric vehicles (EVs).
- Green Increased Demand Occupations: Occupations whose demand is increased due to the decarbonisation of goods, processes, and services, but do not entail significant changes to their competencies or context e.g., example electric power line installers for EV chargers.
- Other or non-green jobs: All other jobs
Areas of training need and the relationship between the issues for skills development
Aspirations: Coventry (and Warwickshire) aims to be a beacon of green employment and investment both regionally and nationally. We seek to embed the skills required to address environmental and sustainability challenges at all ages across the curriculum, to support employers to acquire the skills they need to ready their workforce and to position us as an area of choice for investment by green industries with the support of a robust and capable skills ecosystem.
The World Economic Forum identified Cities as having a key role to play in implementing actions that drive green job creation and equitable workforce development across sectors alongside youth, unions, and businesses towards the creation of inclusive and sustainable economies. Approximately 10% of total employment in cities analysed by the Forum are green jobs with over 25% green jobs in the following key sectors: water supply, sewerage, waste management & remediation activities, transportation and storage, electricity generation, steam and air conditioning supply and construction and buildings. Women currently occupy less than 12% of jobs in the above sectors, so more proactive targeting of women will be required in the future as will individuals living in deprived communities with fewer academic qualifications. The 70 C40 Cities identify 10m direct and 6m indirect green jobs available around the world’s major cities alone. To boost green jobs and ensure a sustainable future public agencies, businesses and investors applying just transition principles can:
- Invest in education and reskilling to equip the workforce and make jobs accessible to a wider population
- Update public procurement standards and use public procurement to drive green market transformation.
- Foster innovation and transformation in key sectors.
- Collaborate for an enabling environment. Partner with the private sector to leverage financial resources to enact change.
- Encourage small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to create good green jobs.
- Recognise and integrate the informal green economy.