With Green Skills Gap looming – Green Jobs must be a key focus of the next government

Green jobs must be a priority of any new government with growing green skills top of that agenda, says IEMA.

With the demand for green skills globally growing nearly twice as fast as the growth in green talent – a global green skills gap is looming, which will have implications for whoever wins the General Election.

· Green job listings worldwide requiring at least one “green skill” grew nearly twice as fast (22.4% between 2022 & 2023 on Linkedin) as the growth in green talent in the workforce (12.3%).

· Jobs requiring green skills now make up 30% of UK job listings.

IEMA is calling for the establishment of a permanent cross-government body to work with industry to deliver the Green Jobs Plan that was due to be launched this summer but is now likely to been put on hold due to the election.

IEMA Deputy CEO, Martin Baxter, said: “There is a Green Skills Gap looming. With demand for green skills growing nearly twice as fast as the growth in green talent.

“A skilled workforce is vital for net zero. If unaddressed, the Green Skills shortage will compromise efforts to achieve legally binding net zero targets and ensure a just transition away from fossil fuels.

“Meeting our climate and environmental targets is an economy-wide challenge. Not one for sustainability professionals and organisations alone. It is increasingly a necessity that all job roles can help contribute to delivering greener outcomes.

“The most successful organisations over the next two decades will weave green skills into their workforces much in the way digital skills spread over previous decades.

“A cross-government body, like a Green Jobs Council, can take the lead with a strategic approach to delivering a future Green Jobs Plan and driving growth in green skills across the economy that is tied to our long-term climate and environmental goals.”

Key Policy Ask:

• IEMA is calling for the establishment of a permanent cross-government body following on from Green Jobs Delivery Group that takes a strategic approach to delivering green skills and jobs growth in the economy that is tied to our long-term climate and environmental goals.

Key Stats:

• There is a legal requirement for the UK to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Across the UK there are also wider environmental targets that each devolved administration must deliver. In England this includes halting the decline in species populations by 2030 and increasing tree and woodland cover to 16.5% of total land area by 2050.
• A recent YouGov poll highlighted that 65% of British adults believe they do not have access to green skills training through their employer, there is clearly a need to act speedily on policy interventions to create a greener workforce. The same poll also found that 56% of British adults have never heard of the term ‘green job’, while 64% also demonstrated a similar lack of awareness of the term ‘green skills’.

Read IEMA's Director of Policy and Public Affairs, Ben Goodwin's blog: Prime Minister calls General Election - how will IEMA be engaging?