The Green Jobs Taskforce yesterday published its first report setting out the steps the Government will need to take to reach its target of two million green jobs in the UK by 2030.

Convened jointly by BEIS and the DfE, the Taskforce brings together experts from across industry, trade unions and the skills sector. Announced as part of the Government’s Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution, its remit is to provide independent advice to government, industry and the skill sector.

These are pressing challenges. Recently published Work Foundation research, Skills for net zero in Lancashire, found that many energy and low carbon businesses are contending with significant skills gaps which prevent their growth and development. This blog sets out four key takeaways from the Green Jobs Taskforce report.

1. Net-zero must be based on good quality green jobs

The taskforce report calls on the Government to publish a detailed net zero strategy that will set out how new green jobs will provide workers with the security and opportunities for progression needed to develop a sustainable workforce. It is crucial that net-zero does not incentivise employment that meets short-term targets but fails to offer prospects and opportunities over the longer-term. In setting out the key principles of quality work, such as wellbeing and worker voice, the Taskforce drew on the Government’s Good Work Plan.

It is vital that Government ensures jobs created through the transition to net zero offer security and genuine opportunities for progression. The Taskforce’s emphasis on job quality is consistent with the ILO’s definition of green jobs as offering decent work. The development of quality jobs in the green economy will also contribute to lower levels of turnover, benefitting employers in the long-term and contributing to broader economic goals. The forthcoming Employment Bill represents an important vehicle through which to enact measures of the Good Work Plan that will contribute to good quality green jobs.

2. Building back greener

The Taskforce highlight the tole of Kickstart and other programmes in helping to foster economic recovery in the wake of the pandemic, underlining the need to grow back ‘greener’. Kickstart aims to support young people far away from the labour market, but more broadly, there is a need to ensure that the transition provides opportunities for the unemployed and low skilled. The Taskforce’s call for the creation of subsidised ‘green apprenticeships’ for unemployed people is sensible. To achieve this, it will be necessary for employment support providers, job centres and employers to work together closely - a point made in our recommendation for employers in the energy and low carbon sector to create new entry level opportunities as a stepping stone to apprenticeships and the development of skills for a career in the green economy.

3. Barriers to retraining and upskilling need to be removed

As one of its recommendations, the Taskforce has identified the need for flexible approaches to retraining and upskilling to be furthered in support of the net-zero workforce’s development. This is crucial. While some sectors are growing rapidly as a result of the transition to net-zero carbon emissions, others, such as oil and gas, will experience a downturn. Access to short, high-quality, modular training was also highlighted by the Taskforce as important to support workers in high carbon sectors to transition.

Work Foundation research published last year found that there can be a number of barriers for mid-career workers that prevent retraining – particularly among the lowers skilled and set out a range of measures to address this, including the provision of modular training. It also found that welfare conditionality prevents unemployed workers in receipt of Universal Credit from undertaking intensive training. These barriers to retraining must be addressed so that workers can prepare themselves for opportunities in the green economy.

4. Mutual recognition of training

The taskforce proposes that industry ensure mutual recognition of training certification and supply chain standards to maximise engagement in training for green jobs.

The Skills for net zero in Lancashire research found that businesses are delivering thorough in-house training, most often to fill skills gaps not covered by external provision. It is important that industry level consensus is developed so that external providers will be better placed to to meet the distinct needs of this growing sector. Sector bodies stand to play an important role in achieving this.

The highly specialised nature of certain clean energy products and services can also present skills challenges. Within this context, increased recognition of skills, potentially to be coordinated by industry, including sector bodies holds the capacity to help businesses in the energy and low carbon sector to more easily identify suitable candidates for recruitment.

While the points highlighted above represent some of the key dimensions of skills reform that will need to be achieved in order to meet net-zero, there depth and diversity of the Taskforce’s report indicate that a systemic shift in approach will be needed. There will need to be concerted and strategic action across all sections of the labour market and the economy in order to rise to the challenge of net-zero. Over the months ahead, there will be a number of ways through which the agenda set out by the Taskforce can be taken forward, including the Skills Bill and of course the COP 26 summit, which takes place in November.

Related Blogs

• 

  Christmas in Lancaster

• 

  Settling into university life as an international student

• 

  About my degree: BSc Finance

Disclaimer

The opinions expressed by our bloggers and those providing comments are personal, and may not necessarily reflect the opinions of Lancaster University. Responsibility for the accuracy of any of the information contained within blog posts belongs to the blogger.