Increasing Need for Green Skills

According to the World Economic Forum’𝐬 𝐅𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐉𝐨𝐛𝐬 𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓, around 𝟑𝟗 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐬 are expected to change by 2030. Among the 𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐟𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭-𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝𝐰𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩. This shows that the 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞. For professionals today, it is no longer enough to be technically competent in your domain. What sets 𝐟𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞-𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 is how well they 𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 into everything they do. I have noticed that individuals who begin saying things like “I optimise for resource efficiency” or “I design with circular value in mind” get asked different questions and enter different conversations. One memory that stands out is a marketing lead I advised. They reframed a campaign as “reducing material waste in the value chain” instead of simply “brand awareness.” The outcome changed: client meetings became 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐜 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥. 𝐌𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐞, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫. Here are seven 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐬 that will define 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 in the coming decade 𝐒𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐬 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 – Recognising your role as part of wider ecological, social, and value chains 𝐂𝐢𝐫𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐈𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 – Designing for reuse, repair, and renewal rather than single use 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐚 𝐅𝐥𝐮𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲 – Interpreting energy use, carbon footprint, and resource flow data 𝐀𝐝𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 – Guiding teams through sustainable transition 𝐋𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐀𝐠𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 – Accepting that what you know today will evolve and proactively adapting your competence 𝐄𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 – Taking conscious responsibility for resource impact 𝐒𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐕𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐞 𝐂𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 – Innovating with both business growth and ecological and social impact in mind 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐢𝐭 If you want to remain relevant in the decade ahead, start weaving these green skills into your current role instead of waiting for a “green job” label. The market will reward those who think sustainably from day one, not just those who switch roles. Which green skill will you develop in the next six months, and how will it shape your professional story? LinkedIn #LinkedInGreenSkills #COP30 #FutureOfWork #CareerGrowth #Sustainability #GreenSkills

Today I have been asking myself the question: What if we're solving the wrong problem - chasing AI disruption while the real opportunity for human flourishing lies in the green economy? AI is getting all the headlines, but here's what the data actually shows: 🔹 AI impact: Creates 11M jobs, displaces 9M → Net gain: 2M jobs 🔹 Green transition: Creates 34M jobs with minimal displacement That's a 17:1 ratio in favor of green jobs. 🤯 Yet 90% of workforce discussions focus on AI disruption while climate jobs barely make the news. Why this massive disconnect? ✅ AI grabs attention - ChatGPT created immediate, visible change ✅ Green jobs seem gradual - but they're happening faster than we think ✅ Tech giants drive the narrative - while green jobs are distributed across industries ✅ 40% of employers expect AI workforce reductions - creating immediate anxiety The reality check: 1.2 billion jobs depend on healthy ecosystems Green jobs are harder to automate Climate action is literally existential Green skills show 22% growth in job postings vs 12% in available workers. Our future depends on our ability to close this gap. For professionals: While everyone's learning prompt engineering, there's a massive opportunity to apply YOUR existing skills to green roles: 🌱 Accountants → Carbon accounting & green finance 🌱 Teachers → Sustainability training & green skills education 🌱 IT professionals → Energy management systems & smart grids 🌱 Recruiters → Green talent acquisition (fastest growing field!) 🌱 Project managers → Renewable energy projects 🌱 Sales/Marketing → Clean tech & sustainable products ... and many more Maybe we should focus our upskilling efforts where the real job growth is happening? What do you think - are we chasing AI shiny objects while missing the green goldmine? Data sources: World Economic Forum Future of Jobs Report 2025, International Labour Organization, Manpower Global insights sustainability and the rise of green and turquoise jobs

🌍 Why are so many companies struggling to make progress in their green transitions? One key reason I’ve long argued is the lack of human capital. Sustainability isn’t just about technology, policies, or financial commitments—it’s about people. Without a workforce equipped with the right skills, even the most ambitious climate goals risk becoming unattainable. The newly released Global Green Skills Report 2024 from LinkedIn paints a clear picture of the challenge ahead. Despite growing momentum in climate commitments, the supply of green talent is lagging far behind demand: 🌱 Demand for green skills grew 11.6% globally in 2023-2024, but supply only increased by 5.6%. 🚨 By 2050, half of all jobs in the green economy may lack qualified candidates unless we double the size of the green talent pool. 💼 Workers with green skills are already 54.6% more likely to get hired, showing the immense career opportunities in this space. The report also highlights demographic and industry trends: 👩🎓 Gen Z: A generation eager to tackle climate challenges, but only 1 in 20 have green skills today. 👩🔬 Women: Despite progress, the green gender gap persists, with women significantly underrepresented in green roles. 🏗️ Industries in focus: Utilities, construction, manufacturing, and tech are at the forefront of the transition, with soaring demand for skills like sustainable procurement, renewable energy management, and environmental policy. This data reinforces what many of us have felt for years: we cannot decarbonize the economy without upskilling and reskilling the global workforce. Closing the green skills gap is as much about delivering on climate promises as it is about creating pathways to new economic opportunities. 🟢 How do we move forward? It’s clear that governments, businesses, and educators need to come together to build the workforce of tomorrow. Initiatives like workforce training programs, green certifications, and cross-industry collaboration will be pivotal. Take a moment to explore the report—it’s packed with valuable insights for professionals across industries. What steps do you think can companies, governments, and individuals take to accelerate the green skills transition? #Sustainability #GreenEconomy #SkillsForTheFuture #Leadership

Singapore’s workforce is in a skills reset. What got you hired won’t keep you relevant by 2030. CORE (Double Down) Human skills no machine replicates: • Critical & Creative Thinking • Leadership & Influence • Empathy & Listening • Self-Management & Motivation • Learning Agility EMERGING (Upskill Now) Demand is exploding across Singapore’s digital-green economy: • AI & Data Literacy • Cyber & Network Fluency • Sustainability Intelligence • Talent & Capability Design OUT-OF-FOCUS (Deprioritise) Routine, rule-based, tool-specific skills — automate or move on. Reality Check The edge isn’t tech alone. It’s the fusion of human judgment with digital fluency. Those who can lead with empathy, think critically, and learn fast will own the future of work. What you can do: 1. Audit: list 6 skills you use weekly and tag each Core/Emerging/Out-of-Focus. 2. Close gaps: pick one Core to master and one Emerging to apply in a real project within 90 days. 3. Institutionalise: align learning to SkillsFuture/Jobs-Skills frameworks and employer demand data.  Outcomes you must measure (minimum) • Two demonstrable projects in 6 months that show a Core skill applied with an Emerging capability. • Evidence of impact (time saved, revenue enabled, risk reduced, stakeholder adoption). 

I'm always on the lookout for courses that help sustainability professionals stay ahead of where the industry is heading. One area that has caught my attention recently is the growing importance of Life Cycle Assessments (LCA) and Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs). For many years, sustainability conversations focused on commitments, targets and reporting. Increasingly, the conversation is shifting towards measurement, verification and product-level impact. Think about some of the trends we're seeing today: 🏗️ Green building projects are paying greater attention to embodied carbon and material selection. 🏭 Manufacturers are being asked to provide product-level environmental data to customers and procurement teams. 📊 Sustainability professionals are under pressure to improve Scope 3 emissions calculations and supply chain transparency. 🌍 Regulators and markets are demanding greater accountability for environmental claims. At the same time, AI is accelerating the need for structured, high-quality sustainability data. While AI can help analyse information faster, it still depends on robust methodologies and credible datasets to generate meaningful insights. That's why skills such as LCA and EPD development are becoming increasingly relevant. They provide the foundation for understanding environmental impacts across the entire lifecycle of a product — from raw material extraction and manufacturing to use and end-of-life. An example of such a programme is by Global Green Connect and SMU Academy that focuses on these areas, covering Life Cycle Assessment, Environmental Product Declarations, carbon management and the application of AI within sustainability. As sustainability continues to evolve from ambition-setting to impact quantification, developing these capabilities could become an increasingly valuable part of the sustainability professional's toolkit. #esg #sustainability #lca #edp

Across 81 global cities, more than 21 million jobs are already green, representing 10.4% of total urban employment. This share indicates that green employment is now embedded within mainstream urban labor markets. Approximately two-thirds of these jobs are direct, concentrated in energy systems, transport networks, construction, and waste infrastructure. The remainder are indirect roles across manufacturing, logistics, professional services, and education that enable green sectors to function. This structure shows climate investment operating across full value chains rather than isolated projects. Green job intensity is highest in sectors where cities hold regulatory, procurement, and planning authority. In transport, construction, energy, and waste management, green roles already represent 20–40% of sectoral employment in many cities. Several urban economies have surpassed 20% green employment, reflecting sustained policy implementation rather than short-term programs. Regional patterns place Latin America and Africa among the highest in green job share, driven by long-term investment in mobility, waste, and energy access. Distribution remains uneven. Gender imbalances persist, and informal employment continues to shape outcomes in key sectors. Future labor demand is projected to outpace current skills pipelines, particularly in construction, transport, and energy. Urban climate policy is therefore functioning as a labor market driver, reshaping employment structure, skill requirements, and local economic resilience. Source: C40 Cities – Global Good Green Jobs, 2025

New Study Shows Fewer Than 15% of China’s Coal Power Plant Workers Can Easily Transition to Green Jobs by 2060 Publication: One Earth Date: November 6, 2024 Paper link: https://lnkd.in/e5WAtaC3 PDF: https://lnkd.in/e3yMHREc As China progresses toward its 2060 carbon neutrality target, phasing out coal power remains critical to achieving substantial reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. However, our new study highlights a significant hurdle in the nation’s green transition: less than 15% of China’s coal power plant workforce will find it easy to shift into green jobs. The study, published in One Earth, presents a comprehensive analysis of the geographic and skill-based challenges coal power workers face in transitioning to the renewable energy sector. Our team of researchers using a retirement model of 3,765 coal power units across China, the study reveals that for the majority of these workers, green jobs are not just around the corner—most would have to travel substantial distances, averaging between 178 and 242 kilometers, to reach available renewable energy job sites. Beyond location, the study also examines the skills gap. While green jobs—such as solar technician roles—are often cited as potential new employment opportunities, they generally require specific skills and training. When skill requirements are considered alongside job accessibility, the analysis shows that fewer than 15% of coal power plant workers can easily qualify for green roles. The researchers emphasize that delaying the coal phaseout could make this job transition challenge even more daunting. However, they suggest a potential solution in expanding upstream industries within the renewable energy sector, such as electrical machinery manufacturing, which can be located closer to former coal sites and offer better skill alignment. Developing these industries near coal-dependent communities could ease the transition for a significant portion of the coal workforce, creating a more accessible and sustainable employment pathway. The findings offer essential insights for policymakers. By understanding the spatial and skill barriers to green job transitions, the study can inform tailored strategies that support the coal workforce through retraining initiatives, targeted green job creation, and local investments in renewable industries. About the Study The study, “Fewer than 15% of coal power plant workers in China can easily shift to green jobs by 2060”, was published in One Earth and provides a critical perspective on the coal-to-green job transition, highlighting the need for location-based strategies and skill development initiatives as China works toward a carbon-neutral future. #CoalTransition #GreenJobs #JustTransition #CarbonNeutrality

Last year, we published our thesis on how green skills were growing. In our OnePointFive (opf.degree) playbook “Forget the Sustainability Unicorn, How to Upskill a Climate Workforce”, we argued that the next big shift in climate work would be this: 👉 Sustainability would embed across the entire org - not just sit with the Sustainability team. A year (and a fair bit of turmoil 😢) later — climate jobs have slowed, sustainability roles have been cut, and “green” has found itself with a target on its back. So I was curious. What does the actual jobs data say? 🔍 LinkedIn’s 2025 Green Skills Report just dropped (led by Efrem Bycer and team!), and the data is fascinating. I combed through it so you don’t have to: 🟢 Green is getting embedded For the first time, the majority of green hires are happening outside of traditional green roles. Think: - Tech workers managing sustainable AI/data centers - Finance roles focusing on sustainable capital deployment - Supply chain teams upskilling in emissions tracking 🟢 The demand-supply gap is growing Jobs requiring green skills are growing twice as fast as the growth in green talent - four years in a row now. 🟢 Energy management is spiking Especially in AI-heavy industries. The tech sector led the growth in green skill intensity from 2021 to 2025. 🟢 Europe leads - regulation matters Increased green skill growth in Europe is likely due to regulatory pressure. When rules change, skills follow. 🟢 Green talent gets hired more Despite a global hiring slowdown, green-skilled workers are hired 46.6% more often than the average. So, what‘s next? The green transition is not just a climate imperative — it’s a people imperative. If we want a just transition, we need: ✅ Better job data, from countries, and orgs to drive policy ✅ Cross-sector investment in people, in the twin transition of Green and AI skills ✅ Smarter, faster upskilling (especially in high-demand sectors like tech and infrastructure) With COP30 ongoing and the Jobs & Skills Day in Belém just happening last week, now’s the time to double down on talent, not pull back. I’m curious - are you seeing green skills embedding into unexpected parts of your org? Would love to hear what this shift feels like in your organization. 🔗 Check the link for the full report (and our playbook) in the comments

In our AI and sustainability workshops, we spend a lot of time looking at both the challenges and the opportunities, and the tradeoffs of this new era we’ve found ourselves in. The sustainability double-bind, or the fact that the same tool that can model climate scenarios and accelerate renewable discovery is projected to account for half of U.S. power-demand growth in the next five years, isn't something we can deny or avoid. AI has significant costs in energy, water, and land, and yet it can deliver real gains, from faster modeling, decision making and the ability to compress many actions and timelines relevant to the modern business. The person who can engage in both worlds by holding simultaneously the capability and the costs in view, can be the MVP in many organizations right now. It comes from a sustainability instinct as well as a technical one. Systems thinking, evaluating short, medium and long term opportunities, accounting for stakeholders and second-order effects is the work sustainability professionals are built to do. The market has started paying for just this. LinkedIn's 2025 Green Skills Report found workers with at least one green skill are hired at a rate 46.6% higher than the workforce overall, and for the first time most green-skilled hires, 53% of them, now sit in non-green roles like finance, operations, and product. The capability and skills have gone mainstream before the job titling has. For sustainability professionals, this is a major opening. The last few years have felt heavy in this field, with plenty of retreat and reasons to wonder where it was all heading. But I think this mainstreaming is the shift where the learnings and mindsets cultivated in the sustainability world move to the center of business thinking. Staying on top of it is important now, and AI fluency is quickly becoming one of the defining elements for doing that.

I left #AfricaGreenEconomySummit thinking less about climate targets and more about labor markets. Here are my four big takeaways. 1. For all the talk of GWs, blended finance, and carbon markets, what sat underneath was a deeper question: who is actually going to build, operate, maintain, finance, and scale this transition? And, while big numbers were shared: hundreds of millions of jobs globally linked to the green transition, with Africa capturing a significant share across agriculture, construction, and the built environment, there remains a skills gap. There are shortages of engineers, technicians, and digitally literate farmers, as well as thin entrepreneurship capacity and gender disparities which remain stark. But the deeper issue is that skills systems are largely supply-driven, while enterprise growth is constrained by capital access, market linkages, and weak project preparation. Employers want work-ready talent, yet too few firms are structured to provide meaningful work-based learning, and training institutions graduate students into labor markets that have not been shaped to absorb them. 2. On measurement, there is discomfort with reducing impact to “number of jobs created,” but equal frustration with complex reporting frameworks disconnected from commercial reality. A more pragmatic idea surfaced repeatedly: measure productivity as a proxy for capability. Increased agricultural yield as evidence training is working. Revenue growth as a signal of stronger management. Reduced downtime in distributed energy as proof of technical competence. These metrics align skills development with enterprise performance and make them legible to investors. 3. The financing conversation was sobering. Concessional capital is tightening and public budgets are under pressure. If green skills development continues to rely primarily on grants and enrolment-based models, it will not scale. There was interest in results-based financing, recoverable grants, and first-loss facilities, but more importantly, in treating workforce investment as part of core enterprise financing rather than a social add-on. 4. The discussion about risk also stayed with me. Investors worry about funding job creation in volatile markets. SMEs worry about training staff only to see them poached. Agriculture faces seasonality challenges that make stable employment difficult. These are central to whether green jobs will be durable and decent. Designing mechanisms that share risk across investors, firms, and ecosystems is important. The opportunity is significant, but so are the constraints. What feels different now is that the conversation is maturing. We are moving beyond “how many people did we train?” toward “did enterprises become more productive, investable, and capable of sustaining jobs?” That shift in framing may be one of the most important developments of all. Teresa Labonia, Max Steventon, Liesbet Steer, Ryan Mwanzui