Green skills needed for 748,000 employees across NW
Posted on: 22nd June 2010
Up to a quarter of the workforce in England’s Northwest will need to green their skills by 2020 as the region responds to climate change by building a low carbon economy.
A study, published today by the North West Climate Change Partnership, reveals how 748,000 employees across the region will need some level of skills enhancement in order to make the transition to a low carbon economy.
Entitled ‘Assessment of the Skills Need and Provision for a Low Carbon North West’, the report highlights how reducing carbon emissions is paramount for the region’s economic vitality and environmental wellbeing.
And to reach the Northwest’s goal to become less carbon intensive, an annual 70,000 regional employees for the next ten years will need some level of training in new climate change-related skills to equip themselves for the economic transition ahead.
A sample selection of expertise required for a low carbon economy ranges from knowledge in sustainable procurement, green construction and biofuel production to offshore wind energy installation, energy efficient product design and specialised environmental service advice.
Of the estimated 748,000 workers singled out in the report, over half of them (422,000) will have to incorporate a professional understanding and industrial knowledge of how their job role will have to adapt. This group, which mainly applies to the public sector as well as automotive manufacturing, and construction and building services, need to ‘green’ their skills.
The second type of skills set required is expanding employees’ existing working knowledge of new technologies, policies and application that can be applied in a genuinely low carbon economy. The report predicts how this group could affect more than 298,000 employees in the region through the growth of renewable energies as well as new recruits into public service, constructing and manufacturing.
The final category of skills provision will actually result in new jobs for the region, with the creation of 28, 000 new posts mainly across research and development in specialised industries such as wave power and fuel cells. If these projections are correct it may also mean an expansion of vacancies in the installation and management of wave power.
Underpinning the NWDA’s findings are a series of published government documents that stress the importance of the necessary and unavoidable move towards a low carbon economy, these include the recently released ‘Low Carbon Transition Plan’ and a series of ‘Mini-Stern’ reports across the Northwest revealing the possible economic impact of not taking timely and extensive action to reduce carbon emissions and prepare adaptation strategies for future climate change.
The report, which was commissioned by the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA) in its role as a member of the region’s Climate Change Partnership, will enable key decision makers to consider current skills provisions and identify what gaps can be filled.
Dan Griffiths, Head of Climate Change at the NWDA, explains why this report is crucial to the economic vitality of the region: “This report gives us a greater appreciation of the opportunities and barriers this region’s employers – and employees – will very quickly face as we move towards a low carbon economy.
“It is no longer viable to ignore the future of the region’s economy in relation to the challenge of climate change. Our findings will allow key stakeholders in education and training provision for post 16-years olds to begin to respond and help the Northwest continue its mission to become an international centre for climate change by 2020.
“The vast majority of low carbon skills are based around existing core skills, and this region has worked hard to develop training resources on low carbon and sustainability modules,” added Griffiths.
“Many of our universities are leading the way on sustainability, renewable and low carbon technologies, but there is still much work to be done to coordinate additional professional qualifications for all skill levels. ”
