Hi, this is a very valid question. Looking at the results from the IET’s International Green Skills Survey, the answer is that we have some of the skills needed. Respondents often identified specialist environmental or sustainability skills as missing within their organisations, but also softer skills such as whole systems thinking, agile mindsets and complex problem solving, which were seen as key skills in the sustainability mix. At country level, it was most thought that we have the skills needed in areas of existing technologies (such as renewable energy and construction), but less so for more nascent areas such as nuclear and sustainable aviation.
To ready the workforce, the IET recommends greater collaboration between academia and industry, to better prepare entrants to the workforce with these missing skills so that they can hit the ground running. Government can also provide support through a flexible skills environment that allows businesses to rapidly identify skill gaps and upskill employees to meet the challenges they face.
The scope is both national and global. Each country will face individual challenges and from the survey, it looks like the UK has some catching up to do! It was interesting in the survey to see where there were similarities and differences between different countries’ needs. But for such a global challenge, nothing can be achieved in isolation. Countries need to work together and learn from each other in order to make the biggest impact. Conferences like COP are an important part of this, and it is the discussions between business leaders, outside of the more publicised political outcomes that have given me hope from these events.
A question back – where do you see PEIs such as the IET playing a role here? Is it in the skills domain? Facilitating discussions between industry and academia? Working with government? International coordination? Or something else entirely?
