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The green transition employment trends will affect Technical Vocational Education and Training, policy-makers, social partners, and individuals. It will be necessary with change, and reskilling should focus on easing employment and career transitions.
Green jobs are decent jobs that contribute to preserving or restoring the environment. We will find them in traditional sectors such as manufacturing and construction and in new, emerging green sectors such as renewable energy and energy efficiency.
According to International Labour Organization, green jobs help to[1]:
- Improve energy and raw materials efficiency
- Limit greenhouse gas emissions
- Minimise waste and pollution
- Protect and restore ecosystems
- Support adaptation to the effects of climate change
Green jobs reduce the environmental impact of enterprises and economic sectors, ultimately to sustainable levels. Specifically, but not exclusively, this includes jobs that help protect ecosystems and biodiversity; reduce energy, materials, and water consumption through high-efficiency strategies; de-carbonise the economy; and minimise or altogether avoid the generation of all forms of waste and pollution.
Green jobs in emerging economies and developing countries include opportunities for managers, scientists and technicians. Still, the bulk can benefit a broad cross-section of the population that needs them most: youth, women, farmers, rural people and slum dwellers.[2]
Alongside digitalisation and automation trends, the shift towards greener and more sustainable economies is a game-changer in labour markets. The digital and green transitions are picking up speed for long-term transformative trends spanning several decades. A significant challenge for the coming years is accelerating up- and reskilling so that people have the skills to thrive in more digital and greener jobs. The resulting changes in skill needs will have impacts far beyond the key occupations driving them, affecting all economic sectors. The current Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) employment and skills policy framework emphasise that – ultimately – skills drive and shape the transitions to more digital and greener societies. TVET plays a crucial role in facilitating just changes because its hands-on and work-oriented route to qualifications provides people with skills the labour market needs and career development opportunities in the emerging post-pandemic jobs market. [3]
Becoming ‘greener’ will bring about such profound changes in technology, design, production, services, consumption and investment that it is impossible to achieve without skilled people. Insights into the central green transition employment trends aim to inform policy-makers, social partners, education and training providers and individuals about where up-and reskilling should focus on easing employment and career transitions. [3]
References
[1] Green Jobs: Progress Report 2014-2015, ILO 2016 [2] Unesco [3] Cedefop (2021). The green employment and skills transformation: insights from a European Green Deal skills forecast scenario. Luxembourg: Publications Office. http://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2801/112540
Lucubrate Magazine February 2022
The photo on the top of the article: Adobe Stock
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