Companies in England are unsure of what skills are needed to support the transition to a strong and sustainable green economy, according to evidence gathered by the business department (BIS).
A report detailing the results of a project on skills in the green economy indicates that, in general, businesses are currently not certain about their future green skills needs, although some sectors – including energy generation, the construction industry and the food and agriculture sectors – do identify specific skills needs.
“Organisations do not have the right level of awareness or understanding of their green skills requirements and the implications of the green economy. As a result they are unlikely to realise the importance and benefits of incorporating green skills within their business,” says the report.
It claims that many companies are failing to invest in skilling their workforces because there is a lack of certainty about government policy, giving the example of the power sector, where training to a competent level typically takes two to five years, to illustrate this point.
“Confidence in the timing of demand for these skills is too low to justify investment and much more certainty is needed about the size and timing of future investment programmes,” it explains.
The report also makes the point that the transition to a green economy requires a workforce with the right skills, but that these should not be confined to just the low-carbon and environmental goods and services sector. All businesses need help using natural resources efficiently and sustainably and to be resilient to climate change, it says.
To support resource efficiency, for example, the report says companies will require management skills to develop business models that provide bottom-line benefits as well as skills to design and adopt technologies, products and processes to improve efficiency.
