IEMA's campaign for action on bridging the global economy's environment and sustainability skills gap was launched in October and has since generated significant interest and support
Accompanied by a report, Preparing for the perfect storm: skills for a sustainable economy, IEMA’s campaign highlights that just 13% of organisations say they are fully confident that they have the required skills to address the threats caused by massive population growth, soaring energy costs, diminished availability of materials, rising demand for natural resources and more climate-related weather events.
These are expected to affect every organisation, yet the gap in the supply and demand for environment and sustainability skills threatens businesses’ long-term survival. IEMA’s skills for a sustainable economy campaign has been conceived to bring together professionals, professions, employers and politicians to develop a collaborative course of action to bridge the gap.
The campaign has already received considerable coverage in environment and business press titles and impressive social media activity from members – IEMA head office has seen a surge in tweets and blogs about the report and the Institute’s aims. There is also a rapidly growing list of high-profile individuals and organisations lending their support to the campaign.
At the time of going to press, 25 organisations had backed the campaign. These include small and large consultancies, multinational blue chip corporates, manufacturers, employment agencies, construction organisations, unions and trade bodies, and research institutes.
Two high-profile individuals, Joan Walley MP and Forum for the Future’s Jonathon Porritt, are also lending their support. Offering his backing, Porritt said maximising the benefits of the emerging green economy would not happen without sustained and extensive investment in the skills and capability.
IEMA is seeking to continue adding organisations from across the economy to the list of supporters into 2015, especially as the UK general election approaches in May. A full list of quotes from supporters, which explain why each has chosen to back IEMA’s campaign, can be found here. Anyone who wants to become involved in the campaign should visit iema.net/get-involved or e-mail [email protected] for further details.
Updates on the campaign’s aims and achievements will be included in future issues of the environmentalist and member e-newsletters.
