Workforces lack the green skills required to transition according to new research by Economist Impact. Just 2.7% of the 300 senior business executives surveyed from six of the world’s biggest business hubs believe that their organisations have the green skills needed to meet their corporate climate goals.
Despite this, the report, ‘A green edge: Green skills for the future‘, finds that nearly all (95.7%) of those surveyed expect green skills to become significantly more important for businesses to have in their workforces in the next five years—more so than digital, analytical, management and soft skills.
Executives said the leading benefit of increasing green skills in their workforces is improved brand reputation (86%), followed by resilience against extreme weather events (81.7%), and greater ability to achieve sustainability goals (77%).
Government regulations and policies were revealed as the leading influence for companies to adopt more green skills in their workforces, stated by the majority (80%) of the executives surveyed.
However the research reveals a disconnect between executives’ intentions and action: Executives see the importance of green skills but say the level of financial investment required is the top reason holding them back. Lack of endorsement from senior leadership and lack of clarity over what constitutes green skills ranked as the second and third biggest obstacles.
“Cities are both laboratories of innovation and essential forces in the green transition. In partnerships with companies, they can make sure the green-skills revolution has the wind at its back”, says Andrew Staples, editorial director, Impact Initiatives & Alliances and Head of Policy & Insights (Asia), Economist Impact, but “We are still in the early laps of this race. Although the pace is likely to pick up, concerns remain that this may not happen quickly enough to forestall the worst consequences.”
Research finds that if the lack of green skill development is not addressed, the delivery of corporate net zero targets will falter. A critical shortage of workers in the green economy may rise to seven million by 2030. In Europe alone, achieving the continent’s net zero commitments by 2050 will require the retraining of 18 million people.
Given that smaller companies may have fewer resources, they are placing less emphasis on green skills than their larger counterparts. Nearly a quarter (22.9%) of executives from organisations with less than 250 employees say they do not incentivise their employees to adopt or develop green skills. Comparably, in companies with over a workforce of over 25,000 people, this figure drops to zero.
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