The challenges and impact of climate change are becoming ever more visible in our daily lives – flooding, droughts, wildfires, extremes of weather, impacts on health, agriculture and the environment.
In response, the transition to a low carbon economy has accelerated addressing these challenges. The Government's Net Zero Strategy (Build Back Greener) 2021 sets out the pathway to achieve Net Zero by 2050. The strategy sets out plans for reducing emissions from each sector of our economy, while hoovering up any remaining emissions with greenhouse gas removals – either natural, like trees, or technological, using carbon capture.
To help achieve its 2050 target, the UK government has made a series of ambitious pledges, which include:
- achieving fully ‘Clean’ electricity by 2035, by rapidly increasing wind, solar and nuclear power
- making 80% of new car sales zero emissions by 2030
- capturing and storing between 20 and 30 million tonnes of CO2 a year by 2030
- installing 600,000 electric heat pumps a year by 2028.
The number of low carbon businesses and their supply chains will grow, and the government has set an ambitious target for two million green jobs in the UK by 2030. The impact of the transition to net zero on the UK’s labour market will be significant: with one estimate suggesting up to 20% of the workforce could see demand for their skills affected, either positively or negatively, along with new skills and knowledge required.
Your students need to be aware that green jobs and skills are a growing field and will continue to grow for the foreseeable future. Rapid developments in many industries will continue to redefine which skills are most in demand and which jobs are available.
Schools will play a long-term role in teaching green skills, and in informing and encouraging young people to enter careers that contribute to the net zero transition.
Schools need to help students understand that all jobs will be impacted by climate change, and everyone must consider the impact of their job in terms of Sustainability. Businesses and organisations are preparing for every job to be ‘Green’.
“Green jobs will not be niche. We anticipate that sustainability and climate change will touch every career.”
Department for Education, UK Government (2022)