The Green Careers Hub will offer insight into the green jobs of the future, as well as information for anyone looking to find out more about green skills, jobs, and potential career pathways within the sustainability and clean tech sectors, IEMA said.
The hub, which forms part of the the government’s recently updated Net Zero Growth Plan, will feature original content from IEMA and a range of partners and contributors brought together in “a single, easy-to-use resource.”
The careers hub will include tips on job hunting as well as career advice, video case studies, explainers on sustainability terminology, and a jobs board.
The launch of the hub comes amidst growing concerns that the net zero transition could be hampered by worsening skills shortages in many of the industries that are set enable the decarbonisation of the economy.
A recent report from the Climate Change Committee warned that skills shortages presented one of the biggest threats to UK climate goals and urged the government and businesses to embed sustainability skills across the school curriculum and ramp up investment in apprenticeship and skills programmes.
Similarly, professional networking platform LinkedIn this week published its annual Global Green Skills Report, which revealed that while green job postings are up by 15.2 per cent year-on-year, demand for talent is outstripping supply. In the UK, for example, just one in eight UK workers were found to be equipped with green skills such as climate action planning, corporate sustainability and sustainable procurement, despite a third of advertised jobs now including some form of green skills.
Sarah Mukherjee, chief executive of IEMA, said green skills were urgently needed “in all sectors of the economy”.
“A key example is how far short we are on the number of electricians needed to support the government’s ambitions for electric vehicles,” she said. “We must have a plan in place to tackle the immediate issue of the climate emergency by working towards a robust net zero strategy and emphasis on renewable energy.
“Without the skills and training in place, we won’t ever bridge this gap, which is why I’m delighted we have launched the Green Careers Hub, to help everyone who’s interested in working in the growing green economy.”
IEMA stressed that it wanted the hub to be accessible to anyone, whether at school, college, university, in work, or looking for a job or a career or looking to change to a greener job.
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