On the beach of Twenty-Three
The Green Edge wishes you a happy and successful 2023! Here's what to expect from us this year. This post also includes our monthly reports roundup for December 2022.
As we enter our second full year of writing The Green Edge, we’re thinking it’s time for us to focus down a little. Our first year – 2022, remember that? – had us turning over a lot of pebbles in the UK Net Zero stream. We found much of interest and relevance, and we talked to many committed people. We scratched many surfaces and mixed a good few metaphors.
But in December, as we were putting together our roundup of 2022, we realised that this new year is going to be a time when The Green Edge – perhaps as a microcosm of the UK itself – needs to sharpen its gaze and look for the big issues that, ultimately, will determine the success or otherwise of the nation’s progress towards Net Zero. The Pareto factors, if you will. Some of these factors are obvious: the need to retrofit vast numbers of domestic properties, for example. But others – like the numbers of suitably-qualified retrofit coordinators or the general willingness among Britain’s householders to replace their boilers – are less-well understood. And, as we see in the CCC progress report we featured in our year-end post, some of these factors are either not benchmarked, untargeted, or data simply isn’t available.
Of course, finding good data in terms of quantity, quality and normalisation is critical. In 2023 we will continue to follow the development of data from ONS, DfE and others. We’ll also continue to gauge the roles of the institutions and in properly defining occupations and skills, as we lay out in our infographic below. But we’ll also look out for the other key factors nestling within the bigger picture. As ever, we’ll look at these through the skills lens whenever we can. Listen in on our podcast this week to hear what we think some of these factors might be.
Continuing into 2023 we will, of course, respond to important events as they occur. One such event should be the release of the first English Local Skills Improvement Plans (LSIPs) which we expect to see around late Spring. And we’re already looking out for the report from the Skidmore Review of Net Zero, commissioned by Liz Truss and targeted to report in December. Let’s have it, Chris.
Finally, we’ll continue to leverage our subscriber network. The Green Edge was originally set up to build a network of people with vested interests and qualifications in building green skills and, with new subscribers appearing daily, we’d love to hear what you’re doing and what you have to say. We’ll be in touch.
Once again, best wishes for 2023. For the remainder of this post, since we thought our Reports Roundup might not be a good complement to your fuzzy New Year’s Day head, we’re including it – for this month only – in our regular weekly post.
Green skills and jobs
Net Zero Workforce. An analysis of existing research.
Engineering UK, November 2022
This report pulls together reports on the number of engineering and technical green jobs (current or projected) and in doing so provides a really useful service to us all trying to keep a track of the growth of the number and type of green jobs. It highlights the limitations the data we are seeking to master which could well be addressed by the work of ONS over the first few months of 2023.
An Emergency Plan on Green Jobs for Young People.
Friends of the Earth and Transition Economics, February 2021
Deep in this report is a very clever and innovative use of the standards listed by the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE), together with an attempt to allocate each of them (or not) into a green jobs category. The report counts 161 green standards (or at least indirectly green ones) out of the 500+ then listed (we note there are now over 800 IfATE standards).
We do consider that this work needs extending by using the content of the standards as data rather than focusing on the titles and purpose of the roles. Ideally, we think it would help if those developing green skills programmes could draw upon a green skills database, matching the extended (ie. ‘5-digit’) UK Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) and the IfATE standards, along with the various online job listings.
Green Jobs Barometer. Monitoring a fair transition to a green economy.
PwC, December 2022
A useful addition to the monitoring of green jobs and employment across the UK at national and regional levels. It will be interesting to see how this annual report is developed with the advent of new data on green jobs and employment from the ONS, as well as the more detailed analyses coming out of the 38 LSIPs we expect to see during 2023.
The Energy Transition and Jobs. Can people transition to new green jobs?
PwC, August 2022
Highlights the importance of knowing how people currently in work can make the transition into emerging and new green jobs. Sadly, this report doesn’t draw on the work using job postings data or O*NET, for example the work done by Cambridge Econometrics (which we were proud to be involved with) looking at some of the detail, time and investment of potential career transitions.
Green Jobs Barometer for the Channel Islands. Tracking the transition to a green economy.
PwC, July 2022
A set of local case studies and insights, which are always welcome especially as we see LSIPs take shape during 2023.
Green Skills as an enabler of UK Retrofit. Deep dive research report – Green Jobs Barometer.
PwC, November 2022
This report pulls together existing research and adds further weight to the whole retrofit imperative. Clearly, we have enough data and analysis to plan the manpower for the transition to net zero for domestic, commercial and public buildings, and during 2023 it would make sense to pull this together and produce such a plan. We’re concerned that the construction and general maintenance workforce does not have the capacity to meet our immediate and future retrofit skills requirements.
Home Decarbonisation Skills Training Competition Successful Projects
Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, UK Government, December 2022
It’s great to see a new raft of education and training providers delivering green domestic decarbonisation programmes. It would be even better to see the data on numbers signing up to these programmes and the impact on people moving into work.
Green Jobs, Red Wall. How green industrial jobs can boost levelling up.
UK Onward Think Tank, December 2022
This report makes an important link between the green economy and its potential to revitalise local economies. Placing the green economy at the heart of economic and social regeneration is another important barrier being crossed. Green is not additional; it’s at the core of the future UK economy.
Decent work in nature-based solutions.
ILO, UNEP and IUCN, December 2022
In our opinion, the value of nature-based solutions in mitigating climate change is a topic not sufficiently covered. This report highlights the large number of jobs nature can create and sustain.
Other reports in this section worth a quick mention…
Operationalizing sustainable development to benefit people and the planet.
National Academies Press, Washington, 2022
Skills Through Crisis. Upskilling and (re)Training for a Green Recovery in Wales
New Economics Foundation for the Future Generations Commissioner for Wales, May 2021
Emissions reduction
Progress in reducing emissions in Scotland
2022 Report to Parliament, December 2022
This is tough reading for the Scottish Government, but it did set some very high Net Zero targets to hit early. Skills are identified as being a non-financial barrier in several sectors: agriculture and land-use; buildings; and transport. Nonetheless, when we look at Scotland’s position in the Green Jobs Barometer ranking (see above), we note that Scotland is still showing significant progress.
Five Hydrogen Supply Corridors for Europe in 2030 (Executive Summary)
European Hydrogen Backbone, May 2022
This may be a European thing, but the UK’s place in one of the five European Hydrogen Backbone Corridors (Corridor C: North Sea) is critical to its plans for hydrogen production. These large scale projects are significant in driving green employment opportunities and we’re keen to follow these projects and their technology developments.
Education
A New Green Learning Agenda. Approaches to Quality Education for Climate Education.
Center for Universal Education at the Brookings Institution, 2021
Early in this report we see an intriguing diagram of a green skills framework which captures three types of skills, these being: skills for green jobs (skills aimed at fulfilling the requirements of green jobs and supporting the transition to a low carbon green economy); green life skills (cross-cutting skills that serve both technical, instrumental, and adaptive, transformative ends); and skills for a green transformation (adaptive skills aimed at transforming unjust social and economic structures). For us, this opens up a whole series of questions and potential actions to link the relatively narrow green skills agenda dominating much of the current green skills discussion with the needs for wider societal and citizen green skills.
Teaching purposeful business in UK Business Schools
British Academy, A future of the corporation, November 2022
This report recognises sustainability as being a key part of the curriculum and development needs for all future leaders attending programmes at UK business schools. This is another piece of the education system responding to Net Zero, taking sustainability on board and making it mainstream. Key takeaway: it’s critical to place sustainability on an equal basis with the other elements of a rounded business education.
Universal Circular Economy Policy Goals. Enabling the transition to scale.
Ellen Macarthur Foundation, 2021
This report isn’t new, but don’t forget it as it clearly lays out the principles of the circular economy. For use in any green-related curriculum.
Transport – Aviation
We’ve started looking at Net Zero Aviation recently and have found these three reports to be useful starting points:
Zero-carbon emission aircraft concepts
Aerospace Technology Institute, March 2022
Our vision for zero-carbon emission air travel
Aerospace Technology Institute, March 2022
The future of aviation
National Academies, Washington DC, 2022
Energy
Energy in the UK 2022
Energy UK
Longer Duration Energy Storage
UK Parliament POST Note 688, December 2022
The Role of Hydrogen in Achieving Net Zero
HC99 House of Commons, Science and Technology Committee, December 2022
Defining and classifying occupations
Extended Occupational Classifications (5 digit)
ONS, December 2022
This new (draft) SOC goes down to five levels and our initial scan found 23 green occupations. As we said earlier in this post, it would be good to see these – and others – matched to the IfATE apprenticeship standards.
Response summary: defining and measuring green jobs
ONS, November 2022
This is a brief summary of ONS’s consultation on defining and measuring green skills and jobs. It’s an evolving picture with a workshop planned at the end of January and an initial output by March 2023.
The best of the rest
UK100 Annual Review
UK100, December 2022
The review highlights the importance and power of local ownership and delivery and gives a quick view of what is currently happening. It also shows the importance of co-ordination and advocacy bodies like UK100.
North-East Devolution Deal
Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, December 2022
As we’ve said previously on The Green Edge, we see devolution and local action as being critical to the handling of the complex issues underpinning the delivery of Net Zero targets. Here we see skills and education, and innovation and clean energy being at the centre of this devolution deal. We anticipate that the North-East LSIP will be central to developing the green workforce required for the transition over the next 20-30 years.
The Deal is out for consultation.
12th Consumer Barometer of Renewable Energy
University of St Gallen
December 2022
Sensing public opinion and interest in renewable energy is critical to see the emerging wave of demand. This is an interesting example of this approach.
Breaking Point. Attitudes towards ‘career breaks’ across four countries and how to create a system fit for purpose.
Serco Institute, December 2022
This report is potentially important as the UK seeks to grow its current labour market.
Other reports worth a quick mention…
Opportunities to accelerate nature-based solutions: a roadmap for climate progress, thriving nature, equity, and prosperity
A report to the national climate taskforce, November 2022
A New Britain: Renewing our democracy and rebuilding our economy
Report of the Commission on the Future, November 2022
Carbon dioxide utilisation market and infrastructure: status and opportunities. A first report.
National Academies, Washington DC, 2022
On the cusp of a new era?
Discussion Paper of the McKinsey Global Institute, October 2022
EU Market Outlook for Solar Power 2022-2026
Solar Power Europe, Brussels, December 2022