The Green Edge Reports Roundup, Sep-23: Part One - General
Continuing with our selection of reports and other publications from this month’s reading list.
Again this month, we’re splitting our reading list into two posts. This one covers general categories. For Sectors, see Part Two.
As usual, you can find all thes reports and more in our searchable reports list on The Green Edge Data Portal.
Skills
The Greening World of Work
Manpower Group, September 2023.
Top level, big message report covering five major trends: talking about my green generation; green giant government action; getting serious about ESG; green tech adoption accelerating; and the new collar of work is green. Leads the authors to conclude the green business transformation will be top job creator in next 5 years. Companies like Manpower offer a useful insight into how work is changing given the number of people they place every day, the training and development of those on their register, and the employers they support. Perhaps REC in the UK could lead the charge here in understanding how the UK labour market can best adapt to meet the requirements of the net zero transition, and its members working with the various LSIP projects.
Experimental estimates of green jobs, UK: 2023
ONS, September 2023.
An important step forward with the ONS producing these estimates for green jobs. Using one of their definitions they arrive at 500,000 green jobs, but when employees are asked if their job is green, they found that 27% said “yes”, and 4% said their job was mostly or totally green. Now, 4% is 1.3mn jobs, and 27% is 8.6mn across the UK labour force. Says the green economy is alive and very real.
Towards a circular economy: Skills and competences for STEM professionals
Association of Nordic Engineers, November 2021.
What we like here is the circular economy competence framework with its core principle (awareness and mindset) and 3 core competences: circular product design strategies; circular business models; and systems management and digitalisation; plus one final, cross-cutting competence, inter-disciplinarity. Fits well what we are seeing and hearing elsewhere from the Design Council.
Analysis of the green skills situation in the Republic of North Macedonia
CSO Ecologic, November 2022.
A useful addition to the mapping of the greening of jobs and the economy in North Macedonia. It would be useful to reduce this report to a short, sharp document, and perhaps collate them across adjacent countries.
Labour Market
Working Future: The Australian Government’s White Paper on Jobs and Opportunities
Australian Government, September 2023.
What a timely document. When we talk about green skills and jobs, the discussion must always be placed in the context of the whole labour market and how it is changing. This White Paper describes the vision for the labour market and the roadmap for the Australian labour market. We see that only one of the five major drivers for change across the labour market is climate/net zero based, but the others are ones we’d recognise: demography (aging population), huge growth for care and support services, technology and digital, and the growth of geopolitical risks and overall fragmentation. Well worth a read, this is the sort of document that has real international currency.
The Economic Potential of Generative AI: The next productivity frontier
McKinsey and Co, June 2023.
With its usual clarity, McKinsey provides a number of key findings: one is the sector view and function of the impact of AI on work and activities (Exhibit 4); and, very intriguing is the positive impact of AI on technical capabilities (Exhibit 6) which provides a challenge to some people’s view of the degradation of work. Now our challenge is seeking to understand how AI-enhanced capabilities might shape green and other skills.
CIPD Manifesto for Good Work
Chartered Institute for Personnel Development, September 2023.
There is much talk about green jobs being decent and good, and this manifesto from the CIPD provides a helpful input into this thinking. When we read the manifesto it is clear that it is also calling from good employers too and, given the current tight labour markets, it is only the good jobs with good employers that will attract and retain staff.
Desperate Measures: Data and the reform of level 3 qualifications
Protect Student Choice, September 2023.
Ensuring all school students can progress their studies, their development and into employment. At age 16, schools students often have three choices: A levels, T Levels, and AGQs, and the scrapping of many AGQs means there could well be 155,000 students with no or little choice. Currently, 64% of students undertaking AGQ enter employment and 24% go onto to Further Education. This could be a key group of people who could fill the many entry roles critical to delivering net zero and build a circular economy. Perhaps we should either keep AGQs or create a variation on T Levels across more occupation groups, splitting them into two levels? No matter what there are issues ahead unless this area is addressed along with the overall 14-19 year development pathways.
Skills Accelerator Pilot Evaluation
IFF Research and Learning and Work Institute for the Department for Education, July 2023.
Understanding how the key elements of the skills system is working (admittedly just covering England) is important. This report looks at SDF and LSIPs, tackling two overarching themes: digitalisation and new technology; and green skills/decarbonisation. Covers four sectors: manufacturing, and construction; energy; healthcare/social care; and, agriculture/agri-tech/farming. The conclusion: “progress, yes; but could do better” would be a fair statement, but it does capture a key set of learning points for others to pick up and to make improvements.
National Careers Service Customer Satisfaction and Progression Annual Report
Department for Education, September 2023
With the re-shaping of the UK labour market and drop in its growth rate, the importance of the Employment Service becomes more important as people start to re-enter work and others seek to change careers. The careers service is a key part of the Employment Service, and so its good functioning from the point of view of the users is very important to know about. This annual report seeks to assess the levels of user satisfaction and how the careers service supports progression.
Running to Stand Still. Why decades of skills reform have failed to shift the dial on UK productivity and investment in training
Federation of Awarding Bodies, September 2023.
A useful collation of data and ideas with a few simple messages around the need for a systems approach with a long-term view. Adopting a systems approach means challenging Government Departments, the KPIs used, integration across all age groups, alignment of education and training providers. Let’s hope the current waves of change driven by the net zero transition, digital and AI etc. will help drive a reshaping of how we approach skills formation in the UK.
What the world thinks about work
The Policy Institute, Kings College London, September 2023.
A fascinating study tracking attitudes to work across 24 countries. Our interest is twofold: do net zero-focused roles fair any better than others (not reported but we have followed up ourselves on this), and, are there any insights here about the potential for a return to work of those forced out of the labour force due to ill health? Some potential insights here as interest and prioritising of work fall with age (generally speaking).
The Net Zero Workforce. Power, Utilities and Renewables
Deloitte, June 2021.
Yes, this report is a little dated, but we found a few its findings very useful: 30-40% of jobs in power and utilities will be obsolete in the next decade and this equates to retraining 48% of the current workforce. This suggests a major potential constraint whilst the National Grid is saying it will require an additional 40,000 recruits. A fact to build into net workforce plan and it will be interesting seeing the Green Jobs Delivery Group’s task and finish group’s work on this over the coming months.
Levelling-up/Regional Development
The Future is Local: The Local Mission Zero Network Report
Mission Zero Coalition, September 2023.
The report was very recently launched at a well-attended online meeting highlighting the level of activity, progress and engagement in delivering net zero every day at local level, and the critical role of well-funded and mandated place-based approach to net zero. Skills could have featured more strongly but they are present in the reshaping of the relationship between national and local government. Of particular interest to us is the potential of the Local Area Energy Plans (see the Energy Systems Catapult Guide) and how they might be able to inform and drive local skills programmes (as captured, for example, in LSIPs). The “star” example is that of Bristol City LEAP which has achieved some significant investment and employment milestones.
City Regional Deal: Annual report, 2022-23
Edinburgh, and South-East Scotland, August 2023.
We have covered various levelling-up programmes, and this one is very different in its spread, its partnerships, and true re-positioning of the local economy across Edinburgh, Fife and South-East Scotland. Green skills do get a mention and is a part of a campaign to explain and explore green roles. I should add that I do have a connection to this project through the DDI programme at the University of Edinburgh.
A Tale of Two Cities. A Plausible Strategy for Productivity Growth in Birmingham and Beyond (Part1) and A Plausible Strategy for Productivity Growth in Greater Manchester and Beyond (Part 2).
Resolution Foundation, September 2023.
Link (Birmingham) and Link (Manchester)
Two thorough and detailed reports on two of the UK’s major cities, and in which skills get covered and to a much lesser extent green and net zero. Skills here tend to be graduates that get multiple mentions but not other sets and clusters of skills around productivity and innovation that underpin the sustaining of high productivity. What we liked was the placing of productivity in a structured way and the need for long term investment and thinking allied to local capacity and capability to act.
Accelerating Net Zero Delivery. Unlocking the benefits of climate action in UK City-Regions
Innovate UK, March 2022.
This is a critical document which underpins the key role of local authorities and city-regions in delivering net zero. Lays out the economics very clearly: a place-based approach wins quite clearly against an uncoordinated approach where the centre (national government) seeks to impose solutions that don’t fit nor work. It is clear that skills are a major part of shaping a local, workable solution.
Place-based adult skills and training
Heseltine Institute, University of Liverpool for the Local Government Association, November 2022.
There’s a key sentence early in this report which capture the UK’s approach (largely in England) to adult education and training, using words like “complexity” and “overlapping responsibilities” at both local and national levels. And this is at a time when the expectation is of 500,000 low carbon and renewable energy jobs driving a re-skilling requirement of around one third of all construction workers. One simple message for us: we need greater devolution of the adult education budget to local level and freedom to use the budget to progress local needs.
Pot Pourri
How to build a Net Zero society: Using behavioural insights to decarbonise house energy, transport, food, and material consumption
The Behavioural Insights Team, January 2023.
The whole area of public attitude, behaviour and, most importantly, action is critical around the transition to net zero and is one which many Governments have avoided or softened their stance on. So, having the BIT examine this and generating insights is very important and needs building on, to shape the skills base of everyone, including those in positions of leadership across all types of organisations, including charities and community organisations. Taking just one key area, the transition of domestic decarbonisation, without a step change in individual behaviour the UK will not hit its annual installation rate of 600,000 heat pumps per year. Time is short and, as we have seen, small grants have not been rapidly taken up and only fund a part of the full heat pump installation. This would suggest the need for a significant change ahead.
Sustaining the political mandate for climate action
Green Alliance, September 2023.
While there is always concern about the public’s view of climate change and the need for action, this report - an update from 2018 - shows how the first few hurdles have been overcome amongst a group of MPs at Westminster. It is clear that climate change is now acknowledged but the detail of how that translates to specific actions and policies are unclear (e.g. ULEZ policy in outer London). Going forward MPs will be challenged on net zero policies on the grounds of costs, civil liberties ground, unequal impacts and discriminatory basis, etc. This is a complex path we are going to have to walk.
Education at a Glance 2023
OECD, September 2023.
While we are interested in skills systems and their effectiveness and health in delivering green skills, their success lies in large part on the functioning of the education system. This OECD report gives chapter and verse of education which would be good if it could be steered to a series of new themes around green/sustainability, AI/digital, and automation.
Net Zero: A systems perspective on the climate challenge
National Engineering Policy Centre, Royal Academy of Engineering, 2023.
Figure 1 in this report we found of great interest, showing the synergies and interdependences in the decarbonisation of homes. This representation of the key elements and their inter-linkage is excellent and it would be good to map the skills and skills transfer (flows) that are needed between the various decarbonisation stages.
Global Benchmarking of Computational Thinking Education (CTE) in Primary Schools
SRI International, May 2022.
The focus here is on Hong Kong but it does make some comparisons with mainland China, Singapore, and the UK. Our interest in CTE is because of the importance of STEM qualified people to power the transition to net zero. For those interested in the developments in the UK take a look at the work of the Royal Society and its Envision Project.
Choices for a more strategic Europe
Strategic Perspectives, July 2023.
Raises a number of good questions if we were to phase out fossil fuels more quickly and divert “saved” funds towards other elements of the net zero transition. We couldn’t find any reference to skills and the labour market which are slower to react than capital flows and, in fact, can act a break on the speed of the application of capital.
Acknowledge the urgency. Commit the resources.
Haut Conseil pour le Climat, June 2023.
Well worth a look and we read a difficult, simple message: the physical changes brought about by climate change are extreme and are growing in intensity. Immediate action is needed.
Accelerating the societal impact of business schools. 2023 Edition.
Positive Impact Rating for Business Schools, 2023.
Are business schools helping to develop leaders who can help transform the current economy? This rating seeks to address the problem by examining the pre- and post-levels of knowledge of students and works a peer-to-peer student process. It must take some organising as there are minimum student numbers required in order to register in the ratings process. It would be good to see this approach widened to a greater number of business schools and to develop an employer perspective.