The Green Edge Top Reads – December 2024
The Green Edge Top Reads collection: a key points analysis of our top reads of the month.
December’s Top Reads underscore the importance of reskilling, inclusive growth, and local empowerment as cornerstones of the net-zero transition. These reports highlight urgent gaps in workforce readiness, governance reforms, and regional opportunities, emphasising the need for coordinated efforts to ensure equitable and effective climate action.
Read The Green Edge’s take on these Top Reads and all the other publications we reviewed last month in The Green Edge Take.
Clean Power 2030: Assessment of the Clean Energy Skills Challenge
Author/Publisher: UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ)
Date: December 2024
Focus: Evaluates clean energy workforce needs to support the UK's Clean Energy Mission.
Category: Skills and Workforce Development
Tags: Clean Energy Jobs, Decarbonization, Energy Transition, Workforce Development, Skills Shortages, Net Zero
Summary: This report highlights the urgent need to develop clean energy skills to meet the UK's net-zero goals. It estimates that 3 million workers will require reskilling, with up to 725,000 net new jobs expected by 2030 in low-carbon sectors such as hydrogen and carbon capture. The analysis emphasizes coordinated efforts between government, employers, and training providers to address workforce gaps.
Key Findings:
Workforce Projections: 3 million workers need reskilling, with 725,000 new jobs projected in low-carbon sectors.
Sector-Specific Growth: Highlights hydrogen, offshore wind, and carbon capture as major job creators.
Challenges Identified:
Skills Mismatch: Education and vocational training lag behind workforce demands.
Regional Disparities: Rural areas face limited access to training and opportunities.
Recommendations:
Policy Coordination: Establish a Net-Zero Skills Commission to integrate planning and funding.
Education Reform: Align technical and higher education with clean energy industry needs.
Funding Programs: Increase financial support for apprenticeships and lifelong learning programs.
The Green Edge Take: It is good to see the work of the Green Jobs Delivery Group see the light of day, if only in a reduced form. Here we see an important statement being made: “Most clean energy jobs will need to be filled by the existing workforce, with the skills and expertise of workers in carbon intensive sectors playing a crucial role in filling that demand.” (page 11). Given the immediacy of demand for net zero skills this calls for upskilling and reskilling, and the high cross-over of skills between existing and new and emerging greener roles. One point we would make is that as skills are a critical constraint alternative delivery options should be developed.
Glasgow Just Transition Skills Action Plan
Author/Publisher: Glasgow Economic Leadership
Date: 2024
Focus: Outlines a strategy to deliver equitable green workforce development in Glasgow.
Category: Skills and Workforce Development
Tags: Just Transition, Inclusive Growth, Workforce Development, Reskilling, Net Zero
Summary: This plan emphasizes a "just transition" framework for equipping Glaswegians with the skills required for a net-zero economy. It stresses the need for reskilling and upskilling to tackle social inequalities while generating skilled labor for green industries. Partnerships between businesses, public sectors, and educational institutions are central to implementation.
Key Achievements:
Developed an inclusive framework to support workforce reskilling.
Partnered with employers and colleges to deliver sector-specific training programs.
Challenges Identified:
Access Barriers: Underrepresented groups face difficulties accessing training programs.
Funding Shortfalls: Lack of long-term financing for skills development.
Recommendations:
Equity Measures: Expand programs targeting women, minorities, and disabled workers.
Partnership Models: Foster collaboration between public and private sectors for workforce development.
Localized Strategies: Tailor strategies to meet regional needs and align with national net-zero targets.
The Green Edge Take: An excellent example of the work being undertaken in Scotland to ensure the current transition creates realistic opportunities for all. This is a model that could be adopted by others across the UK. Contained in here is a strong set of statements reasoning the case for skills. Well worth reading.
The uneven foundations of a just transition for workers: a UK perspective
Author/Publisher: Dave Reay, University of Edinburgh
Date: November 2024
Focus: Evaluates workforce equity in the UK’s transition to net-zero.
Category: Labour Market
Tags: Just Transition, Workforce Diversity, Net Zero, Inequality, Climate Policy
Summary: This paper explores risks of inequality in the net-zero transition, emphasizing gender and ethnicity gaps. It recommends policies that promote inclusivity, workforce protections, and equitable job creation.
Key Findings:
Economic Opportunities: Transitioning to net zero can create sustainable, high-quality jobs.
Equity Gaps: Highlights vulnerabilities among older workers, ethnic minorities, and low-skilled labor.
Challenges Identified:
Displacement Risks: Industries face job losses without safeguards for affected workers.
Regional Gaps: Lack of rural infrastructure to support training programs.
Recommendations:
Legal Protections: Strengthen workforce protections to avoid job losses during transitions.
Reskilling Focus: Prioritize vocational training and upskilling programs for affected workers.
Inclusive Strategies: Develop policies to address regional and demographic disparities.
The Green Edge Take: This is an important paper drawing on UK and international data, highlighting the need to bake in a series of guidelines into any plans and policies supporting the Just Transition to Net Zero. Without adopting the recommended guidelines listed here, the new jobs and careers opened-up by the net zero transition will reflect the current racial, gender and disability biases.
Measuring and Evaluating Success in the Scottish Just Transition
Author/Publisher: Tavistock Institute and University of Edinburgh
Date: December 2024
Focus: Develops a monitoring framework for Scotland’s just transition strategy.
Category: Labour Market
Tags: Evaluation Metrics, Just Transition, Workforce Development, Climate Strategy
Summary: This report proposes a Theory of Change for tracking Scotland’s just transition progress. It emphasizes equitable outcomes, spatial justice, and job creation, offering policy mechanisms to monitor and refine actions.
Key Findings:
Introduces a Theory of Change to monitor just transition outcomes.
Focuses on equity metrics, spatial justice, and job creation as success indicators.
Challenges Identified:
Data Gaps: Inconsistent evaluation methods and lack of standardized metrics.
Funding Limitations: Insufficient resources for long-term evaluation frameworks.
Recommendations:
Monitoring Tools: Develop dashboards and indicators to track progress.
Stakeholder Engagement: Involve communities and businesses in assessment processes.
Adaptability: Use evaluation insights to refine and improve transition strategies.
The Green Edge Take: An important document which needs to be widely read as it seeks to move forward the development and delivery of key net zero policies, and learn from their impact. We have seen from the work of the Just Transition Commission how it is seeking to learn how to engage, gain traction of actions in dispersed and often neglected communities, and the learning in relevant across the UK and elsewhere. The theory of change presented here is very useful and it would be good to map on to it the range of other ones which underpin poverty reduction, health improvement, housing quality, and then into skills and sustainable employment. A milestone document for us.
Agency in the Anthropocene: OECD Education Working Paper
Author/Publisher: OECD
Date: December 2024
Focus: Examines educational frameworks to promote agency in sustainability action.
Category: Labour Market
Tags: Environmental Education, Sustainability, Future Skills, Climate Action
Summary: This paper supports the PISA 2025 Science Framework, focusing on building agency in students to address Anthropocene challenges. It advocates for interdisciplinary approaches, systems thinking, and environmental literacy.
Key Findings:
Advocates fostering agency—students’ ability to take meaningful actions on sustainability.
Supports integrating systems thinking and interdisciplinary learning into curricula.
Challenges Identified:
Curriculum Gaps: Lack of sustainability-focused education in traditional systems.
Evaluation Deficiencies: Few tools exist to measure student engagement and outcomes.
Recommendations:
Curriculum Reform: Embed sustainability themes across educational levels.
Teacher Training: Equip educators with tools to foster systems thinking.
Evaluation Frameworks: Develop metrics to assess students’ environmental literacy and agency.
The Green Edge Take: An important paper which looks at the agency of 15-year-olds in terms of their knowledge of, concerned about, able to act on environmental issues because of their science education. The paper also describes and explains the competencies needed by 15-year-olds, and many others too.
English Devolution White Paper: Power and Partnership
Author/Publisher: UK Government
Date: December 2024
Focus: Sets out a roadmap for strengthening regional governance and devolution in England.
Category: Devolution and Regional Development
Tags: Devolution, Local Governance, Economic Growth, Regional Development
Summary: This paper proposes expanded powers for regional authorities, promoting local accountability and economic growth. It introduces frameworks for strategic authorities to oversee transport, housing, and economic development.
Key Highlights:
Proposes expanded powers for regional authorities in housing, transport, and climate planning.
Focuses on place-based growth strategies tied to local priorities.
Challenges Identified:
Coordination Issues: Regional and national priorities may misalign without clear frameworks.
Capacity Constraints: Local authorities often lack resources and expertise to implement reforms.
Recommendations:
Funding Commitments: Establish consistent funding streams for regional projects.
Accountability Mechanisms: Introduce monitoring systems to evaluate performance.
Integration Strategies: Align local and national planning frameworks for seamless implementation.
The Green Edge Take: An important White Paper on skills. Section 3.4 (pages 54-60) shows how the ownership of LSIPs model (along with the ERBs) remains with the new “local” strategic body and its Links to Skills England. Equally helpful is the Devolution Framework Summary Table (Section 3.10, pages 87-88) on skills. What would be good to see the funding and numbers of people engaging with training related to this structural and change in local roles for skills. And one plea we would make is to have a system to capture and share learning about skills interventions across England (and the rest of the UK) to boost the impact of all skills investment.
Realising Regional Potential: CBI Economics Report
Author/Publisher: CBI and Lloyds Banking Group
Date: December 2024
Focus: Identifies high-value economic clusters across the UK and their growth potential.
Category: Devolution and Regional Development
Tags: Economic Clusters, Growth Strategies, Innovation, Regional Inequality
Summary: The report highlights thriving regional clusters in sectors like advanced manufacturing, life sciences, and net-zero technologies. It calls for greater investment in infrastructure and innovation to sustain growth.
Key Findings:
Economic Clusters: Identifies high-growth opportunities in clean energy and life sciences.
Growth Projections: £32 billion economic growth potential by 2030.
Challenges Identified:
Infrastructure Gaps: Poor digital and transport connectivity hinder regional development.
Funding Barriers: Limited investments in R&D and workforce training.
Recommendations:
Infrastructure Investment: Prioritize transport and digital networks to support growth.
Innovation Hubs: Develop regional clusters for R&D and clean technology.
Skills Training: Align training programs with emerging industries.
The Green Edge Take: During 2025 we should see the fruit of the current local heat and energy plans, and also if there will be any significant take up of heat networks. In both cases there is a need for skills within local government (or available to them) to tackle this important area of the net zero transition. Based on the current projections for heat pump installations, we can only assume that local schemes will become a major area of focus to accelerate the installation rate.
Energy Security and Net Zero: 2023–24 Overview
Author/Publisher: National Audit Office (NAO), UK
Date: November 2024
Focus: Evaluates the performance and financial accountability of the UK’s Department for Energy Security & Net Zero.
Category: Energy - General
Tags: Energy Security, Net Zero, Governance, Accountability, Public Spending
Summary: This report reviews the UK’s energy strategy, emphasizing renewables, nuclear decommissioning, and household energy efficiency programs. It highlights funding challenges, cost management in nuclear programs, and policy impacts on energy security.
Key Findings:
Assesses funding performance in renewables, nuclear decommissioning, and efficiency programs.
Reviews risks to energy affordability and supply security.
Challenges Identified:
Budget Overruns: Rising costs and delays in project implementation.
Infrastructure Readiness: Slow development of grids and storage systems.
Recommendations:
Streamlined Approvals: Simplify planning processes for renewable projects.
Investment Priorities: Focus funding on grid upgrades and storage solutions.
Transparency: Improve reporting mechanisms to track project outcomes.
The Green Edge Take: For those pressed for time but wanting to know what DESNZ does, how it is structured and where it applies its funds. We wonder how the word ‘nuclear’ does not appear in its title.