The global shift towards sustainability is not just a trend but a necessity driven by environmental challenges and the imperative to mitigate climate change. Central to this transition are green skills—both technical competencies and soft skills—that empower individuals and organizations to innovate, adapt, and thrive in industries adopting sustainable practices.

  • Environmental Sustainability: Green skills encompass expertise in renewable energy technologies, sustainable agriculture, waste management, and water conservation. These skills are crucial for minimizing ecological footprints and enhancing resource efficiency.
  • Economic Growth: Investing in green skills stimulates economic growth by creating new jobs in green sectors such as clean energy, green building, and circular economy practices. It also fosters innovation and competitiveness in global markets.
  • Climate Action: Green skills play a pivotal role in achieving climate action goals outlined in international agreements like the Paris Agreement. They enable industries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, adapt to climate impacts, and transition towards a low-carbon economy.
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‘Skills for the green transition’ include skills and competencies, knowledge, abilities, values, and attitudes needed to live, work, and act in resource-efficient and sustainable economies and societies (Cedefop et al. (2022). Work-based learning and the green transition. Luxembourg: Publications Office. Work-based learning and the green transition - Publications Office of the EU).

These are:

  • technical: required to adapt or implement standards, processes, services, products, and technologies to protect ecosystems and biodiversity, and to reduce energy, materials, and water consumption. Technical skills can be occupation-specific or cross-sectoral;
  • transversal: linked to sustainable thinking and acting, relevant to work (in all economic sectors and occupations) and life. They are alternatively referred to as ‘sustainability competencies’, ‘life skills’, ‘soft skills’, or ‘core skills’.

According to the authirs of the report “Green skills: driving the transition to a more sustainable future (economist.com) Green skills: driving the transition to a more sustainable future (economist.com)”: green skills can be divided into: soft skills, cross-sectoral skills, and sector-specific skills:

“In spite of their importance, “green skills” remain a challenging concept to define.

There is particular ambiguity around whether the term should refer only to those skills explicitly related to green processes or functions (such as environmental restoration), or whether it should also include more universal skills that can be applied to green ends (such as green software engineering). The UN Industrial Development Organization, the EU and the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment, a sustainability-focused professional body, all settle on the latter, broader definition. Given the ambiguity implicit in a broad definition of green skills, making precise statements relies on a clear framework that differentiates between the different types of green skill.

As such, a working definition of green skills that distinguishes between three broad categories is set out as follows.

Green skills: the knowledge, competencies, values and attributes needed to develop and support a sustainable, low-carbon and resource-efficient society. We distinguish between three broad categories of green skill:

  • Soft skills: non-vocational, non-technical skills that are needed in order to excel in green jobs. For example, creativity or environmental awareness;
  • Cross-sectoral skills: skills necessary to carry out environmentally friendly processes and functions that are similar across multiple sectors of the economy. For example, sustainability reporting or environmental impact assessment;
  • Sector-specific skills: skills related to the use of green technologies or methods that improve the environmental outcomes of a particular activity. For example, solar panel installation or green retrofitting (p.9).

If you wish to explore further information, please refer to the Report “Green Skills: driving the transition to a more sustainable future” to understand the implications of the green transition on employment opportunities and skill requirements.