One of the key outcomes of COP29 was a commitment from developed countries to provide at least $300bn (£237bn) a year in climate finance to help developing nations in their efforts to curb climate change. However, the amount agreed fell far short of the $1.3tn (£1tn) per year these countries were calling for.
A similar shortfall is currently facing the green economy as companies struggle to find the talent needed to spearhead the transition to net zero.
Over the past year, demand for green skills has increased by 11.6%, according to LinkedIn’s Green Skills Report 2024. But the training of people in these skills has struggled to keep pace, with only a 5.6% rise in available green talent, globally.
Green skills are broadly defined as the knowledge and capabilities required to tackle environmental challenges and make organisations more sustainable. These can be technical skills, such as carbon accounting, or soft skills, such as stakeholder engagement and environmental literacy.
The widening green skills gap means that, by 2025, there will be twice as many jobs requiring green skills as there are people qualified to fill them, if current trends continue.
If green jobs aren’t made more accessible, we risk falling behind on climate goals
This represents a key element of the climate change challenge, which was overlooked at COP29, according to Janine Chamberlin, UK country manager at LinkedIn. She says: “Government and business leaders are setting ambitious climate change goals. However, we need more workers equipped with the necessary skills to meet the growing demand for roles to combat climate change.”
In the UK, 13% of all jobs advertised on the platform require at least one green skill but there’s only been a 5% increase in talent with these skills.
“We are at a pivotal moment as the climate crisis begins to reshape the labour market, recalibrating the skills employers value most,” Chamberlin adds. “The challenge is clear: if green jobs aren’t made more accessible, we risk falling behind on climate goals.”
HR’s role in addressing climate change
HR professionals will play a “crucial role” in solving the green skills conundrum, according to Chamberlin. Specifically in identifying the skills that organisations need to reach their climate goals and working this into their current talent strategies.
“All organisations are going to need green skills, so HR leaders have a responsibility to work with the business, understand the future skills that are required within each area of the organisation and work with them to resolve it,” adds Catherine Douglas, chief people and sustainability officer at The Co-operative Bank. “Some of that might be through talent hires but we also have a responsibility to reskill and retrain our existing colleagues too.”
With a lack of green skills available in the labour market, training and development will be particularly important. “Many green skills and roles are new, and it’s important to acknowledge that people haven’t yet had the chance to acquire them,” Chamberlin says. “By identifying the most relevant green skills for each role and industry, we can upskill the workforce through targeted, tailored programmes.”
People haven’t yet had the chance to acquire these skills
HR leaders also need to be aware of global sustainability trends and climate regulation to help their organisations develop a workforce plan that can meet the evolving climate change challenge.
Annika Parkkonen, chief HR and sustainability officer at Swiss engineering company Accelleron, says: “We have to challenge business leaders to build tangible, measurable sustainability goals into every aspect of how our teams do business, so that our companies can address sustainability with the same sense of urgency and clarity as they do profitability.”
Once measurable sustainability goals are in place, it will be easier to identify any skills gaps and work out where additional training or recruitment is necessary.
Getting employee buy-in is another important area where HR’s skills can help aid the green transition. “To get the workforce on the same page, it is important to use communication, education and training to help employees understand how climate change impacts the business and which actions the business will take to become sustainable,” Parkkonen explains.
Setting performance targets and providing rewards for employees who successfully retrain or develop new skills can also strengthen the impact, she adds.
A company-wide responsibility
However, it’s not just HR’s responsibility to prepare their organisation for the green transition. “While I might head up the strategy, it’s everyone’s responsibility to make it happen and each of our executive team has their own individual responsibilities around ESG,” Douglas says.
While she acknowledges her role is made easier by working for a bank that has an ethical policy focused on planet, people and community, the role of senior leadership remains important. “It’s got to start from the top if you want initiatives to gain momentum and traction,” Douglas adds.
HR plays an important role in developing green talent, but it must work alongside the rest of the leadership team to build sustainability into the overall business strategy.
Parkkonen says: “By recruiting and training the workforce, and measuring and reporting sustainable progress at the individual and corporate level, HR plays an essential role in catalysing sustainable business transformation to solve the climate crisis.”
With demand for green skills exceeding supply, HR’s ability to bridge this skills gap and train and develop existing staff will be important in enabling companies to meet their net-zero goals.
