I am frequently asked what is meant by ‘Green Skills’. I have been following the changes brought about by societies’ move toward net zero, so I know that the answer is individual to every sector, employer and organisation. Not wanting to oversimplify such an important aspect of employment, I do believe the term ‘Green skills’ has value to communicate at a high level, as long as there is common understanding of it means.
I am therefore keen to share what I have found to be the best expression of the term produced by a Government Department a few years ago. This is the idea that Green Jobs fall in to one of 3 ‘shades of green’ as defined below.
In the energy sector we would see a Light Green job as those in HR, Digital or Fabrication, where the skills are little changed, but they can still work in a more stainable manner, from turning of lights to choosing low energy appliances to buying more sustainably sourced materials.
Mid Green jobs in the energy sector are those that involve some level of change to the way they work. Construction workers may need to specify increased insulation in buildings, avoid thermal bridging, greater use of micro generation or heat pumps. In transport there will be the need to maintain electric cars or hydrogen vehicles.
Dark Green jobs are those that directly contribute to net zero, like renewable energy technicians, Electric Vehicle charger installers or those working in carbon capture and storage.
This explanation gives a good message that all jobs can support net zero and outlines that there are few ‘Green skills’ but that an appreciation of sustainability should play a part in every occupation. We hope you find this a useful definition.
All the job numbers and skills for the energy sector can be seen at the Energy Skills Intelligence Hub (www.energyskills.co.uk).
