Green skills for a green economy
The green transition is now a major driver of economic growth and job creation. Are we ready to capture this opportunity here in Jersey? In this article, Ali Cambray and Indiana Latimer from PwC Channel Islands’ ESG Advisory team share the latest on the growth of green jobs locally.
What is a green job in Jersey?
Green jobs comprise:
- Producing and providing: Producing and providing environmentally friendly products or services that directly have a positive impact on the environment. “Green jobs in green businesses” (e.g. solar energy installers)
- Adapting: Adapting work processes to become more environmentally friendly to lessen their environmental impact. “Green jobs in regular businesses” (e.g. corporate sustainability officers, sustainable investment managers)
- Supporting: Supporting the green economy indirectly by providing goods or services that enable the green transition. “Jobs that support green businesses” (e.g. consultancy services, administrative and training roles).
Tracking the Channel Islands’ transition to a green economy
The PwC Green Jobs Barometer for the Channel Islands, first published in 2022, seeks to measure how well we compare with regions in the UK in the transition to a green economy. It measures progress against five green pillars to give a score out of 100:
- Number and type of green jobs created
- Wider economic benefits arising from green jobs
- “Sunset” jobs in non-green industries expected to disappear
- Carbon emissions per employee
- Workers’ views on how their employers are taking action
The good news is that Jersey’s score of 45/100 ranks similarly to the UK regional average of 43/100, indicating the green transition is underway. However, there are clear opportunities for further progress with Scotland (74/100) leading the latest UK index.
Over the two year period from January 2021 to December 2022, we saw 507 new green jobs advertised. This is 180 more than in the period from July 2019 to June 2021, and now represents 1.7% of all job vacancies in Jersey.
The rise of green skills
But it’s not just about new jobs. Green skills comprise the technical and transferable capabilities and attitudes needed to contribute to the green economy. Most recently, we found 70% of local workers think their employers have a responsibility to take action on climate change, yet only 32% think their employer is doing enough.
We expect “green skills density” to strengthen in all roles, in a similar way to the expansion of digital skills over the last decade. Our recent survey suggests 30% of Channel Islands’ workers already have environmental objectives as part of their role, yet 53% of workers locally believe their job will change as part of the net zero transition.
We all need to do more in order to capture the opportunities and ensure skills are not the constraint on pace of change. We will need the public, private and education sectors to work together to address these skills gaps and to create the right conditions for green businesses to thrive.
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