U.S. business leaders point to skills as green transition’s biggest driver, while lamenting lack of skills programs
A large, 81 percent majority of business leaders in the United States believe skills to be the most important driver for the green transition, but significantly less – 58 percent – have launched or planned programs to impart those skills to the workforce.
This is also in spite of many business leaders’ staunch beliefs that responsibility for the transition should be on the private sector, not policymakers. These were the findings of the Green Skills Outlook, a research endeavor from Economist Impact and Avangrid’s European parent company, Iberdrola.
“The opportunities presented by the transition are vast, but it is critical that both businesses and policymakers are sharply focused now on ensuring people are equipped with the right skills and training,” Ignacio Galán, executive chairman of Iberdrola and chairman of Avangrid, said. “Without skilled workers, the transition will not be delivered, and the benefits will not be realized. As the world emerges from COP with a clear focus on phasing out fossil fuels, as well as tripling renewables in six years, every company in every sector is fully aware that change is coming fast. Those who plan well will lead and be at the forefront of the transition.”
The research concluded that the green transition would likely require the green skills of all workers, not just those in explicitly green roles. Those skills could be non-vocational and non-technical soft skills, but everyone will likely need some training therein. To actually counter the worst impacts of climate change without destabilizing energy security, the Green Skills Outlook claimed that the entire global economy and labor markets will need to undergo a systemic transformation.
Avangrid itself has created 937 union jobs for its Massachusetts-focused Vineyard Wind 1 project – a major green energy project – in recent years and nearly 2,000 jobs in total linked to that same project.
More than 70 percent of U.S. business leaders agreed that the green transition would create more jobs than it eliminates, and higher quality ones, at that. While 67 percent balked at the government taking the lead on such changes, many did support the governmental prioritization of three policies:
- Creating green skills courses at educational institutions (58 percent)
- Backing business investment in up-skilling and re-skilling programs through grants or tax relief (52 percent)
- Adapting existing work and training programs for the unemployed (44 percent)
