NEWS: All jobs should be a green job – Groundwork responds to Independent Green Jobs Taskforce report

Groundwork welcomes today’s publication of the Independent Green Jobs Taskforce report concluding every job has the potential to be a green job and urges the government to adopt the report’s recommendations.

The Taskforce, convened by the Business and Education departments in November 2020, has published its findings and recommendations today on how the UK government, industry and skills sector can best deliver the green jobs and skills of the future. Recommendations include:

• publishing a detailed Net Zero Strategy and using policy to promote good green jobs, skills and competitive supply chains
• industry, the education sector and the UK government working together to ensure green careers advice and pathways into good green jobs
• building on the UK government’s skills reforms to support people to work in the new green economy

Groundwork was invited to contribute to working groups of the Taskforce and to give evidence at an Environmental Select Committee hearing earlier this year. The key points highlighted to the Taskforce by the charity included:

• green jobs should be accessible to everyone, no matter their starting point including entry level roles and accessible training routes
• we need to support people not currently in employment to access green jobs – and pointed to proposals for a National Nature Service and its involvement in the Kickstart programme as examples of how this could be done effectively
• we need to support people working in carbon intensive sectors to make the transition to green jobs
• making all jobs green – knowledge and awareness of climate and environment as key competencies are needed for all jobs

Groundwork’s UK Chief Executive, Graham Duxbury, said:

“This is a comprehensive report with some clear and powerful recommendations which we would urge the government to accept.  We particularly welcome the focus on embedding green skills in all professions and on improving education and careers guidance so that we can inspire and equip more young people to make the choices that will help them improve the planet as well as improve their own prospects.

“As the report suggests, there is much more that could be done to ensure existing employment support programmes help those currently out of work prepare for the jobs of the future. One obvious way of doing this is to build on and extend the current Kickstart scheme so that it stimulates a green recovery and provides an opportunity for thousands of young people to develop skills and gain experience in priority areas such as nature recovery, energy efficiency and the circular economy.”