Turning Policy into Practice: Skills for a Green Economy

1. Turning Policy into Practice Andrew Raingold, Executive Director

2. Introduction to Aldersgate Group » Other members include peers and MPs from all major parties

3. Challenging green targets » • 80% CO2 reductions by 2050 • 50% CO2 reductions by 2025 • 15% energy from renewables • Smart meters in every home by 2020 • Zero carbon homes by 2016 • A zero-waste economy

4. GHG Emissions: 1990-2009 »

5. UK set to miss its carbon budgets »

6. UK renewables »

7. Opportunities in green sectors » • UK sector currently: • £112 billion • 900,000+ jobs • £10.8 billion exports • Projection for 2015: • £140 billion • 400,000 new jobs?

8. UN Greening the Economy »

9. Employment in the energy sector »

10. Skills gaps – major barrier to progress » • One in three firms in environmental sector hampered by a shortage of skilled staff • Latent demand for green skills – needs are not being clearly articulated by employers • High proportion of workforce in 2020 already in work & ageing workforce (retire 10 – 15 years)

11. Skill challenges » • Core skills – green sectors • (70,000 engineers in offshore wind by 2020? 9,000 graduates + 4,500 skilled trades in nuclear?) • Enhanced skills – majority of jobs not entirely new in content (e.g. electricians fitting solar panels) • Generic skills - communication, leadership and management skills to drive culture change • EU systemic weaknesses in its skills base (management and technology) greater concern than ‘new’ skills

12. Upskilling »

13. Generic Skills »

14. Government: Skills for Sustainable Growth » • “Our objective is to deliver a skills system driven from the bottom up, able to respond to the needs of individuals, communities and an increasingly dynamic economy.” • 75,000 more apprenticeships by 2015 • Level 2 (GCSE equivalent) and 3 training for 16 – 24 year olds • Basic skills courses • £50 million growth fund to support employer-led initiatives

15. The required policy response » Strategic intervention Investment in training Institutional reform Drive demand Just transition

16. 1. Strategic Intervention » • Support for skills and training matches the focus and ambition of its strategies for promoting investment in green innovation and infrastructure • In some areas significant investment in skills delivery will be needed to match scale of action required (e.g. Green Deal) • Regional approach – e.g. wave hub in SW and low-carbon vehicles in NE

17. 2. Investment in training » • Core skills – building capacity and working with the private sector to fund training centres, financial incentives for STEM learning & promote green careers • Upskilling – funding must match the real life needs of businesses and their employees (such as shorter top-up courses and add-on modules to apprenticeships) • Generic skills – an appropriate level of training (H&S) and influence home behaviour

18. 3. Institutional reform » • Skills delivery system is employer led • Assumes employers are in the best position to identify training needs and to anticipate future demand • 25 Sector Skills Councils covering 90% of workforce – cross cutting issues? • Leadership role – UK CES? • Government drive and ownership

19. 4. Drive demand » • Environment is market failure – effective overall policy framework • Demonstrate best practice in private sector – e.g. eco-driving leading to 10% efficiency & sustainability training within the company: • Toolkits & programmes • Engagement (network of champions) • Incentives and KPIs • Public procurement - £175 annual spend & developing skills

20. 5. Just transition » • A coherent approach to economic displacement • Jobs will have to move from carbon-dependent sectors to low-carbon sectors • Job losses are not inevitable but the requirement for companies to be less carbon intensive is • Links can be drawn between different sectors or regions e.g. the Lindoe Shipyard in Denmark • Gov must assess the likely impact of decarbonisation on existing industries and jobs • Communications – motivate and inspire

21. Jaguar Land Rover » • Automotive sector highest private R&D in Europe • Desiging cars for 2015 with 7 year life spans • 17,000 direct employees + 9,000 in dealerships • Training required for new lightweight technologies and fuel-efficient systems • 1,000 new engineers (this year and next year) • Collaboration with 4 universities: Cranfield, Warwick, Loughborough & Coventry • Modular masters programme

22. Microsoft » • Role of IT in climate mitigation – 15% by 2020 • Three major challenges: • Lack of agility: the skills system is still based around central decisions of what skills will be required and providers are then commissioned; • Keeping software developers up to speed will require changing the curriculum in formal education – and this is cumbersome; • More focus on continued professional development.

23. BT – building generic skills » • Part of an ongoing programme to realise commercial opportunities (such as new products and solutions) within the low carbon economy. • Skills framework provides sustainability training to marketing, product, sales and legal staff. • Flexible: generally modular, online and short in length, ensuring that it can be undertaken conveniently and when required. • Targeted: specific professional groups and parts of the business (such as a marketing manager with a consumer base).

24. “Skills for a Green Economy” Initiative » • BIS, DECC and Defra initiative to supplement the national skills strategy. • Will examine: • Skills needs • Major bottlenecks • Need of additional policy (given scale and speed of the challenge) • Pan-economy approach, not just looking at core skills but demand in greening sectors (such as land, food and farming) and enabling sectors (such as ICT) • Focus on generic skills • Roadmap for a Green Economy or standalone document

25. Apprentices for a green economy » • “It is happening”: • 100 young people are taking part in the community apprenticeship scheme run by the National Skills Academy for Nuclear; • EDF Energy took on 80 apprentices last year; • British Gas are looking for 500 new engineer apprentices this year; • A modern apprenticeship in wind turbine operation and maintenance is making sure we have the skills in this fast moving industry.

26. Green Deal » • Current employment in sector is 27,000 • 100,000 new jobs by 2015 and 250,000 new jobs by 2030? • Funding for 1000 “Green Deal Apprentices” • SSC to design new apprenticeships • New standards for green deal installers • Concessions on the Green Deal installer registration fees for those organisations which take on young people • Policy certainty the key driver (e.g. HIPs – 4,700 inspectors in training)

27. Conclusion » • Challenging targets, poor implementation • Uncertainty over “greenest Government ever” • Significant opportunity for UK – assets and expertise • Skills gap a major barrier to progress and gov intervention required • Leadership (government, business, trade unions)