With a global focus on building  sustainable and scalable clean energy infrastructure, world demand for ESG workforce skills is at an all-time high

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Global environmental sustainability is considered to be the most pressing matter of our time. Never before has there been such a push for the greening of the planet by whole generations and industries across the globe. Now is the time for higher education and industry to come together to help solve the climate change crisis.

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According to the LinkedIn Global Green Skills Report 2022, there is rapid growth of green skills and green jobs globally, with the share of green talent increasing from 9.6% in 2015 to 13.3% in 2021. The number of green jobs is outpacing the number of qualified job applicants, and millions of jobs are expected to be created globally in the next decade as a result of rapidly growing climate change policies.

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As of early 2023, there are more than 14,000 open jobs in the US with sustainability in the title or description on Indeed. Sustainability is an emerging industry experiencing exponential growth that will continue for the foreseeable future due to enhanced legislative action to protect the planet. According to the National Caucus of Environmental Legislators, states continue to show that they are leading the country on environmental policy. Throughout the 2022 session, states passed and enacted precedent-setting policies to fight climate change, protect land, water, and biodiversity, increase outdoor engagement, reduce plastic pollution, and restrict toxic chemicals. More than 130 climate related environmental bills across the US passed in 2022.

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As a result, not enough people have the skills needed to meet the new demands with more green jobs than there are people to fill them. The World Bank estimates that a transition to low-carbon and resilient economies could create tens of millions of new jobs and trillions of dollars of economic growth.

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According to the LinkedIn Global Green Skills Report:

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• In the last five years, the number of renewable and environmental jobs in the US increased by 237%, in stark contrast to the 19% increase in oil and gas jobs.
• There has been double-digit growth across dozens of green skills over the last five years.
• In 2019, the balance tipped towards green talent as the green hiring rate accelerated ahead of the overall hiring rate in most economies around the world. This means that, globally, green workers were hired at a higher rate than non-green workers.
• The top five fastest-growing green jobs between 2016 and 2021, in terms of annual growth, are Sustainability Manager (30%), Wind Turbine Technician (24%), Solar Consultant (23%), Ecologist (22%), and Environmental Health and Safety Specialist (20%). The fastest-growing greening jobs are less specialized and are found in a variety of sectors — including roles that range from Compliance Manager (19%) to Facilities Manager (11%) and Technical Sales Representative (8%).
• Sustainability initiatives, policies, and laws are impacting every industry in America in a variety of ways. Businesses are now being required to create strategies for sustainability, but lack the talent and experience to do so.

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In the Honeywell Environmental Sustainability Index 2022 survey of over 600 business leaders, sustainability was found to lead all other corporate initiatives. When asked to rank current corporate initiatives, their panel of business professionals cited achieving sustainability goals as prioritized ahead of financial performance, digital transformation, and market growth over the coming six months. Companies are increasingly looking for ways to reduce their impact on the environment — and hire workers who can help them do so.

The aforementioned underscores the need and importance of incorporating ‘sustainability’ into university curriculum.  Yet according to Sustainability Community, "sustainability does not appear in the vision and strategic goals of twenty thousand universities around the world," and many lack the resources and proper understanding from industry of educational needs in sustainability.

It's time to start upskilling in sustainability. Join the cause and protect our country.

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