OECD Green Growth Studies Boosting Skills for Greener Jobs in Flanders, Belgium (eBook)

Oecd (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2017 | 1. Auflage
100 Seiten
OECD Publishing (Verlag)
978-92-64-26895-1 (ISBN)

Infos

The Flemish economy is extremely diversified with a number of value-added industries and a highly skilled workforce. The shift to a green economy will however require specific knowledge, values and attitudes from the Flemish workforce. This report analyses the skills dimension of the transition to a green economy at the local level, with specific reference to emerging needs in the agro-food, construction and chemicals sectors. It also provides recommendations for the development of green skills and occupational profiles at the organisational level, while advising policy makers on the best method of assisting firms to transition to a green economy.

Textauszug

Chapter 1. Green skills and the transition to a green economy

While much attention has been paid to the need to transition to a green economy, there has been relatively less policy focus on the need to build the skills in the labour force to facilitate this shift. This chapter outlines the case for green skills and the impact of transitioning to sustainable production on local labour markets, with particular reference to Flanders, Belgium.

The transition to a low-carbon, resource-efficient and green economy can only be made by developing the right skills, knowledge and competences. Such skills can be defined broadly as “the knowledge, abilities, values and attitudes needed to live in, develop and support a sustainable and resource-efficient society (Cedefop, 2012) or “skills needed by the workforce, in all sectors and at all levels, in order to help the adaptation of products, services and processes to the changes due to climate change and to environmental requirements and regulations” (OECD 2014a).

The green economy can be defined as an economy that aims to reduce environmental and ecological impacts, while promoting sustainable growth. It is expected that the green economy will lead to a “progressive redefinition of skills requirements in many jobs,” across many sectors (ICF GHK, 2011: 3). The biggest changes are to be expected in changing skills in traditional and existing occupations. All jobs are expected to become increasingly greener. A study by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) shows that a lack of skills will pose a major barrier in the transition towards green economies and the creation of green jobs (ILO, 2011).

Several skills can be considered green, and play a role in the transition towards sustainable consumption and production systems. An OECD-LEED study concluded that “skills to support innovation and adaptability will be as important as technical skills, as industries will gradually adapt to the need to better harness and dispose of resources” (OECD, 2014b). This means that both transversal and industry-specific (and technical) skills will be needed. With regard to transversal skills, four main categories can be observed. First of all, technological skills will be required (e.g. in research or engineering). Secondly, management skills and knowledge on techniques are needed, (e.g. to become more energy efficient, reduce waste generation and pollution). Third, skills on innovation and management for change, particularly communication skills, are needed. Finally, “transversal generic skills” are necessary, which should support the overall transition of workers in different industries (OECD, 2014b).

The current shortage of relevant skills identified by the ILO can be attributed to a multitude of factors: an underestimation of the growth of certain green sectors (e.g. energy efficiency in building), an overall shortage of scientists and engineers, a low attractiveness of certain sectors (e.g. waste management) and the general structure per country to facilitate skills creation (e.g. a lack of teaching) (ILO, 2011).

The ILO also found that many public policies are inadequate in addressing the skills component of adaptation and mitigation policies (ILO, 2011). According to the OECD, several policy responses to enhance skill development and a transition towards a green economy can be distinguished. First, public policy co-ordination can be optimised. Second, “portable” skills (which can be transferred from one job to another) and lifelong learning should be fostered (OECD, 2013). Third, market developments should be matched to regulatory activity. Fourth, transparency around policy action should be enhanced. Fifth, strategic capacity should be developed within SMEs, and finally, investments in R&D for anticipating and addressing knowledge gaps should be enhanced (OECD, 2014b).

The European Union is becoming increasingly active in the field of green jobs and green skills. Linked to the target to increase the EU’s employment rate to 75 per cent, the “Agenda for New Skills and Jobs” recognises the need for skills to play a key role in the transition towards a green economy. The importance of the green economy transition is also recognised through the EU’s economic governance mechanisms such as the European Semester, a mechanism established in 2010 to better co-ordinate economic policies in European Union countries. In 2013 and 2014, the Annual Growth Survey, which serves as a basis for the European semester review and contains priorities for national reform programmes, highlighted the importance of long term investments in education, research, innovation, energy and climate action and resource efficiency. In this context, “integrating more people into the labour market through green job creation”, “using the potential of waste and water management to generate new jobs” and “addressing skills gaps which prevent innovation” are described as major opportunities (European Union, 2010a). The EU’s Growth Strategy until 2020 specifically notes that future growth mechanisms are expected to be sustainable in order to meet ambitious targets for emissions reduction and energy use and efficiency. This will be accomplished through a new industrial policy that aims to support businesses, especially small businesses, to the shift to a low-carbon economy (European Commission, 2010b). In July 2014, the EU adopted an initiative on green employment, estimating that a one percent increase in the growth of the water industry could create between 10 000 and 20 000 jobs (see Box 1.1).

Box 1.1. The European Union Green Employment initiative

The EU s green employment initiative estimates that 400 000 new jobs could be created by improving waste prevention and management and another 400 000 jobs by making buildings more energy efficient and implementing the requirements of the energy efficiency directive. A one percent increase in the growth of the water industry could create between 10 000 and 20 000 jobs.

The initiative calls for actions to:

• Bridge existing skills gaps by fostering skills developments and better forecasting skills needs across sectors and industries;

• Anticipate change and secure transitions by: assessing and developing sector initiatives on anticipating and managing restructuring; supporting peer reviews on adequate labour market policies; working with the European Public Employment Services Network to support occupational mobility to meet specific labour market needs in the green economy;

• Boosting job creation by making efficient use of EU funding; by shifting taxes away from labour towards pollution; promoting green public procurement; entrepreneurship and social enterprises;

• Increase data quality and monitoring of labour market developments by providing support to national statistical offices through financial and training support; building on the framework of employment and environment indicators developed by the EU Employment Committee to support monitoring of policies in the context of the Europe 2020 Strategy and the European Semester;

• Promoting social dialogue at cross industry and sector levels as a pre-requisite to facilitate the greening of the economy. As recommended by the European Resource Efficiency Platform (EREP), the Commission will support workers’ involvement in matters related to environmental management, energy and resource use and emerging risks at the work place, enhance workers’ rights to information and consultation, and develop sector-wide resource efficiency roadmaps; and

• Strengthening international co-operation.

Source: European Commission (2014).

The potential of the green economy to create new jobs in the long run can be directly or indirectly achieved through supply chains (ILO, 2011). The challenge for environmental policy is thus to choose policies that aim to both integrate environmental awareness and maximise productive and decent working standards (ILO 2011).

The transition towards a green economy and adjacent skills development will not happen instantly: it requires training and education organisations to work together with local actors through an integrated approach (OECD, 2014b). Existing jobs will change due to this greener economy, which will require adjustments to the current training, education and qualifications system. The role of the private sector and of public-private collaboration will also be critical. The emergence of industry platforms can help create co-operation between firms and across sectors (OECD, 2014b). Universities and vocational training institutions can partner with businesses to develop knowledge-sharing platforms to promote innovation at the local level and allow firms to reduce training costs (OECD, 2014b).

The transition to a green economy will have an effect on the labour market. Some experts fear that a transition to a green economy will lead to lower productivity, extra costs for producers and overall lower economic development. Other experts stress the importance of technological and process innovation, which should be an economic boost to local economies and industries (OECD, 2014b). However, if the transition towards a green, circular and low-carbon economy is to be made, skills development is important and necessary for workers to be able to transition from traditional “brown” industries to new, greener industries (OECD, 2014b). However, the creation of green jobs will not necessarily result in automatic replacement of existing employment in so-called “brown” industries: the new jobs which will be created may not necessarily go to the people who will lose their jobs...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 20.1.2017
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Naturwissenschaften ► Biologie ► Ökologie / Naturschutz
• Themenwelt: Wirtschaft ► Volkswirtschaftslehre ► Makroökonomie
• ISBN-10: 92-64-26895-2 / 9264268952
• ISBN-13: 978-92-64-26895-1 / 9789264268951