ILO underlines importance of skills and training in the green transition at EU Sustainable Investment Summit

The ILO addressed the EU Sustainable Investment Summit “Building Tomorrow”. Inaugurated in 2021 following the launch of the European Green Deal, this second edition gathered speakers from the EU and third countries, international organizations and the private sector to discuss concrete actions and to foster international cooperation on sustainable investments. The ILO participated in the session on the preparation of society and the workforce to adapt to new technologies and climate change.

Describing the green transition as an “economy-wide process”, Vic van Vuuren, Director of the ILO Enterprises Department, underlined that the structure of countries’ economies and labour markets will determine the transition hot-spots in a given national context. According to the Director, addressing skills needs will be critical, as well as to invest massively to equip workers with the skills required for millions of new jobs. The ILO estimates that by taking measures related to energy alone, almost 25 million jobs will be created and nearly 7 million jobs lost globally by 2030.

Skills development is one of the main policy areas of the ILO’s Just Transition Guidelines. “Having the right skills development in place paves the way for decent jobs and for meeting climate goals through a just transition that leaves no one behind,” said Mr van Vuuren. In order for this to happen, he highlighted among others the need for policy coherence, addressing both technical and core skills, and for identifying and anticipating skills needs. To adapt to the transformation of the labour market, the ILO and LinkedIn launched a partnership in 2021 to help governments and labour market institutions identify the new skills that will be needed across the different sectors.

There is a widening gap between developed and developing economies, and the latter are far behind in terms of education systems and policies on this issue.

For a just transition to occur properly, economic growth, the social deficit and climate change must be considered as a whole and the transition process must be inclusive at the national, sectoral and at the enterprise level. The Director also emphasised the need to pay attention to the displacement of communities whose jobs and livelihoods may not be ensured as the process unfolds.

The collaboration between stakeholders will play a key role in delivering skills for a just transition. The ILO explained that Public-Private Partnerships can catalyse and boost diversified, innovative and new approaches in financing lifelong learning, contribute to the TVET system, and help reducing financial constraints.