Boosting Skills for a Just Transition and the Future of Work - 6 June, 2019

ILO Global Forum on a Just Transition towards Environmentally Sustainable Economies and Societies for All

Watch the full recordings of this event on the Skills for Employment playlist on Youtube. View videos numbered 15 to 21 on the playlist.

For further information: skills4greenjobs@ilo.org or mahmud@ilo.org.

Background

Technological change, globalization, demographic trends and climate change will significantly shape skill needs for new and current jobs alike. The growing importance of sustainable development and the shift to a low-carbon and climate-resilient economy will require new skills and qualifications, offering great potential for the creation of green jobs but also implying structural changes and a transformation of existing jobs. The transition to a low-carbon and greener economy will generate millions of new jobs, negatively affect some high-emitting sectors, and alter most existing occupations in terms of task compositions and skills requirements.

Skills development measures are instrumental in reaping the benefits of potential job creation in new green economic activities and in addressing the social challenges in shifting to more sustainable models of energy generation, production and consumption across sectors. Massive deployment of skills development and active labour market policy measures will be needed to enable countries to implement the climate change targets, maximize job gains and address negative impacts while transitioning to low-carbon economies. It is in this context, the ILO joined forces with the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop) and conducted national studies in 31 countries.

Objectives of the event

The global Forum discussed the results of this comparative research and was organized in the context of the celebration of the ILO Centenary. It also took place as part of the ILO Green Week and the 2019 World Environment Day.
The objectives of the Forum were to:
  • recognize occupational needs and skills gaps in the context of the future of work, green technological changes and climate action;
  • highlight environmental challenges, effective skills response strategies, and good practices for a just transition for all;
  • discuss potential international collaboration on advancing green human capital to support decent work and strengthen climate action.