Net Zero workforce: Can the UK get boots on the ground?

Earlier this week, we asked if the UK had access to the minerals it needs for the transition to net zero. A report published by the Climate Change Commission last Friday poses a related question: does it have the workforce required?

The report will inform the government’s Net Zero and Nature Workforce Action Plan that is due in early 2024. It identifies the scale of the economic opportunity presented by reaching net zero, but also the challenge of grasping it.

Transition could result in the creation of a net 135,000-175,000 new jobs by 2030. These will be concentrated in low carbon sectors like building retrofit, renewable energy generation and the manufacture of electric vehicles: four-fifths of workers will not see major impacts from the transition.

This growth is not guaranteed. The risks to delivering this challenge, according to the Commission, include an inadequate supply of skilled workers and domestic supply chain, as well as potentially disruptive impacts to some communities.

These are challenges which developers seeking to deliver the infrastructure needed for transition already grapple with on the ground. Local authorities in Lincolnshire, for example, have objected strongly to the cumulative impact of proposed large-scale solar farms on the county – while questioning the level of real local socioeconomic benefit provided by schemes.

The development of clusters which have enabled the UK’s boom in offshore wind in places like the Humber offer a case study in how government and developers can work together to address these challenges. Agreeing an Offshore Wind Sector Deal to build the supply chain and skills to deliver wind in specific locations was important to fostering collaboration and securing the sector’s growth in the region.

Many of the policy levers for government identified in the report point in a similar direction. These include working in partnership with businesses, developing the capacity of SMEs, and prioritising sectors where growth is conditional, or impacts are locally focused.

Businesses working in areas like the East Midlands, where there is a significant opportunity presented by net zero development, but also challenges due to cumulative impact, should consider the benefits of collaboration. Investment in a regional supply chain and skills base can provide the economic benefits required for stakeholders and communities to buy into development.

Partnership between government and business has worked in delivering this elsewhere. That isn’t likely to develop in a vacuum: business may have to take the first step in beginning the conversation.