Climate Emergency
Skills Action Plan 2020-2025
Key Issues And Priority Actions
When we first announced that we would
develop a Climate Emergency Skills Action
Plan last year, we were directly responding to
Scotland’s declaration of a Climate Emergency
and our increased legislative targets to meet
net zero emissions by 2045. This transition will
transform our economy and society, including
the kinds of jobs we do and skills we need
to thrive in a net zero economy. Now, facing
rising unemployment following the economic
downturn from COVID-19, this focus on
supporting people into good, fair, green jobs is
more important than ever.
Enhancing access to skills training is critical
for successful decarbonisation and will help
create new, high-quality green jobs, enhanced
regional growth, and improved access to
growing ‘green markets’ across the globe for
Scotland’s diverse businesses. Key to our
Roseanna Cunningham
Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate
Change and Land Reform
Jamie Hepburn
Minister for Business, Fair Work and Skills
transition to net zero is ensuring that everyone
can benefit from the opportunities and no one
is left behind. This is what we mean by a ‘Just
Transition’. This approach also recognises that
we can only achieve this transformation if we
all work together and everyone is enabled to
play their part. Ensuring people have the skills
to engage and succeed in Scotland’s green
recovery from COVID-19 and transition to net
zero is at the heart of this Climate Emergency
Skills Action Plan.
The skills system has a key role to play
in responding to changing demand and
supporting individuals, in all communities, to
access emerging opportunities. We recognise
that any labour market disruption must be
mitigated by investment in skills to support
people to move into sustainable jobs in the
net zero economy. This includes not only the
specific technical skills that may be needed to
achieve a just transition, but also the higher-
order and general skills that will be required.
The Climate Emergency Skills Action Plan
sets out a clear direction for the reorientation
of our skills system, and signals the role that
businesses, communities and individuals
across Scotland will play in achieving this.
As a Government we have set out a series of
ambitious decarbonisation targets and policies
to support action towards these targets, and
this plan forms a key part of our plans to
achieving them.
Ministerial Foreword
As its eects become increasingly evident
in the world around us, climate change has
become one of the defining issues in recent
times.
It has moved up the agenda politically,
socially, culturally and economically, with
Green Recovery and the transition to a net
zero economy being a central theme in the
Programme for Government.
This builds on legislation passed last year
setting the target of reducing Scotland’s net
emission of all greenhouse gases to zero
by 2045 at the latest. Energy transition and
the decarbonisation of transport have been
targeted as areas of opportunity and growth,
and in November 2021 the eyes of the world
will fall on Scotland as Glasgow hosts the 26th
UN Climate Change Conference.
For many years this has been central to
my work as chief executive of SP Energy
Networks, with the surge in demand for
renewable energy needing to be met not only
by changes in infrastructure, but changes in
our skills base as well.
This is why I am acutely aware that Scotland’s
climate emergency response with a skills
By Frank Mitchell
Chair, Skills Development Scotland and Chief Executive, SP Energy Networks
transition that allows us to grasp the
opportunities open to us and overcome the
challenges that exist.
Over the next two decades the core
competences of a wide range of jobs need
to be made more directly relevant to the
needs of a low carbon economy, and with
the majority of the 2045 workforce already
in employment, the primary challenge for
Scotland is about iterative change.
That means updating and refocusing
people’s skills so they can contribute to rising
productivity and help Scottish firms capture a
share of growing international markets.
While the climate emergency is in itself a
defining challenge, we must acknowledge it
is happening while employment and skills are
being reshaped by digitalisation, automation
and the response to COVID19.
These disruptive forces complicate public
policy responses, but they also oer a
window in which we can improve the skills of
people in declining or vulnerable sectors of
employment.
Meaningful collaboration is required across
many agencies and partners to face up to
this task, as climate change is a cross-cutting
issue requiring consideration within all
strategic decision-making. The skills system
must play its part managing the transition so
it can quickly enable more individuals and
businesses to prosper in a shifting economy.
The development of this Action Plan has been
supported by a wide range of individuals
and organisations who helped identify and
prioritise the key actions which will address
these skills challenges and opportunities.
It draws on the existing evidence base to set
out the nature and scale of the long-term skills
challenge presented by a move to net zero in
the context of a just transition, and identifies
immediate actions to support the development
of the skills needed to meet the climate
change challenge, particularly in relation to
sectors identified as key to the transition to
net zero.
In addition, it identifies longer-term actions
that will allow the skills system to respond
more eectively and sets out a route map that
will allow for the Climate Emergency Skills
Action Plan to function as a responsive and
evolving document.
Chair’s Foreword
Executive Summary 5
Chapter 1: Building a Climate Emergency Skills Action Plan for Scotland 8
Chapter 2: Supporting Net Zero: The Contribution of Skills 12
Chapter 3: Opportunities and Skills Implications 20
Chapter 4: Priority Areas for Skills Action to Support the Transition to Net Zero 34
Chapter 5: Delivering the Climate Emergency Skills Action Plan 54
Glossary 56
Contents
1. At a time when Scotland is focusing on
its response to COVID-19, facing the
challenges of Brexit and adjusting to
increasing digitalisation, the Climate
Emergency remains the single biggest
long-term challenge.
2. Reaching the target of zero greenhouse
gas (GHG) emissions by 2045, with a
75% reduction by 2030, will require
transformational change across the
economy and society, and will provide
significant opportunities for:
• developing new, quality green jobs
• embedding green and circular economy
skills
• increasing access to growing global
green markets for Scottish businesses
• stimulating regional growth
• providing enhanced access to nature
and the environment.
3. The economic downturn and consequent
unemployment brought about by COVID-19
has provided an opportunity for a green
recovery, with Scotland’s strategic
response to recovery and renewal
reinforcing the need for a focus on jobs
and skills.
4. Green jobs include those in renewable
energy, the circular economy and zero
waste, and the nature based sector
with wider ‘green skills’ sitting on a
spectrum ranging from highly specific
requirements in sectors directly supporting
the transition to net zero such as energy,
transport, construction, agriculture, and
manufacturing, through to more generic
requirements across all sectors to thrive in
a net zero economy.
5. Green jobs can be categorised as:
• new and emerging jobs that relate
directly to the transition to net zero
e.g. hydrogen cell technicians, carbon
monitoring technicians, and urban
miners
• jobs aected by the transition to net
zero that will need enhanced skills
or competencies e.g. architects and
environmental consultants
• existing jobs that will be needed in
greater numbers as the result of the
transition to net zero e.g. insulation
installers, energy assessors and
designers and multiskilled on-site
operatives.
Executive Summary
5
6. Technical skills will be key, but soft skills
will also play an important role in driving
behavioural change, communicating to
businesses, communities, and individuals
the ethics and urgency of these changes
and ultimately the benefits of the transition
to net zero.
7. The skills system has a key role to play
in responding to changing demand and
supporting individuals, in all communities,
to access emerging opportunities.
We recognise that any labour market
disruption must be mitigated by investment
in skills to support people to move into
sustainable jobs in the net zero economy.
This includes not only the specific technical
skills that may be needed to achieve a just
transition, but also the higher-order and
general skills that will be required.
8. The CESAP has been developed through
engagement with Industry Leadership
Groups and an Expert Group comprising
Skills Development Scotland, the Scottish
Funding Council, Zero Waste Scotland,
the Scottish Cities Alliance, NatureScot,
Scottish Government’s Domestic Climate
Change and Skills Divisions, Highlands
and Islands Enterprise, Scottish Enterprise,
South of Scotland Enterprise, the
University of Edinburgh and the University
of Strathclyde.
6
9. Potential opportunities for jobs growth and
skills implication were identified across
five broad areas of economic activity that
will make a significant contribution to
net zero transition. These areas reflect
national priorities and investment within
the Scottish Government’s Programme for
Government to reduce energy demand
and greenhouse gas emissions and adapt
to climate change:
• Energy transition (including oil and
gas, on and oshore wind, hydrogen,
electricity, carbon capture and storage)
• Construction (including the retrofitting
of housing and non-residential
properties)
• Transport (including road transport,
railways, domestic aviation, shipping
and aircraft support vehicles)
• Manufacturing (with a focus on
engineering)
• Agriculture and land use management
(including forestry).
10. Building on the analysis of the evidence
base and the skills implications for each
of these, six priority areas for action were
agreed, each with a skills focus.
• Priority 1: Supporting a green labour
market recovery from COVID-19
• Priority 2: Building better understanding
and evidence of future skills needs to
support Scotland’s transition to net zero
• Priority 3: Developing the future
workforce for the transition to net zero
• Priority 4: Driving awareness and action
to support reskilling and upskilling for the
transition to net zero
• Priority 5: Ensuring fairness and inclusion
in the skills system as part of a just
transition to net zero
• Priority 6: Taking a collaborative
approach to ensure a skills system
responsive to changing demands.
11. The CESAP sets out a clear direction
for the changes needed in the skills
system, and signals the role that industry,
communities and individuals across
Scotland will play in achieving this. The
focus is on the key actions needed over
the next five years to 2025, with an update
of the plan by the end of 2023.
• The transition to net zero will take place
over the next 25 years, but there is also a
compelling need to act now. The CESAP
focuses on both immediate action as well
as the longer-term systemic change that
will need to take place by 2045. Building
on the lessons of the National Transition
Training Fund established in response to
COVID, we will establish a Green Jobs
Workforce Academy. The Academy will
support existing employees, and those
who are facing redundancy, to assess their
existing skills and undertake the necessary
upskilling and reskilling they need to
secure green job opportunities as they
emerge.
7
• The scale and pace of change needed
across all sectors will demand a significant
realignment of our investment in
education, training and work-based
learning towards green jobs. Skills
Development Scotland and the Scottish
Funding Council, through their joint
Skills Alignment Team, will ensure that
our annual investment in skills through
work-based learning, further and higher
education and upskilling and reskilling
is fully aligned behind our economic
ambitions for a net-zero transition. We will
also establish a Green Jobs Skills Hub
that will cascade intelligence into the
skills system on the numbers and types
of green jobs that will be needed over the
next 25 years.
• The transition to net zero will require
behaviour change by both employers and
individuals. The CESAP takes a broader
view than traditional approaches to skills
investment planning and considers the
wider educational changes that will need
to take place across society and the public,
private and third sectors. The Green
Jobs Skills Hub will play a central role in
raising awareness amongst employers
and individuals of the need for behaviour
change, and support them to take action
to drive behaviour change and develop the
leadership and management skills that will
be required for a net zero future.
• Key to our transition to net zero is a ‘Just
Transition’ that ensures that everyone
benefits from new opportunities. It will be
important to mitigate potential risks and
provide targeted support to communities
and parts of the population who are most
likely to lose out from structural changes
in employment. This will be particularly
important in areas where jobs are
declining, and where there are growing
levels of insecure work. Our investment in
the Green Jobs Workforce Academy will,
alongside targeted activity to address
labour market inequalities, play a key role
in supporting a Just Transition.
• The skills investment required to support
the transition to net zero will be driven
by the wider change and investment
that will take place in the economy. The
stimulation of that demand will be driven
by employers, by National and Local
Government and by Enterprise agencies.
The CESAP complements the demand
created in the Programme for Government
2020/21 and Climate Change Update Plan.
We will establish a Climate Emergency
Economic & Investment Leadership
Group to provide leadership, oversight
and to drive the alignment of skills
investment with our national economic
ambition.
12. The CESAP focuses on immediate actions
to support the development of the sklls
needed to meet the climate change
challenge and longer term actions that will
allow the skills system to respond more
eectively for the Climate Emergency Skills
Action Plan to function as a responsive
and evolving document.
13. The actions have significant implications
for employers, individuals and skill
providers to support the transition to net
zero. This will be a significant and long-
term challenge and will require agility from
the skills system to respond to the change
and disruption throughout Scotland’s
transition to a net zero economy.
Background
Scotland has taken a leading role
internationally in recognising and responding
to the climate emergency. It was among
the first governments to declare a climate
emergency in April 2019 and subsequently
increased the legislative ambition to reach
zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by
2045 and 75 per cent reduction by 2030
1
.
It was among the first governments to set
out a Circular Economy Strategy in 2016,
recognising the role that resource use has
on climate change. Four fifths of Scotland’s
carbon footprint is caused by the consumption
of goods, services and materials
2
. With the
successful decarbonisation of the electricity
grid, decarbonising the material elements
of the economy has become increasingly
important to mitigate the eects of climate
change. Scotland’s policy goals and specific
targets have been set out in the 2018 Climate
Change Plan (CCP) and the 2020 CCP update
published alongside this Climate Emergency
Skills Action Plan (CESAP).
Reaching these targets will require a
transformation across the economy and
society. This transformation will provide
opportunities for the development of new,
quality green jobs, embedding green
and circular skills, increasing access to
growing global green markets for Scottish
businesses, stimulating regional growth and
providing enhanced access to nature and
the environment. However, there are also
risks that some people and places could be
left behind unless steps are taken to mitigate
this. The Scottish Government is committed
to ensuring a ‘Just Transition’ which means
working together to involve people in decision
making about the move to net zero and
ensuring everyone can access the benefits
whilst being protected from the risks.
Developing a skilled, flexible, and adaptable
workforce will be central to a successful
transition and this was recognised in the
Future Skills Action Plan published in 2019.
This will enable people to access the job
opportunities that will be created through the
investment needed for a net zero economy
including in renewable energy, retrofitting
buildings, enhancing our environment and
the promotion and embedding of the circular
economy. Recognising the importance of skills
and training to support people into green
jobs, the Programme for Government 2019-20
set out plans to develop a CESAP to support
Scotland’s just transition to net zero GHG by
2045.
1: Building a Climate Emergency Skills Action Plan for Scotland
98
1 Scottish Government (2020) Climate Change Policy: Emissions Reduction
2 Zero Waste Scotland (2020) Carbon Metric Summary Report 2017-18
A Green Recovery
Building on the recommendations of the
Advisory Group on Economic Recovery
and the Enterprise and Skills Strategic
Group Sub Group, the Scottish Government
has committed to a green recovery from
COVID-19 to create a fairer, greener and more
prosperous country
3
. This approach seeks
to create a more sustainable economy in
the longer term with greater resilience in the
face of future shocks whilst conserving and
growing natural assets
4
. Unlike traditional
fiscal stimuli, a green recovery package has a
focus on infrastructure projects which include
the development of net zero buildings, energy
storage, clean and circular industry, transport
and greenhouse gas removal, alongside
nature-based solutions
5
. Evidence suggests
that this type of investment can have a greater
economic impact in terms of jobs and growth
compared to ‘grey’ stimulus measures
6
. This
is made possible by significant growth in the
production of green goods and services which
generates additional jobs, and upskilling
workers to move them from high polluting
industries to ‘green’ jobs within a low carbon
economy.
As the energy supply gets greener as part of
Scotland’s Energy Strategy
7
, its proportion of
Scotland’s carbon footprint diminishes. As a
result, Scotland’s consumption of goods and
services now accounts for approximately 80
per cent of the national carbon footprint (half
of which is embedded in imported goods
and services). Decarbonising the material
elements of Scotland’s economy is therefore
increasingly important to meet the Paris
Climate Agreement target
8
. There is now
broad consensus that widespread adoption of
circular principles is essential to this, therefore
progress needs to be accelerated across all
other sectors in order to maintain progress
towards the 2045 and deliver transformative
change.
A green recovery also provides an opportunity
for Scotland’s businesses and people to
become global leaders in a net zero transition
and to export their knowledge and skills
across the world. The Climate Emergency
Response Group (CERG) has published a
range of policy recommendations to help
inform Scotland’s green recovery, based on
‘benefit to the economy, climate, and wider
well-being’
9
.
9
3 Scottish Government (2020) Economic Recovery Implementation Plan
4 COP26 Universities Network briefing (2020) A Net-Zero Emissions Economic Recovery
from COVID-19
5 University of Oxford (2020) Building Back Better: Green COVID-19 Recovery Packages Will Boost
Economic Growth and Stop Climate Change; IPPR (2020) Faster, Further, Fairer: Putting People
at the Heart of Tackling the Climate and Nature Emergency
6 European Commission (2014) Assessing the Implications of Climate Change Adaptation on
Employment in the EU; OECD (2013) Greener Skills and Jobs for a Low-Carbon Future
7 Scottish Government (2017) Scotland’s Energy Strategy
8 United Nations Climate Change (2018) The Paris Agreement
9 Climate Emergency Response Group (2020) Eight Policy Packages for Scotland’s
Green Recovery
A Just Transition
A green recovery can play an important role
in delivering a ‘just transition’ to a net zero
economy. The COVID-19 crisis has highlighted
the need to prepare for the transition to net
zero to mitigate the risk of exacerbating
inequalities through abrupt or unmanaged
structural shifts to the economy. With a remit
to ‘advise on a net zero economy that is fair
for all’, the Just Transition Commission (JTC)
published an Interim Report in February
2020
10
. The Commission developed a range
of ‘immediate action’ recommendations
for the Scottish Government as part of a
green recovery report
11
. The Commission
has stressed the need for the Scottish
Government to take immediate, decisive, and
sustained action to reduce our emissions
while also addressing existing inequalities
in work, housing, and transport. A key
recommendation from the Commission’s
green recovery report is the need to align the
skills system to support net zero jobs.
It will be important to mitigate potential risks
and provide targeted support to communities
and parts of the population who are most
likely to lose out from structural changes in
employment. This will be particularly important
in areas where jobs are declining, and where
there are growing levels of insecure work.
Any approach to redeployment of workers
from declining industries and sectors
must consider regional and local contexts.
Alongside this, fair work has been identified
as a key component of the Scottish
Government’s Economic and Labour Market
strategies. Ensuring that jobs are fulfilling,
secure and well-paid is critical to inclusive
growth across Scotland and redressing
systemic labour market inequalities.
Access to jobs and training associated with
delivery of the net zero targets will likely
remain skewed towards certain socio-
economic groups, unless this issue is
proactively addressed. Critical sectors of the
economy such as construction, manufacturing,
and agriculture are male dominated, with
underrepresentation of women and ethnic
minorities. Additionally, those in lower skilled,
low income or unstable employment are less
likely to have the funding, information or
flexibility to take advantage of new training
opportunities. Rurality, and large variations
in labour market outcomes between regions
across Scotland are also long-running
challenges. While there has been significant
progress in improving the attainment of
qualifications across Scotland, regional
disparities in qualifications and skills levels
persist.
Concerted eorts are required to ensure that
the transition to net zero is just and inclusive,
reducing existing inequalities rather than
exacerbating them.
10 Scottish Government (2020) Just Transition Commission Interim Report
11 Scottish Government (2020) Just Transition Commission: Advice on a Green Recovery
1110
12 Fraser of Allander (2019) Scotland in 2050: Realising our Global Potential
Wider Challenges
The transition to a net zero economy in Scotland
by 2045 presents a significant challenge
but cannot be viewed in isolation. There are
several other challenges which will also impact
significantly on employment and skills demand
and supply in Scotland in the immediate and
longer term.
• COVID-19 poses a major challenge for
economic policy makers in Scotland
and across the world. There are dicult
trade-os between managing the health
emergency, the impact on the economy, the
education of young people and the long-
term consequences for individuals’ mental
and physical wellbeing. The course of the
pandemic remains uncertain, but measures to
control the spread of the virus have already
impacted heavily on many of Scotland’s
sectors and may have a lasting eect on
both work and skills provision. Although
support has been available through the
UK Government’s Job Retention Scheme
the pandemic has significantly increased
unemployment across the economy, and
more acutely for certain demographic groups
including disabled people, ethnic minorities,
women and young people.
• Brexit has most independent commentators
projecting a significant reduction in the
size of the UK and Scottish economies as a
consequence, irrespective of whether there
is a deal at the end of the transition period.
Although dicult to quantify, there is also a
concern that Scotland’s and the UK’s eective
labour supply will be significantly reduced as
large numbers of EU workers return home or
move to other EU countries.
• Digitalisation with the growing importance
of data and digital innovations for Scotland’s
economy and labour market is increasingly
bringing about major changes in the
nature of employment and the demand for
skills required to make Scotland a more
competitive economy. Digitalisation is also a
key enabler of the circular economy, bringing
new market opportunities to Scotland. The
three inter-related developments which
together can be categorised as digitalisation
and each with the potential for impact are:
• Automation where machines or electronic
processes carry a range of functions,
often repetitive in nature, previously or
currently performed by workers. Three in
ten current jobs in Scotland involve tasks
that are at high risk from automation
12
.
• Artificial intelligence (AI) where the
processes previously impossible without
the application of human intellect that can
now be carried out by computers
• Machine learning where computers
‘learn’ how to do tasks more eectively
through the processing of large volumes
of relevant data.
• The demographic challenge, alongside
migration flows, is the principal influence
on the supply of people to the labour
market. The ageing of Scotland’s
population projected for the next 20 years
and beyond raises challenges in terms of
skills supply and the size of the working
age population.
• The drive towards a net zero economy,
Brexit, and COVID-19 all generate
potentially seismic shifts in employment
across sectors, whilst at the same time
each of these challenges also demands
an appropriate skills response. This,
in turn, may have an impact on how
easy or otherwise it will be to address
the skills challenges and maximise
the opportunities brought about by a
transition to net zero. These challenges
are highly interdependent, ensuring a just
transition to net zero means addressing
quality of work, questions of fairness and
inclusion, and inequalities in the system.
The CESAP needs to be developed and
implemented with full awareness of these
broader challenges, the approaches
in place to mitigate them, and their
interactions. By recognising these
interdependencies, the CESAP will lay the
foundations for eective skills planning for
the transition to net zero.
11
The Rationale for a Climate
Emergency Skills Action Plan
To meet Scotland’s net zero targets in a just
transition, there is a need to adapt to the
changing demand for skills, not just in sectors
with a critical contribution to make to net zero,
e.g. energy transition or construction, but across
the whole economy. This requires both a skills
system and a labour market which are more agile,
proactive, responsive and resilient than ever
before.
The structure of the labour market and skills
demand will undoubtedly be aected by
this transition. Demand will likely increase
the availability of quality green jobs in
sectors including construction, energy, and
manufacturing. However, in some industries,
for example, oil and gas extraction there will be
new jobs, displaced jobs, and job losses driven
by both changing demand and the impact of
regulation intended to reduce GHGs.
The Scottish Programme for Government made a
commitment to the development and publication
of a CESAP ‘providing a framework for the skills
investment needed to meet the climate change
challenge and successfully support Scotland’s
transition to a low carbon economy in a just and
inclusive manner’. This underpins the Scottish
Government’s policy directive to drive demand
through investment in a range of measures to
support the green economy and a transition to
net zero, as set out in Figure 2.1.
2. Supporting Net Zero: The Contribution of Skills
Figure 2.1 Route to 2045: Supporting the Green Economy and a
Transition to Net Zero
1312
As part of the transition to net zero, the skills
system has a key role to play in understanding
changing demands, tailoring the supply of
skills to meet growing demand, mitigating
risks as they arise, and supporting individuals
to secure emerging opportunities. The
anticipated disruption to labour markets can
be mitigated by investment in skills to support
people to move into sustainable, resilient jobs
in the net zero economy. An adaptive skills
system is vital to maintaining the productive
performance of economies and, through
retraining people at risk of loss of livelihoods,
ensuring a just and inclusive transition.
To dierent extents, the transition to net
zero will have implications for jobs at all skill
levels and across all occupational groups
13
.
Analysis of demand highlights the dierential
impacts across occupations, with a majority
of skill demand being limited to adaptations
in existing skillsets rather than uniquely new
skill areas. However, across the economy,
around one in five jobs in Scotland may be
aected positively or negatively by a transition
to net zero emissions, with one in ten jobs
necessitating re-skilling
14
.
Whilst the extent of change largely depends
on the structure of the economy and national
policy context and response, the appetite
of individuals to support the transition will
also be important. Positive indicators from
oil and gas suggest that more than three
quarters of workers are said to be ‘positive
about retraining’ into the renewable energy
industry as part of the net zero transition
15
. To
implement a just transition, it will be important
to position skills to form part of a systematic
response to changing economic conditions,
preparing workers for new and adapted
job roles, embedding circular thinking and
mindset across disciplines, while retaining
skills and expertise in regional labour markets.
13 ILO (2019) ILO Skills for Employment Policy Brief. Skills for a Greener Future: Challenges and
Enabling Factors to Achieve a Just Transition
14 Cambridge Policy Consultants (2020) Evidence base for a Climate Emergency Skills Action
Plan (Final Report)
15 Scottish Renewables (2020) GVA and Jobs Created by Deployment of Renewable Electricity
Projects in Scotland
13
Understanding Green Jobs
and Skills
Whilst challenges remain in quantifying the
number of green jobs in the economy, there
is no doubt of their significant and growing
contribution. The ONS’s Low Carbon and
Renewable Energy Economy (LCREE) dataset
estimates that as of 2018, there were 23,100
employees (Full-Time Equivalents, FTE) in
the Low Carbon and Renewable Energy
Economy
16
in Scotland; this constitutes 10
per cent of the total UK workforce (224,800
employees). Since 2014, the number of
employees in Scotland has been broadly level
compared to a decrease of five percent (11,100
employees) at the UK level.
There is no single agreed definition of ‘net
zero skills’, ‘green skills’ or ‘climate emergency
skills’ with the terms often being used
interchangeably. There is a recognition that
green jobs include renewable energy, circular
economy and zero waste, and renewable
energy and the nature based sector with
wider ‘green skills’ sitting on a spectrum
ranging from highly specific requirements in
sectors directly supporting the transition to net
zero such as energy, transport, construction,
agriculture, and manufacturing, through to
more generic requirements across all sectors
to thrive in a net zero economy, in various
occupations such as lawyers, accountants,
programme managers, financers, teachers
and trainers
17
. While technical skills will be key,
soft skills will also play an important role in
driving behavioural change, communicating
to businesses, communities, and individuals
the ethics and urgency of these changes and
ultimately the benefits of the transition to net
zero.
Three categories of green jobs have been
identified, providing a framework against
which to gauge likely skills demand and
develop and focus interventions when the
CESAP moves to its implementation phase
18
.
These are:
• new and emerging jobs that relate directly
to the transition to net zero e.g. hydrogen
cell technicians, carbon monitoring
technicians and urban miners
• jobs aected by the transition to net
zero that will need enhanced skills
or competencies e.g. architects and
environmental consultants
• existing jobs that will be needed in
greater numbers as the result of the
transition to net zero e.g. insulation
installers, energy assessors and designers
and multiskilled on-site operatives.
In line with the commitment by the Scottish
Government to net zero by 2045, ultimately
the vast majority of jobs and skills should be
‘green’ to recognise individual responsibility to
curtail environmental damage and to thrive as
an integral part of a net zero economy.
These categories provide a useful framework
for the CESAP to identify tangible and
targeted actions to address the net zero skills
challenge whilst also aiding understanding
of the market demand for green jobs and
the skills needed to meet this challenge.
This will, in turn, boost our understanding
of the transition to net zero pathways being
supported by policy and economic action
(for example, the Scottish Government’s CCP
update), particularly in sectors identified as
key to the transition to net zero including
agriculture and land use, construction, energy
transition, manufacturing, and transport.
16 Defined by the ONS as: offshore wind, onshore wind, solar photovoltaic, hydropower, other
renewable electricity, bioenergy, alternative fuels, renewable heat, renewable combined heat
and power, energy-efficient lighting, energy-efficient products, energy monitoring, saving
or control systems, low carbon financial and advisory services, low-emission vehicles and
infrastructure, carbon capture and storage, nuclear power, fuel cells and energy storage
systems.
17 Cambridge Policy Consultants (2020) Evidence base for a Climate Emergency Skills Action Plan
(Final Report)
18 This categorisation draws upon a range of sources:
OECD/Cedefop (2014) Greener Skills and Jobs
Sofroniou, N. and Anderson, P. (2020) The Green Factor: Unpacking Green Job Growth
Dierdorff, E; Norton, J ; Drewes, D; Kroustalis, C; Rivken, D; Lewis, P. (2009). Greening of the
World of Work: Implications for O*NET®-SOC and New and Emerging Occupations
1514
Transition to Net Zero: Underpinning
Skills
The demand for specific technical skills will
grow across certain sectors and occupations
as part of the transition to net zero. However,
there is also a range of cross-cutting, higher-
order skills which will be in demand across
the whole of the economy to support this
transition and as part of a future thriving net
zero economy, for example, digital and data
skills and meta-skills.
• Decarbonising the material elements
of Scotland’s economy is becoming
increasingly important and there is broad
consensus that widespread adoption
of circular principles is essential to this
and must include a focus on embedding
circular skills and the ‘greening’ of jobs,
particularly in those sectors critical
to delivering transformative change.
Extensive technical skills are required
to drive circular economy approaches,
such as systems thinking, eco-design,
product management, material science
and digital as well as the meta-skills of
self-management, social intelligence and
innovation.
• The CESAP evidence report demonstrated
the increasing demand for higher level
data skills across a number of sectors key
to the realisation of a net zero economy.
Digital skills are emerging as potentially
important in several of these sectors,
but they are already very important
for a range of other sectors, including
financial services and manufacturing. In
the implementation of a CESAP, as well
as the need for these skills to be clearly
specified so that appropriate provision can
be put in place or planned, close attention
needs to be paid to skills development
outside sectors key to the transition to
net zero. Looking to the future, the jobs
that are expected to be in high demand
include data science, data analytics,
artificial intelligence and cyber security,
hence not only are digital skills important
in the context of achieving net zero, but
digital will be a necessary aspect of future-
proofing the labour market.
• Meta-skills are timeless, higher order
skills that support the development of
additional skills and promote success in
whatever context the future brings. These
skills help learners embrace the inevitable
changes to industry, job roles and society,
by embedding life-long learning, human
capabilities, problem solving capabilities,
adaptability and resilience
19
. They can be
grouped into the three broad categories
of self-management (focusing, integrity,
adapting, initiative), social intelligence
(communicating, feeling, collaborating,
leading) and innovation (curiosity, creativity,
sense-making, critical thinking). Meta-skills
have a number of potential benefits for the
transition to net zero:
– encouraging high performing
workplaces that aid a strong recovery
– developing capability to respond to,
and become catalysts for, change
– working collaboratively to build on
green opportunities
– developing innovative thinking for
pursuit of new green solutions and
develop growth mindset
– creating a resilient workforce
– aiding in shifting mindsets towards
circular thinking.
19 Skills Development Scotland (2018) Skills 4.0: A Skills Model to Drive Scotland’s Future, Centre
for Work-based Learning in Scotland
15
Education and Skills Provision
Universities and colleges, along with skills
providers, local authorities, and the third
sector play a central role in providing the
training, skills and innovation needed by
employers across Scotland. The magnitude
and rate of change now required across
all sectors of the economy to achieve net
zero demands a significant realignment and
ramping up of ‘green’ skills and education
provision. Assessment of gaps and
development of net zero-aligned curricula
must be done in close and coordinated
collaboration with employers, industry bodies,
unions and government agencies. The work
of the Joint Skills Alignment Team across
SDS and SFC will have a critical role to play
to ensure alignment of the skills system with
these green economic ambitions.
Crucial will be ensuring that the diverse
timelines of green job creation and skills
demands across the economy are matched
with those of skills and education provision,
taking account of institutional capacities,
the build and roll-out times for new courses,
and other competing demands (such as
maintaining core education delivery under
COVID-19 restrictions). Equally important will
be the use of a place-based lens for more
eective matching of local and regional
A Just Approach to Net Zero
Chapter 1 emphasised the centrality of a just
transition to Scottish Government’s vision of
a future net zero economy. This transition
provides an opportunity to address both
environmental and socio-economic issues,
and the development and implementation
of the CESAP follows this principle. The
importance of a just approach can be
considered in terms of both the people and
places who will be aected by the jobs and
skills implications of the transition.
A Focus on People
With a marked shift in our economy towards
net zero, there is an opportunity to narrow
labour market inequalities. The CESAP
should contribute towards addressing these
inequalities by recognising the distinct barriers
faced by certain groups, and by supporting fair
access to skills, training, and jobs flowing from
the transition. The following section considers
the barriers faced by these groups, defined by
age, disability, ethnicity and gender. However,
it is also important to recognise the interlinked
nature of these barriers, whereby a person’s
age and ethnicity, for instance, combine to
make barriers to fair access even greater. If
these considerations are not made, it is likely
that such barriers and subsequent inequalities
will merely be reproduced in a future net zero
economy.
demands with educational provision; one
that maximises the opportunities for reducing
inequalities and increases accessibility to
education.
Agile and responsive work-based learning
(WBL) including Foundation, Modern, and
Graduate Apprenticeships will also support
these ambitions. The transition to net zero
will require good quality, flexible, and
accessible WBL which equips individuals with
in-demand green skills, provides them with
eective learning pathways into green jobs,
and creates an increasingly productive and
resilient workforce.
In addition to direct skills and education
provision, our universities and colleges play
a lead role in the research and innovation
that will underpin the net zero transition. The
roles of the Energy Skills Partnership (ESP) in
engaging with the college sector to establish
a responsive, flexible approach to emerging
priorities, and of the Scottish Funding Council
(SFC) in supporting the Innovation Centres
programme which aims to enhance innovation
and entrepreneurship across Scotland, are
both key in this regard. Ultimately, building
capacity in both further education (FE) and
higher education (HE) across Scotland to
enhance the generation of new net zero-
aligned technologies, businesses and
knowledge exchange represents a powerful
lever for realising a green economic recovery.
1716
20 Cambridge Policy Consultants (2020) Evidence base for a Climate Emergency Skills Action Plan
(Final Report)
21 Green Jobs for Youth: Boosting Decent Jobs for Youth, Greening the Economy
22 Scottish Government (2020) Just Transition Commission: Advice for the Green Recovery
23 Scottish Government (2020) Just Transition Commission: Advice for the Green Recovery
24 ILO (2019) Policy Brief: Persons with disabilities in a just transition to a low-carbon economy
25 SCOPE (2020). Press release, Disabled people’s COVID-19 death rate as much as 11 times higher
than non-disabled people
Age
Although more than half of 18 to 34-year olds
want a career which protects the environment,
four of the five broad areas identified as key
to a transition to net zero have workforces
with higher proportions of older workers
than Scotland’s national average
20
. Many of
the pathways into energy and manufacturing
require qualifications that are a challenge for
some young people, while action is required to
change young people’s perceptions of sectors
like agriculture and construction
21
.
Improving sector attractiveness across the
green economy should aid informed decision-
making at key junctures in a young person’s
career development. It is crucial to ensure that
young people have the appropriate guidance
and support to access skills and training
opportunities and, subsequently, have access
to the quality green jobs flowing from the
transition to net zero. Developing the Young
Workforce (DYW) groups have an important
role to play here in supporting young people,
and work experience opportunities and
Foundation Apprenticeships will also be key
in this regard. Additional support through the
Young Person’s Job Guarantee, which includes
the UK Government’s Kickstart programme,
has been recently introduced. However, as the
JTC recommends, any job guarantee scheme
‘should provide meaningful work that gives
valuable experience’ to young people
22
. Any
challenges are likely to be exacerbated by
the widespread disruption that young people
have experienced to their education due to
COVID-19, with many making the transition
to employment at a time of heightened
economic instability. Without appropriate
support to overcome these challenges, young
people could face sustained barriers to ‘good’
employment opportunities in a future net zero
economy
23
.
An ageing workforce in Scotland raises the
possibility of discrimination, with older workers
less likely to be supported through upskilling
and reskilling opportunities compared to
younger colleagues, for instance. Investing in
the skills of older workers and implementing
more flexible, inclusive workplace practices
that promote intergenerational working would
help retain experience in the workforce. This
approach would benefit younger entrants into
these sectors through additional mentoring
and upskilling support as well as contributing to
addressing the key issue of Scotland’s labour
supply.
Disability
Disabled people have a disproportionately
lower level of representation in the workplace,
and often face significant issues within the
workplace such as poor promotion prospects,
lack of support, and poor working conditions.
They are also more likely to be in part-time,
transient, and/or low-paid employment.
Alongside this, research suggests that disabled
people are “disproportionately aected by
climate change impacts”
24
. COVID-19 has also
had a profound, and often disproportionate
impact, with an increased likelihood of death
or ill health, higher numbers shielding and
being unable to work, challenges in accessing
exercise and socialising, interrupted health care,
and the exacerbation of existing health issues
25
.
The transition to a net zero economy oers
opportunities to address labour market barriers
faced by disabled people and maximise the
opportunities to capitalise on the strengths and
skills they can bring to Scotland’s workforce.
Building upon the increase in flexible home
working which has occurred in response to
COVID-19 would not only be expected to
reduce emissions from unnecessary travel, but
with the right support and equipment it could
help many disabled people gain and sustain
employment. The Scottish Government’s Fairer
17
26 Scottish Government (2018) Fairer Scotland Employment Action Plan
27 Energy and Utilities Skills Partnership (2017) Many Skills One Vision: Energy and Utilities
Workforce Renewal and Skills Strategy: 2020
28 Public Health England (2020) Beyond the Data: Understanding the Impact of COVID-19 on
BAME Groups, Scottish Government (2020) Expert Reference Group On COVID-19 And Ethnicity:
Initial Advice & Recommendations On Systemic Issues
29 Scottish Government (2017) A Fairer Scotland for All: Race Equality Action Plan and
Highlight Report 2017-2021
30 CEP (2020) A CEP COVID-19 Analysis - Jobs for a Strong and Sustainable Recovery from COVID-19,
Close the Gap (2020) Disproportionate Disruption: The Impact of COVID-19 on Women’s Labour
Market Equality, NOMIS Official Labour Market Statistics (2020) Workforce Jobs by Industry
(June 2020)
31 House of Commons (2016) Women and Equalities Committee Gender Pay Gap
18
Scotland Employment Action Plan
26
sets out
how barriers to employment which disabled
people face will be addressed, and how the
employment gap will be reduced (by at least
half) by 2038 and the transition to net zero
presents opportunities to put this into practice.
Displaced Workers
In areas of substantial labour market change
driven by the transition to net zero, some
jobs are expected to grow while others
are expected to decline. There is a need
to manage this transition for workers who
are displaced, mitigating risks and enabling
access to opportunities. There are some clear
opportunities for redeployment of labour, with
only minor upskilling or reskilling necessary.
For instance, with falling employment levels
in oil and gas, the energy sector has been
redeploying available skills in renewable energy
and the core competencies and experience in
large scale infrastructure schemes and in safety
critical environments allow a relatively smooth
transfer to renewable energy
27
. However,
redeployment will not be as straightforward
for all displaced workers. It is important to
provide targeted support to these individuals,
the communities in which these declining
industries are based, and the sections of the
population most likely to face new challenges
from structural change in employment. The
CESAP will take a proactive approach to help
meet the needs of growing sectors alongside
measures to redeploy workers from declining
sectors. Opportunities for retraining through a
National Transition Training Fund (NTTF) should
be identified for displaced workers from carbon
intensive industries, while Partnership Action
for Continuing Employment (PACE) will also
play a key role in support to individuals and
businesses.
Ethnic Minority Individuals
There is very little evidence to date on the
impact of a transition to net zero on those
from Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic (BAME)
backgrounds. However, BAME individuals are
underrepresented in four of the five sectors key
to Scotland’s transition to a net zero economy.
Additionally, Scottish Government’s Expert
Reference Group on COVID-19 and Ethnicity
has found that people from ethnic minority
groups have been disproportionately impacted
by COVID-19, with their concentration in low-
paid work, or work that cannot be done from
home, resulting in higher exposures to both
health and employment risks
28
. Scotland’s
Race Equality Framework and Action Plan
highlights the labour market, workplace, and
income inequalities faced by ethnic minority
people, and seeks to ensure that there is ‘equal,
fair and proportionate access to employment
and representation at all levels, grades and
occupation types in Scotland’s workforce’ for
the BAME population
29
. These ambitions also
apply to the transition to net zero, with the
CESAP playing an important role in ensuring
fair access to and progression as part of the
labour market opportunities flowing from
the transition. Addressing representation of
ethnic minority individuals in industries such as
energy and manufacturing not only forms part
of a just approach but would also broaden the
labour supply into these sectors in the face of
anticipated increases in demand.
Gender
Women are more likely to have lost their job
or had their hours cut due to the COVID-19
pandemic than men, but the new jobs created
by a green recovery package are likely to be
disproportionately based in male-dominated
industries, such as construction (85 per cent
men) and manufacturing (71 per cent men)
30
.
Many women face additional barriers to
accessing training opportunities as a result
of inflexible working patterns, childcare
responsibilities and their concentration in
low-paid and part-time work
31
.
1918
32 NOMIS Official Labour Market Statistics (2020) Annual Population Survey (Regional): Ethnicity
by Industry (June 2020)
33 For example, Edinburgh has set its target to 2030. See Edinburgh City Council (2020)
Our Climate Target: Net Zero by 2030
Without concerted eorts to support more
women into areas key to a net zero economy
by encouraging employers to change their
recruitment and employment practices, as well
as implement flexible working arrangements,,
the transition may reinforce or even exacerbate
labour market gender inequalities. However,
the transition also provides a prime opportunity
to address occupational segregation and, in
the process, narrow the gender pay gap. In line
with the Scottish Government’s Gender Pay
Gap Action Plan, the CESAP actions need to
take account of the gender dimension to the
transition, identifying and implementing tangible
action to support women into the green jobs
which will be central to a future net zero
economy
32
.
A Focus on Place
A place-based approach is crucial to the
eective development and implementation
of the CESAP. The distinct characteristics of
local and regional economies mean that the
transition to net zero will bring dierent local
opportunities and challenges, and therefore
variations in demand and supply of skills.
Consequently, a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach for
skills development will not work.
Scotland’s cities are aiming to be agents of
change in delivering the transition to net zero.
Achieving net zero by 2045 will require major
investment in supporting the industries of a
net zero future, such as renewable energy, to
grow and develop at a city level. It will also
require initiatives to develop supply chains
in a ‘circular economy’ focused upon more
local production, low waste and recycling.
Connectivity – between but especially
within cities – will also have to change.
The comprehensive programme of activity
identified by the Scottish Cities Alliance
(SCA) in its Transition to Net Zero Action Plan,
demonstrates the key contribution to be made
by Scotland’s cities over the short, medium
and longer term to the net zero agenda and
in turn, the requirements of cities for skills
development and re-training. Moreover,
several cities have indicated that they wish to
go further and achieve net zero ‘well before’
2045
33
.
Scotland’s rural economy, on the other hand,
is uniquely well placed to take advantage of a
net zero transition due to its natural resources,
supply chain expertise, physical infrastructure,
and early track record in the energy transition.
Many of the skillsets central to the net zero
transition already exist in the rural economy,
for instance land management and peatland
restoration. These skillsets place the rural
economy in a strong position to support this
transition and capitalise on the opportunities it
presents.
Yet the economies of cities, town and rural
areas are intrinsically linked. Cities will continue
to provide jobs, particularly high-skilled ones, to
town residents. Cities will also rely on their rural
neighbours for access to labour and to house
essential related low carbon economic activities
and industries. Rural economies, on the other
hand, will in part rely on cities to provide the
training and talent needed to take up the new
low carbon jobs established in more rural
areas. Both local and city region approaches
will therefore be critical to upskill and reskill the
workforce to benefit from the transition to net
zero.
Meaningful engagement with Highlands and
Islands Enterprise (HIE) and South of Scotland
Enterprise (SOSE), the SCA, Scottish Enterprise
(SE), Zero Waste Scotland and the Circular
Economy Skills and Education Hub (CESEH)
as well as other regional partners such as
colleges and local authorities, will be key to
continuous understanding of the distinctly local
opportunities and challenges that a net zero
transition brings.
19
34 Cambridge Policy Consultants (2020) Evidence base for a Climate Emergency Skills Action Plan
(Final Report)
35 Scottish Government (2020) Update to the Climate Change Plan 2018-2032
36 SDS (2019) Sector Skills Assessments – Energy. Note these figures underestimate the sector
which is difficult to quantify using standard datasets which continue to rely largely on
Standard Industrial Classification codes, which has no separate category for Renewables. The
classification only covers direct employment so does not consider the wider supply chain (e.g.
wind turbine manufacture).
37 National Grid (2020) Building the Net Zero Energy Workforce
38 Committee on Climate Change (2019) Net Zero Technical Report
Identifying Areas of Opportunity
Building on the CESAP evidence base
34
and
broadly aligned to Scottish Government’s
Climate Change Plan
35
, this chapter focuses
on five broad areas of economic activity
that can make a significant contribution to
achieving net zero transition, and also oer
potential opportunities for jobs growth in the
short term. These five areas reflect national
priorities and investment, within the Scottish
Programme for Government, to reduce energy
demand and GHG emissions and adapt to
climate change and include:
• energy transition (including oil and gas, on
and oshore wind, hydrogen, electricity,
carbon capture and storage)
• construction (including the retrofitting of
housing and non-residential properties)
• transport (including road transport,
railways, domestic aviation, shipping and
aircraft support vehicles)
• manufacturing (with a focus on
engineering)
• agriculture and land use management
(including forestry).
Although set out as distinct areas, there is
significant cross-over in terms of activity,
occupations and skillsets e.g. where reducing
environmental impact in one sector relies on
the action of another and where there may
be significant movement of skilled workers
between sectors.
Whilst there is still much to be done in terms
of tightening up definitions of the jobs that
are central to the transition to net zero and
sectors in which they sit, it is possible to
highlight several areas of opportunity being
created and the likely skills implications that
flow from it. Focusing on these opportunities
will ensure that Scotland has the people
necessary to take advantage of new and
emerging jobs, jobs aected by the transition,
and existing jobs needed in greater numbers
to support the transition. These opportunities
and skills implications are explored by broad
area of activity, alongside a recognition of the
importance of place in delivering net zero.
The opportunities and skills implications set
out have been built up from analysis of the
research evidence base, consultations with
expert stakeholders and engagement with
industry skills groups.
3: Opportunities and Skills Implications
Sector-based Opportunities and
Skills Implications in a Net Zero
Transition
Energy Transition (Including oil and
gas, on and offshore wind, electricity,
hydrogen and carbon capture and
storage)
The energy sector in Scotland is a major
employer and source of economic output. In
2019, the sector had an estimated 74,600 jobs
and generated over £8 billion GVA. Forecasts
for the sector suggest continued falling
employment levels of 11 per cent between
2019 – 2029 (approx. 8,000 jobs), but rising
productivity of 27 per cent over the same
period
36
. The National Grid also estimates that
the energy transition will drive the need for
almost 50,000 jobs in Scotland by 2050
37
.
Energy transition involves a shift from a
reliance on fossil fuels for power and heat to
renewable and zero emissions energy sources
including solar, wind, hydrogen, hydro and
wave power. It also includes eorts to reduce
and conserve energy use, through the design,
construction and retrofitting of buildings to
minimise energy demand and waste. The
transition to net zero will require an estimated
four-fold increase in the levels of renewable
energy deployed
38
.
2120
The energy sector is at the forefront of
the shift to a net zero economy and there
are significant opportunities for technical
innovations that enable the decarbonisation,
at scale, of high emitting sectors
39
. Over the
last decade there has been a major shift in
the consumption of electricity in Scotland,
with 76 per cent of electricity consumption
in 2018 coming from renewable sources
40
.
This has contributed to displacing fossil fuels
and in turn reduced emissions by some 12.9
million tonnes of CO2 in 2018. The Scottish
Government’s Energy Strategy, due to be
updated in Spring 2021, has the development
of smart, innovative local energy systems as a
priority and there are a number of projects for
integrated energy systems being considered
through the Low Carbon Infrastructure
Transition Programme
41
. The oil and gas
industry is a significant component of our
economy and part of our energy mix, with
Scotland’s Energy Strategy already identifying
a crucial role for the sector in the energy
transition that is required to move to an
economy and society that generates net zero
greenhouse gas emissions.
The production of sustainable hydrogen for
use in homes and industry – as well as for
export – presents a major opportunity for
Scotland. not only to support our net-zero
ambitions but to create and protect jobs and
support sustainable economic recovery and
growth. Some of this Hydrogen production
will be underpinned by Carbon Capture and
Storage and relies upon advancement in this
complementary technology.
Meanwhile, as oil and gas production in
the United Kingdom Continental Shelf
(UKCS) is expected to decline, coupled with
technological advancements, it is anticipated
there will be fewer workers required oshore,
therefore workers with transferable skills
will be available to transition to other energy
industries
42
. It is worth noting that even in the
most rapid transition scenario, oil and gas will
still provide 45% of global energy needs in
2040 and that a thriving UK supply chain will
be crucial in ensuring net-zero ambitions are
achieved. The electricity grid infrastructure
investment, which will be required to transmit
the additional renewable power will also
oer employment opportunities. Growing
investment and innovation in the energy
sector is expected to result in increased
demand for labour and skills, with rising
pressure for adapted and new skills at all
levels. While the sector’s overall share of
Scotland’s total employment is set to decline
slightly in the next decade, there will be
accelerated diversification of traditional oil
39 Scottish Government (2018) Climate Change Plan; Committee on Climate Change (2019)
Net Zero: The UK’s Contribution to Stopping Global Warming
40 See: https://www.scottishrenewables.com/our-industry/statistics
41 Scottish Government (2020) Low Carbon Infrastructure Transition Programme
42 The Oil & Gas Technology Centre (2020) Closing the Gap: Technology for a Net Zero North Sea
and gas business into wider energy and other
sectors and significant growth in renewables.
Most new roles in the sector will build on
existing skillsets from oil and gas, industrial
research, manufacturing, and civil engineering.
21
43 Energy and Utilities Skills Partnership (2017) Many Skills One Vision
44 Oil and Gas Authority (OGA). (2020) OGA unveils strategy to support net zero
45 Carbon Capture and Storage Association (2014) The economic benefits of carbon capture
and storage in UK
Skills Implications
• There is a need to better understand
and quantify the demand for skills to
support the transition to net zero in the
energy transition, particularly in relation
to timelines and timing for transferability
of skills. Sectoral research is already
underway, for example through the Energy
Skills Alliance and the Scottish Oshore
Wind Energy Council’s Skills Group, but
understanding the timing of demand
in areas such as hydrogen and carbon
capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS) will
be crucial to mitigate risks of a time lag on
demand for skills and those who become
displaced from the sector.
• The transferability of skills across
occupations and industries provides
a strong foundation for employees to
transition from high to low carbon energy
production. The re-deployment, and
where necessary re-training, of oil and gas
workers will be key to service replacement
demand over the next decade and to meet
the labour and skills needs of a growing
renewables sector.
• Short, flexible, training interventions
and transition training will aid the
redeployment of these workers particularly
in areas such as infrastructure installation
and servicing.
• Vital to renewable energy are core
competencies and experience in large
scale infrastructure schemes and in safety
critical environments, plus specific skills in
gas engineering and operations and power
grid management
43
.
• Reframing of skills and work practices
to contribute to the decarbonisation
eorts of oil and gas sector, as well as to
the renewables sector
44
. This reframing
will also be required for technical and
higher-level occupations including
instrumentation and control, design,
chemical, commissioning, civil and
electrical engineering, as well as initiatives
to support recruitment and retention of
apprentices and graduates.
• Reskilling in relatively low numbers
should meet demand for carbon storage
technicians, fuel cell technicians, and
hydrogen production researchers in line
with use of hydrogen and CCUS. This is
due to the transferability of core skills from
extractive, energy, and chemical sectors
into these emerging areas of activity
45
.
• Implications of a significant increase
in the use of hydrogen and CCUS
are still unclear, but stakeholders
expect heightened demand for labour
and technical skills in the collection,
treatment, transport and storage of waste
gas, and a need for repurposing oil and
gas platforms and engineering of pipelines.
• Discussions with stakeholders indicate a
growing demand across the sector for
data and digital skills, as well as specific
demand for data scientists and analysts.
• Stakeholders perceive the need to better
educate and communicate the wider
opportunities that the energy transition
can bring to the existing workforce.
22
Construction (including retrofitting
of housing and non-residential
properties)
The construction sector is a large employer
in Scotland, with 233,800 jobs in 2019 and an
economic output of £11.1 billion GVA. Although
the sector has experienced a recent fall in
employment levels as a result of the COVID
pandemic and faces further uncertainty in
the short-term, forecasts suggest growth
of around 10 per cent to 256,600 jobs by
2029 and a rise in output to £12.9 billion
46
.
The construction sector is also Scotland’s
biggest user of natural resources, consuming
approximately half of all resources used
annually, with construction and demolition
work also responsible for nearly half of all
Scotland’s waste annually
47
.
Improving the energy eciency of residential
and non-residential buildings is essential to
realising the net zero target and Scotland
has set out ambitious targets to improve,
design, build and retrofit residential and
commercial buildings
48
. Transforming how
we heat our buildings and make them more
energy ecient, both new and existing, will
be essential moving forward. With population
growth and increasing numbers of single
person households, it is estimated that
Scotland will need to deliver at least 28,000
new homes per year to 2035
49
.
By 2030, we need to see a reduction in
emissions from housing of around 70 per
cent and from non-domestic buildings of
around 60 per cent compared to today. This
will require significant improvement in the
energy eciency of Scotland’s building stock,
as well as rapid and accelerating roll out of
zero emissions heating technologies (such as
heat pumps, heat networks and potentially
hydrogen). While these targets provide many
opportunities, there remains a significant
challenge given the age, building type and
materials used, particularly in cities, that
can be dicult and expensive to improve.
Switching to more responsible consumption
through adopting more circular ways of
building will significantly reduce Scotland’s
emissions from the use of resources and the
waste of materials. There are also similar
opportunities and challenges in relation to
heating systems, with investment in heat
networks, hydrogen demonstration, and mass
deployment of heat pumps.
To achieve our buildings decarbonisation
targets, the sector needs to adapt building
design, construction methods and materials
for new and existing buildings, improve
thermal eciency and move to zero emissions
heating systems. Decarbonising heating
involves improvements to thermal eciency,
for example improved insulation and the use
of low carbon heating sources such as heat
pumps and heat networks. New technologies
and approaches will continue to involve as
options are explored and developed, for
example role of hydrogen in heating is being
explored. Adapting to innovation will be
central to the sector and will also drive the
need for focused upskilling.
46 SDS (2019) Sector Skills Assessment: Construction
47 Scottish Environment Protection Agency (2020). Waste from all sources: summary document
and commentary text
48 Scottish Government (2017) Energy Strategy – Scotland’s Energy Efficiency Programme (SEEP).
49 Scottish Parliament (2019) New Housing and Future Construction Skills.
23
50 Committee on Climate Change (2019) UK housing: Fit for the future?; National Federation of
Builders (2019) Transforming Construction for a Low Carbon Future
51 ECITB (2020) Skills Transferability Report
Skills Implications
• Meeting Climate Emergency targets
require radical change and transformation
at pace. There is need to address calls for
a ‘step-change’ from the Climate Change
Committee (CCC) in the development of
low carbon skills in construction
50
.
• There is an anticipated increased
demand for professional level skills for
jobs in planning, design, surveying and
management and the deployment of
nature-based solutions.
• Embedding of the Energy Eciency
Skills Matrix that sets out requirements
for installers, designers and retrofit
coordinators that links with MCS, PAS 2030
and PAS 2035 standards. The college
network is currently developing additional
provision to meet anticipated demand for
upskilling.
• There will be a requirement for the
development of specialist knowledge
and skills round retrofit, zero emissions
heating systems and heat networks for
professional, technical and craft roles,
as well as data and smart systems skills
for delivering energy management in
buildings services.
• Upskilling of existing roles and adaption
of training will be needed across new
build and retrofit to embed best practice
and ensure performance gaps are
addressed.
• Growing demand for a wide range of
Digital Construction skills including
increased adoption of Building
Information Modelling (BIM) systems.
• Leadership skills to support cultural
change and change management as new
technologies, behaviours and systems will
need embedded.
• There is a need to demonstrate
competence and recognise adaptability
and transferability of skills across the
sector, for instance through a ‘skills
passport’ scheme
51
.
• There is an ageing workforce with a third
of construction workers aged 50+, and an
estimated 50,000 construction workers
retiring by 2029.
The sector faces labour shortages with an
estimated need for 79,100 construction
workers by 2029. For many of these roles the
main entry route is through apprenticeships,
some of which take four years. Sucient
employment opportunities are essential to
support this entry route. These shortages will
likely be exacerbated by Brexit through a
combination of sector growth and the return
migration of EU workers.
24
52 SDS (2019) Sector Skills Assessment – Engineering
53 Scottish Government (2018) Climate Change Plan: Third Report on Proposals and
Policies 2018 – 32
Manufacturing (with a focus on
engineering)
Manufacturing largely sits within the
engineering sector in Scotland, which is a
major employer and a key stakeholder in
delivering the net zero target. Engineering
accounts for 159,100 jobs, an economic output
of £9.8 billion and is an important contributor
to international trade
52
. The engineering
sector is expected to make a significant
contribution towards the transition to net zero,
with the Scottish Government planning a fall
of 21 per cent in industrial emissions between
2018 and 2032
53
.
Change for the sector will come with the
introduction of technological innovations
that reduce waste and improve the capture
of emissions, and through lowering energy
loss in manufacturing processes. As
countries across the world begin to institute
more stringent legislative requirements to
encourage the consumption of low-carbon
goods and to improve the management
of resources, opportunities for Scottish
manufacturing lie in both the design and
production of goods for the environmental
market and responding to the wider consumer
demands for such products in Scotland and
abroad.
The drive towards net zero coincides
with longer-term structural changes in
manufacturing that have resulted in falling
employment levels but rises in productivity
and demand for higher-level skills. The
introduction of automated manufacturing
processes aligns with the use of technology
to reduce emissions, waste, and the
management of energy use.
25
54 NIMS (2020) Continuous Professional Development
Skills Implications
• Rising demand for intermediate
and higher-level skills, managerial,
professional, and technical roles,
associated with a focus on energy
eciency and low carbon.
• Data and digital skills to become central
to more automated manufacturing
processes, requiring work-based upskilling
and reskilling of the existing workforce.
• Increased need for design, analytical
and technical skills in new manufacturing
processes (eco-design) and
remanufacturing processes to support
the circular economy, as well as quality
controllers, with an emphasis on
dismantling products, testing component
parts and restoring products to a ‘good-
as-new’ status.
• Resilience and adaptability in the face
of technological change will be crucial
for manufacturing to make the most of
opportunities flowing from the net zero
transition. Upskilling will be key, with
most of the core skillsets required for the
transition already present in the workforce.
• However, upskilling initiatives must be
accessible to SMEs, who make up 97
per cent of manufacturing businesses in
Scotland.
• Sustainable engineering and
manufacturing processes should be
embedded as a core skillset in further
and higher education engineering
curriculums and Scottish Apprenticeships
to instil the fundamental principles of
sustainability in entrants to the sector and
communicate its importance to the future
net zero economy.
• The National Manufacturing Institute
Scotland (NMIS) will support businesses to
define their skills needs and support the
transition to net zero, as well as providing
training and professional development
courses to help both managers and
technical sta to understand the
implications and applications of advanced
manufacturing. A Manufacturing Skills
Academy will be established to develop
a catalogue of advanced manufacturing
modules. This will support skills
development and help drive eciency
and productivity across manufacturing and
other industrial sectors
54
.
2726
55 ONS (2018) Business Register and Employment Survey
56 BEIS (2020) 2018 UK Greenhouse Gas Emissions
57 Scottish Government (2020) National Transport Strategy
58 Scottish Government (2018) Climate Change Plan: Third Report on Proposals and
Policies 2018 – 32
59 Scottish Government (2020) National Transport Strategy
Transport (including road transport,
railways, domestic aviation, shipping
and aircraft support vehicles)
The transport sector employs around 109,000
people. Over the last decade, employment
levels in transport have risen marginally
in tandem with a movement towards low
emission vehicles as part of the commitment
to reducing environmental impact
55
.
Transport is the highest emitter of GHG,
responsible for approximately 28 per cent of
UK GHG emissions in 2018
56
. Figures indicate
that emissions from Heavy Duty Vehicles
(HDV) are set to rise over the coming years
57
.
The Scottish Government has prioritised
reducing the environmental impact of
transport, setting a target to lower emissions
by 37 per cent in the sector between 2018
and 2032
58
. Ambitions for transport, such as
those to replace petrol and diesel vehicles
with electric vehicles, rely on a large-scale
change in the behaviours of businesses
and households and major investment
in infrastructure. Similarly, there are also
ambitions to decarbonise passenger railways
and domestic flights, and to develop and use
renewable fuel for ferries and shipping
59
.
With significant opportunity for technical
innovation, design of low carbon transport
products and an international market for
knowledge and expertise, decarbonising
transport has the potential to contribute
substantially to economic growth especially
in the areas of batteries, hydrogen for
transport and zero emissions rail. With
these opportunities come a range of skills
implications for transport as part of the
transition to net zero.
27
60 Optimat (2020) Ultra-Low Emission Vehicle Skills Baselining Study. Report for Transport
Scotland and Skills Development Scotland
61 UK Government (2010) Department of Energy and Climate Change: Meeting the Low Carbon
Skills Challenge
62 DoT (2016) Transport Infrastructure Skills Strategy
Skills Implications
• Supporting ultra-low emission vehicles
(ULEV) uptake may require over
65,000 people to undertake training
in maintenance, installation and sales,
as well as the emergency and roadside
assistance, and repair of vehicles and
network points in order to provide
full coverage of skills needed for the
expansion of hybrid and electric vehicle
use and their networks in Scotland
60
.
• This will drive demand for short training
courses to reskill electricians and
mechanics.
• A key requirement of eorts to reduce
emissions from HDVs is to baseline the
skills in Scotland required to transition
from traditional fossil-fuel based engines
to low carbon HDVs. The baselining
exercise will inform our understanding
of the extent to which Scotland has,
or is developing, the skills necessary
to support the transition to low carbon
HDVs.
• Railway electrification and the
introduction of new technologies will
stimulate demand in both professional
and technical roles including electrical
engineers, hybrid technology engineers,
sensor technicians and rail technicians
with expertise in signalling and control
systems.
• Investment in eco-driving skills has the
potential to save £300 million in fuel
costs and 3 million tonnes of emissions
over a 5-year period across the UK
61
.
• Stakeholders view that sector
attractiveness must be improved for
young and new entrants, so enhancing
careers information and providing clearer
pathways into careers in sustainable
transport are key challenges
62
.
2928
Agriculture and Land Use
Agriculture and land use make a dual
contribution to the net zero target. The
sector has the opportunity to reduce GHG
emissions from agriculture, while also
increasing the levels of carbon dioxide bring
absorbed through peatland restoration. Sector
measures can help to enhance and protect
biodiversity, as well as contributing towards
flood mitigation and climate adaptation.
Agriculture and land use are therefore vitally
important to Scotland’s net zero targets.
Taking a broader sector definition of food and
drink that includes crop and animal production
and fishing with value chain manufacture of
food and beverages, the sector employed
an estimated 94,800 in 2019 and generates
economic output of £5.9 billion (GVA)
63
. The
sector is forecast to experience falling levels
of employment, some 5 per cent (4,600 jobs)
by 2029, but rising levels of productivity of 17
per cent over the same period.
Scotland’s agricultural and related land use
represent the second largest source of net
emissions after transport, although forestry
makes a net contribution to reducing carbon
emissions
64
. The Climate Change Plan
update sets a target of 24 per cent emissions
reduction from agriculture over 2020-2032
and sets a target to increase annual woodland
creation to 18,000 hectares a year by 2024
and to restore 250,000 hectares of degraded
peatlands by 2030
65
. Across the land use
sector, awareness of the importance of the
climate emergency to agriculture and land
management is growing. The establishment
of an independent inquiry of farming and
climate change, known as Farming for 1.5
degree (jointly set up by the NFUS and
Nourish Scotland), as well as the Advisory
Panel to drive the National Farmers’ Union
(NFU) response, demonstrates commitment
to being an industry leader in tackling climate
change. This will support NFU Scotland in
its work to ensure that Scottish agriculture
can remain vibrant, profitable and productive
while delivering benefits for the climate and
biodiversity.
These targets underline the need for a
transformation in agricultural and land use
practices, which the CCC estimates needs
a fifth of UK agricultural land to shift to
alternative uses that support emissions
reduction, including low carbon farming
opportunities in schools, aorestation,
biomass production and peatland
restoration
66
. The generation of green energy
to replace fossil fuels, potentially producing
additional energy for sale back into the grid,
creates additional income avenues for farms.
These opportunities as part of the transition,
however, also provide challenges around
the management of livestock and boosting
renewable energy production and use,
including bioenergy
67
.
63 SDS (2019) Sector Skills Assessment – Food and Drink
64 Scottish Government (2019) Scottish Greenhouse Gas Emissions 2017
65 Scottish Government (2020) - Climate Change Plan: Update
66 Committee on Climate Change (2019) Net Zero: The UK’s Contribution to Stopping
Global Warming
67 National Farmers Union (2019) Achieving Net Zero: Farming’s 2040 Goal
29
Skills Implications
• Structural change is being driven by the
pursuit of sustainable agricultural practices
and rising levels of manufacturing
technology introduced into food
production
68
. This change is reflected in
demand for higher-level skills in business
and commercial management to respond
to changing markets
69
, as well as in
current skills shortages of engineers,
food scientists/technologists and, at an
intermediate level, dairy farmers.
• Managing change to low carbon and
regenerative farming will require
important management and technical
competences. Farmers and agricultural
managers need the skills to undertake
or commission technical tasks required
to reduce emissions. This will create
additional demand at intermediate
level requiring updated level 3 and 4
qualifications.
• Precision farming aligned to changes
in equipment and machinery will see an
increasing demand for digital skills and
ongoing professional development.
• Stakeholder engagements indicate
that upskilling and reskilling the
workforce to address the challenges and
opportunities presented regionally by
the transition to net zero will be critical,
which is a challenge in a sector that
that is predominantly made up of micro-
businesses.
• An ageing and heavily male-dominated
workforce in agriculture and land use
requires the replacement of retiring
older workers alongside increasing the
attractiveness of the sector to a broader
demographic, with some 45.1 per cent
of workers in agriculture and fishing over
the age of 50 years – significantly higher
than the average for all of Scotland (33 per
cent).
• Raising Awareness of GHG emissions and
the skills required for their reduction is
vitally important to ensure a sector wide
contribution to the net-zero target. Such
a ‘culture change’ in Scottish agriculture
will form part of a ‘transformation pathway’
through which the sector can support
the transition to net zero, as outlined by
the independent inquiry on farming and
climate change in Scotland
70
.
• Changing demand and an ageing
workforce heighten the need to refresh
careers information and pathways
into the sector which reflect both future
technical requirements and the scope
for the sector to contribute significantly
towards addressing climate change. This
is particularly important in the context of
a sector with fewer formal qualification
pathways and upskilling opportunities.
68 SDS (2019) Sector Skills Assessment – Food and Drink
69 Scottish Government (2018) A Future for Scottish Agriculture
70 Independent Inquiry on Farming and Climate Change in Scotland (2020) Farming for 1.5:
A Transformation Pathway
3130
71 UK Government (2020) UK local authority and regional carbon dioxide emissions national
statistics: 2005 to 2018
Place-based Opportunities,
Challenges and Skills in a Net Zero
Transition
A focus on place will be important to
supporting a just transition to a net zero
economy for all of Scotland’s communities.
Each city, town and rural area faces a range
of dierent skills challenges and has a
dierent combination of assets with which to
respond to the opportunities presented by
the transition to net zero. This underlines the
clear benefit in strengthening linkages and
networks across Scotland to allow for the
sharing of learning and best practice across
businesses, individuals, and place-based
organisations.
Urban Areas
• The majority of Scotland’s GHG emissions
come from our urban local authorities
where most people, housing, transport
and vehicles, and business facilities are
located
71
. For urban areas, the transition
to net zero presents a combination of
opportunities and challenges, particularly
in relation to addressing the issues of
transport, the built environment, the
generation and distribution of power and
the disposal of waste.
• Advice for businesses and households
to improve resource eciency, reduce
energy costs and develop more
sustainable business practices - whilst
perhaps a more indirect approach - will,
over time, help to deliver the step-change
in behaviours that are required.
• The most significant challenge in
terms of tackling transport emissions
comes from the most urbanised areas,
with the Scottish Government Climate
Emergency Response Group (CERG)
asking each of Scotland’s city centres to
be vehicle emission free by 2030. The
work of organisations including the SCA,
Scotland’s Towns Partnership (STP), and
Scotland’s Regeneration Forum (SURF)
mean that Scotland’s urban areas are
well-positioned to mitigate challenges and
capitalise upon opportunities stemming
from the net-zero transition. The SCA has
set out key developments required to
support the transition to net zero, including
growth in low-carbon heating, non-
domestic energy eciency and low carbon
power generation in city assets, transport,
and waste. These align closely to the
CESAP and will help to deliver a cohesive
place-based approach.
• Scotland’s urban areas have an enviable
skills base, trusted institutions, strong
infrastructure, and an increasing sense
of ‘place’ in which it is attractive to live
in. The majority of Scotland’s universities
and colleges are in urban settings,
especially in cities and are the major
source of graduates with the potential to
contribute significantly to the transition
to net zero if they can be retained by the
mix of employment, social and leisure
opportunities on oer.
• This will be particularly important because
Scotland’s cities are not immune from the
implications of Brexit. Net migration to
Scotland has meant an inflow of skills and
working age migrants in Scottish cities in
recent years.
31
Rural Areas
• The rural economy is poised to play an
important role in the transition to net zero.
• In rural areas of Scotland, recent years
have seen a significant diversification
of the ‘rural economy’, building on
traditional land-based sectors to
encompass a broader range of activity,
including tourism, food and drink, the
creative industries, aquaculture and
marine, and importantly, energy and
renewables. The Skills Action Plan for
Rural Scotland
72
sets out the key issues
and priority actions to ensure that
employers have access to the skilled
workforce that they need and that
individuals can maximise the opportunities
in their locality.
• Scotland’s rural areas help counter
national GHG emissions and can make a
significant impact through the planting
of trees, peatland restoration, and the
generation and adoption of renewable
energy.
• There are also likely to be opportunities
in rural areas in terms of agricultural
diversification, the expansion of on and o-
shore renewables, food and drink
through an increased demand for local
food, eco-tourism, nature based solutions
to flood risk and coastal management,
low carbon transport driven by innovative
local solutions and construction through
zero carbon construction projects and
the installation of renewable energy and
insulation products.
• There will also be opportunities flowing
from biomass and biofuels usage,
from improved woodland creation
and management, encouraging the
development of renewable energy and
developing the supporting infrastructure to
facilitate this.
• Emerging research commissioned by
NatureScot highlights challenges around
skills development across various land-
based sectors; recruitment diculties
faced within forestry, challenges
associated with a declining working age
population in areas where nature-based
jobs oer significant opportunities and a
reliance upon migrant labour likely to be
adversely impacted by both COVID-19 and
a post-Brexit UK immigration system.
• Whilst rural areas provide a smaller volume
of graduates than their urban counterparts,
rural universities and colleges across
rural Scotland have a central role to play
in their localities and many producing
graduates with a range of specialist
skills to support the transition to net zero
that will enable individuals to secure
emerging opportunities, for example, in
environmental management.
72 SDS (2019). Skills Action Plan for Rural Scotland
3332
Shaping Skills Priorities
This chapter has presented the unique
contexts of the sectors which are key to
supporting the transition to a net zero
economy and the distinct, but frequently
overlapping, opportunities and challenges.
This analysis provides useful insight, but
collaborative and sustained action is required
to further understand the skills needed to
support Scotland’s transition to net zero. This
provides a basis on which to take immediate
action to support the development of our
current and future workforces, and this greater
understanding will sustain targeted, evidence-
based programmes and interventions in the
months and years to come.
While many will benefit from the transition,
there is a need to manage the transition for
those workers and communities likely to face
challenges to accessing the opportunities. It is
more important than ever that Scotland’s skills
system is agile and responsive to changes in
demand flowing from the ongoing transition
to net zero. Collaboration with partners from
across the enterprise and skills system will
ensure that we can eciently and eectively
respond to the needs of businesses,
individuals, and communities across Scotland.
Chapter 3 has laid the foundations for
action and work is already underway across
Scotland’s sectors and regions to mitigate
the challenges and capitalise upon the
opportunities presented here. Chapter 4
identifies the priority areas for skills actions,
setting out some of the current activity
associated with a transition to net zero and
highlighting the areas for future focus.
33
Identifying Areas of Opportunity
Developing Scotland’s skills base and
capitalising on the job opportunities
flowing from the transition to net zero for
all of Scotland’s individuals, employers and
communities will be key to achieving a just
transition. The CESAP focuses specifically
on skills related activity that will need to
be undertaken by individuals, employers,
education and the skills system to maximise
the benefits from the transition to net-zero.
Development of the plan has been mindful of
the following:
• The transition to net zero will take place
over the next 25 years, but there is also a
compelling need to act now. The CESAP
focuses on both immediate action as well
as the longer-term systemic change that
will need to take place by 2045. Building
on the lessons of the National Transition
Training Fund established in response to
COVID, we will establish a Green Jobs
Workforce Academy. The Academy will
support existing employees, and those
who are facing redundancy, to assess their
existing skills and undertake the necessary
upskilling and reskilling they need to
secure green job opportunities as they
emerge.
• The scale and pace of change needed
across all sectors will demand a significant
realignment of our investment in
education, training and work-based
learning towards green jobs. We will
commission SDS and SFC, through their
joint Skills Alignment Team, to ensure that
that our annual investment in skills through
work-based learning, further and higher
education and upskilling and reskilling
is fully aligned behind our economic
ambitions for a net-zero transition. We will
also establish a Green Jobs Skills Hub
that will cascade intelligence into the
skills system on the numbers and types
of green jobs that will be needed over the
next 25 years.
• The transition to net zero will require
behaviour change by both employers and
individuals. The CESAP takes a broader
view than traditional approaches to skills
investment planning and considers the
wider educational changes that will need
to take place across society and the public,
private and third sectors. The Green
Jobs Skills Hub will play a central role in
raising awareness amongst employers
and individuals of the need for behaviour
change, and support them to take action
to drive behaviour change and develop the
leadership and management skills that will
be required for a net zero future.
4: Priority Areas for Skills Action to Support the Transition to Net Zero
• Key to our transition to net zero is a ‘Just
Transition’ that ensures that everyone
benefits from new opportunities. It will be
important to mitigate potential risks and
provide targeted support to communities
and parts of the population who are most
likely to lose out from structural changes
in employment. This will be particularly
important in areas where jobs are
declining, and where there are growing
levels of insecure work. Our investment in
the Green Jobs Workforce Academy will,
alongside targeted activity to address
labour market inequalities, play a key role
in supporting a Just Transition.
• The skills investment required to support
the transition to net zero will be driven
by the wider change and investment
that will take place in the economy.
The stimulation of that demand will be
driven by employers, by National and
Local Government and by the Enterprise
agencies. The CESAP complements the
demand created in the Programme for
Government 2020/21 and Climate Change
Update Plan. We will establish a Climate
Emergency Economic & Investment
Leadership Group to provide leadership,
oversight & drive the alignment of skills
investment with our national economic
ambition.
3534
Priority Area 1: Supporting a
green labour market recovery from
COVID-19
The Programme for Government 2020/21,
delivered in the context of COVID-19, set out
a ‘national mission to help create new jobs,
good jobs and green jobs’ to set Scotland
on the pathway to a green recovery. This
was supported by a significant programme
of investment to drive demand in key net
zero markets that can create and sustain
green jobs, and many sectors are developing
recovery plans with clear links to a green
recovery, for example, the Manufacturing
Recovery Plan.
The impact of the pandemic has played
out dierently across dierent regions and
a place-based response will be critical to
prevent spatial inequality from deepening.
Targeted support will also be required for
dierent groups within the labour market
including workers that that have been made
redundant, workers at risk of losing their jobs,
workers that need upskilling in their current
organisation, workers in low skilled, low paid
jobs, new labour market entrants and the
unemployed who are seeking work.
This priority area identifies the collective
action that will be taken to support a green
labour market recovery and capitalise on this
demand, including:
• targeted investment to support the
creation of jobs in sectors central to the
transition to net zero
• providing support to those facing
redundancy in sectors facing job losses
• ensuring there are collective regional
responses to the labour market challenges
– and opportunities – as a result of the
COVID-19 pandemic.
Analysis of the evidence base and the skills
implications for each of the sectors key to the
transition to net zero, set out in Chapter 3 of
this report, and work with the CESAP Expert
Group, has identified six priority areas for
action, each with a skills focus:
1. Supporting a green labour market
recovery from COVID-19
2. Building better understanding and
evidence of future skills needs to support
Scotland’s transition to net zero
3. Developing the future workforce for the
transition to net zero
4. Driving awareness and action to support
reskilling and upskilling for the transition
to net zero
5. Ensuring fairness and inclusion in the
skills system as part of a just transition to
net zero
6. Taking a collaborative approach to ensure
a skills system responsive to changing
demands.
35
Priority Area 1: Supporting a green labour market recovery from COVID-19
Skills Action Areas Current activity Future focus Lead (and partners) Timescale
Target investment to
support the creation of jobs
in sectors central to the
transition to net zero
Programme for Government set out £1.6 billion
capital investment over the next Parliament to drive
demand in key net zero markets such as buildings,
transport, natural environment and industry
Funding also included £100 million Green Jobs Fund
to help businesses create new, green jobs
Access to these good, green jobs will be supported by
recovery skills programmes including the National
Transition Training Fund, Young Person’s Guarantee,
Fair Start Scotland and No One Left Behind
The Climate Change Plan Update sets out a route
map to meet the climate change targets over the
coming decade. This will drive the timing of further
opportunities for green job development
This includes further investments from the Low Carbon
Fund for transformational net zero projects over the next
five years
The Scottish Government will also publish a Capital
Investment Plan next year focussed on mobilising more
capital investment in Scotland as well as delivering
the Inward Investment Plan’s focus on attracting
investment into the energy transition and low carbon
transportation amongst other areas of Scotland’s
strengths
Scottish Government
(Enterprise Agencies,
Industry, Skills, Standards
and Qualification Bodies,
Colleges, Local Authorities,
Third Sector, Zero Waste
Scotland, NatureScot)
Immediate/Ongoing
Provide support to those
facing redundancy and
displacement
Supporting workers facing the prospect of
displacement through access to impartial PACE
advisers who can help them recognise their skills and
redeployment options
Enhance the PACE offering with digital upskilling to help
minimise displacement of workers, building on existing
resources to develop data and digital skills modules
which can be integrated into existing skills support
SDS, PACE Groups, Local
Authorities
Immediate/Ongoing
Safeguard apprentices against displacement through
the Young Persons Guarantee, which includes the
Adopt an Apprentice programme and local partner
support, helping Modern and Graduate Apprentices
who are facing redundancy get back into work
The Apprentice Transition Plan helps redundant
apprentices to complete their apprenticeship, gain
certification and identify any training needs to allow
them to continue their career journey
Continue to support apprentices through Adopt
an Apprentice and local authorities to allow them
to complete their apprenticeship and consider
opportunities to transition into green jobs
SDS, Local Authorities Immediate/Ongoing
3736
Priority Area 1: Supporting a green labour market recovery from COVID-19
Skills Action Areas Current activity Future focus Lead (and partners) Timescale
Ensure collective regional
responses to support the
green recovery
Undertaken a programme of collaborative work
with colleges to develop a coherent skills response
to COVID-19, including the identification of
opportunities for a green recovery in their regions
The Scottish Cities Alliance partners have recently
approved a Transition to Net Zero Carbon Action Plan.
The Action Plan was co-designed by the 7 Scottish
cities, Scottish Government and national agencies
and sets out how they will work collaboratively to
ensure the Scottish cities cumulatively play their part
in meeting the 2045 carbon reduction targets whilst
maximising economic and well-being outcomes
across the cities
Work with partners across Regional Economic Part-
nerships to support regional opportunities to address
a green recovery from a skills perspective, e.g. Halo
Kilmarnock
To support the delivery of priority activity in the
Transition to Net Zero Carbon Action Plan the Scottish
cities will work closely with the Scottish Government
and national agencies over the next period to develop an
investment and funding strategy which underpins the
Action Plan
SDS, SFC, Regional Colleges,
Local Authorities (and their
local partners including the
third sector), and Regional
Economic Partnerships
Scottish Cities Alliance
partners/national agencies
Immediate/Ongoing
Immediate/Ongoing
37
Priority Area 2: Building better
understanding and evidence of future
skills needs to support Scotland’s
transition to net zero
The transition to a net zero economy will have
fundamental implications for skills demand
over the next 25 years and it will be essential
to have a robust and trusted evidence base on
which to guide future action and to ensure the
skills system across Scotland can respond to
changing demand.
SDS and SFC already work closely with
industry and employer bodies to gather a wide
range of evidence on skills needs and future
labour market demand, as well as gathering
data on skills provision and outcomes.
To ensure that the skills system responds in an
eective and timely way to the opportunities
presented by net zero, greater collaboration
and information sharing will be key.
This priority area identifies the key actions
which will ensure that current and future skills
investment in support of net zero is strongly
evidence based, including:
• strengthening the evidence base on cur-
rent and future demand for skills for net
zero
• clearly articulating emerging skills needs to
the skills system through the creation of a
Green Jobs Skills Hub
• understanding current skills provision to
support the transition to net zero across
education, training and work-based learn-
ing
• understanding the supply of people with
skills to support the transition to net zero.
3938
Priority Area 2: Building better understanding and evidence of future skills needs to support Scotland’s transition to net zero
Skills Action Areas Current activity Future focus Lead (and partners) Timescale
Strengthening the evidence
base on the current and
future demand for skills to
support the transition to net
zero
Communicating and
articulating evidence on
changing skills requirements
to employers, skills providers
and educational institutions
The Evidence Base for a CESAP
73
sets out broad skills
demand across the sectors critical to a net-zero
transition, whilst highlighting the challenges of
definitions and the need for a just transition
A portfolio of evidence base work is currently
underway to better understand the nature and scale
of wider interrelated skills challenges and serve as
preparation for more specific propositions for delivery
including:
• High level skills provision mapping
• Research on the role of meta skills in shaping
a green recovery
• Focussed research on digital and data skills
• Focussed research on construction
The Circular Economy Skills and Education
Hub influences the skills policy agenda, to
provide thought leadership and opportunities
for collaboration around CE skills, learning and
education and to provide tangible resources to enable
Scotland to maximise the opportunities presented by
the transition towards a Circular Economy
Ongoing research and analysis to keep pace in a fast-
moving operating environment including
• a six monthly Labour Market and Skills Assessment
to support the transition to net zero
• better understanding of the financial investment in
net zero economic activity, the financial investment
in green skills and its return in terms of new jobs
Establish a Green Jobs Skills Hub to provide leadership,
influence and guidance in developing the required
knowledge, skills, standards, behaviours, attitudes and
education to support the transition to net zero by
• articulating to training and education providers the
evidence and research base that should inform skills
and education requirements
• providing a consistent and collaborative approach to
implementing skills change nationally across
existing platforms and linking to wider initiatives,
• demonstrating and stimulating demand for the
required skills through business service delivery
SDS
SDS, Zero Waste Scotland
From April 2021
June 2021
Developed a working definition of green jobs as a
framework to understand employer skills demands
in terms of
• new and emerging jobs that relate directly to the
transition to net zero
• jobs affected by the transition to net zero that will
need enhanced skills or competencies
• existing jobs that will be needed in greater
numbers as the result of the transition to net zero
Use the established classification of green jobs
to estimate the number and change over time by
occupation to support the transition to net zero and
assess against identified sectoral opportunities in across
Scotland and its regions
74
SDS
(Strathclyde University.
Institute of Employment
University of Warwick)
Spring 2021
73 Cambridge Policy Consultants (2020) Evidence base for a Climate Emergency
Skills Action Plan (Final Report)
74 Dierdorff, E; Norton, J ; Drewes, D; Kroustalis, C; Rivken, D; Lewis, P. (2009). Greening of the
World of Work: Implications for O*NET®-SOC and New and Emerging Occupations
39
Priority Area 2: Building better understanding and evidence of future skills needs to support Scotland’s transition to net zero
Skills Action Areas Current activity Future focus Lead (and partners) Timescale
Understanding current skills
provision to support the
transition to net zero
Initial mapping of skills provision across colleges,
universities and Scottish apprenticeships underway
due to report January 2021
Undertake gap analysis to identify and agree areas
for better alignment to opportunities to support both
education and work-based learning
SDS, SFC
(Industry/Sector Skills
Groups, Regional Colleges)
March 2022
Understanding current
supply of people and skills
available to support the
transition to net zero
Drawn on the Sector Skills Investment Plans and
Action Plans across sectors central to net-zero
transition (oil and gas, energy, food and drink,
engineering, construction and forestry) and engaged
with existing sector skills groups to inform the CESAP
Drawn on wider sectoral and sub-sectoral research
including:
• Transport Scotland project to baseline the skills
requirement for decarbonisation of the supply and
operation of zero emission vehicles.
• the skills planning work of the Scottish Offshore
Wind Energy Council (SOWEC) Skills Group
• work around Peatland Restoration
Develop a cross-sectoral approach to skills planning as
number of sectors in the drive to net-zero (and beyond)
are seeking the same skills set increasing competition
for the supply of skilled labour
Gather data disaggregated by age, disability, ethnicity,
and gender for all programmes developed as part of the
action plan to ensure effective evaluation of outcomes
for these respective groups
SDS
(Industry/Sector Skills
Groups, Sector bodies)
Industry/Sector Skills
Groups
Immediate/Ongoing
Immediate/Ongoing
Immediate/Ongoing
4140
Priority Area 3: Developing the future
workforce for the transition to net
zero
Ensuring the supply of a skilled workforce to
deliver the transition to net zero and support a
thriving net zero economy in future will need
to be a whole system eort, involving work-
based learning, further and higher education
and research and innovation. It will require
action from national agencies, colleges and
universities, private and third sector skills
providers and employer and professional
bodies.
This priority area sets out the collective action
to be taken to align provision behind the
needs of the net zero transition and develop
the future pipeline of talent to support the
transition to net zero. This involves a range
of activity that should create greater agility
and flexibility in the skills system to respond
to opportunities in Scotland’s sectors and
regions as they emerge, including:
• the establishment of a Green Jobs
Workforce Academy
• commissioning the Joint Skills Alignment
Team of SDS/SFC to ensure alignment with
the green economic ambitions set out in
the CESAP
• developing new work-based learning
pathways to capitalise on net-zero
opportunities and maximising the uptake
of apprenticeships in green jobs
• aligning education and training
opportunities in schools, colleges and
universities to net-zero opportunities and
maximising their uptake
• building capacity for research and
innovation to support the transition to
net zero.
41
Priority Area 3: Developing the future workforce for the transition to net zero
Skills Action Areas Current activity Future focus Lead (and partners) Timescale
Establishing a Green Jobs
Workforce Academy
Delivering NTTF, ITA, FWDF to support immediate
retraining so people can access green jobs as part of
a green recovery
Learning from these programmes to develop the
evidence base of what’s needed in the longer term
to support the scale and breadth of retraining and
reskilling across the workforce for the net zero
economy (this will also be informed by Green Jobs
Skills Hub)
Design and delivery of a national, long term programme
to support the retraining and upskilling needed for the
transition to net zero with a focus on:
• Green Integrated Careers and Skills Assessments
enabling individuals to draw on digital and
appropriate face-to-face support. This will help them
to understand their individual technical and meta
skills and access appropriate skills pathways and
relevant green opportunities
• access to short, sharp industry certified course
provision aligned to economic investment
• the development of a Skills Wallet providing access
to targeted funding to individuals not in
employment, those in low paid or insecure jobs and
those in higher level jobs with the potential to
progress. This will support skills development and
progression to meet the demands of green jobs in
line with opportunities as they come on stream
Develop targeted and co-designed upskilling and
reskilling measures informed by evidence on the pre-
existing barriers to training and development faced
by BAME communities, disabled workers, women, and
young people
SDS
SDS
(Equalities Organisations,
employers)
September 2021
Immediate/Ongoing
Ensuring that the annual
skills investment in
apprenticeships, FE/HE;
upskilling and reskilling is
fully aligned to opportunities
to support the transition to
net zero
SDS and the SFC are working on a programme of
skills alignment to match skills provision with the
needs of learners, employers, and industry to drive
sustainable and inclusive growth
The Joint Skills Alignment Team across SDS/SFC
commissioned to ensure alignment with the green
economic ambitions as set out in the CESAP
SDS, SFC Immediate/Ongoing
4342
Priority Area 3: Developing the future workforce for the transition to net zero
Skills Action Areas Current activity Future focus Lead (and partners) Timescale
Aligning the work-based
learning opportunities
available to support the
transition to net zero
New pathways to support entrants into their sectors,
and amending existing frameworks:
• pilot Foundation Apprenticeship (FA) in
Digital Manufacturing
• Energy Skills Alliance developing an “All Energy”
Apprenticeship
• Lantra Scotland currently exploring the
opportunities for land-based businesses
to become more involved with Foundation
Apprenticeships
Support further development of Foundation and
Graduate Apprenticeships to respond to industry
demand in new areas, e.g. environmental construction
and carbon management
Explore the development of innovative pathways to
support those wanting to secure ‘green’ careers, e.g.:
• assess the potential for the roll out of Fast Track work
readiness courses to support the development of
skills needed for the transition to net zero
• pilot and evaluate new models of apprenticeship
delivery in sectors central to the transition to net
zero taking into consideration the barriers to
participation identified by SMEs and
microbusinesses
SDS
(Industry/Sector Skills
Groups, SQA, Zero Waste
Scotland and Industry)
SDS
From March 2022 (re-
contracting for 2021/22
complete)
From April 2021
Work is already underway to update National
Occupational Standards (NOS) and apprenticeship
frameworks central to the supporting the transition to
include mandatory net zero elements
NOS managing agent, SDS, works with the three
devolved administrations on a list of priorities.
Embed green skills into apprenticeship frameworks
where it is relevant to the function of the role via
Technical Expert Groups’ design and review processes
Ensure that all new frameworks of relevance include
mandatory elements to support the transition to net
zero
SDS
(Industry/Sector Skills
Groups, SQA) Skills,
Standards and Qualification
Bodies NatureScot
Immediate/Ongoing
Aligning the education
and training opportunities
in schools, to support the
transition to net zero
Significant work has been undertaken in schools to
deliver climate education
Promotion of programmes such as Young Enterprise
Scotland’s Circular Economy Challenge, and Primary
Engineers STATWARS® Climate Change Challenge
to strengthen Learning for Sustainability, this has
enabled school pupils from all backgrounds to
develop skills in a real-life context, giving them an
introduction to, and understanding of, business,
design and technology relevant to green jobs and the
circular economy
Utilising Developing the Young Workforce Regional
Groups and School Co-ordinators to embed green
skills in schools.
Climate education and an understanding of natural
capital needs to form an integral part of all education
and skills training and work-based learning through
continued commitment to outdoor learning as a key
part of Learning for Sustainability
Draw on evidence from evaluation and regional activity
to identify and share effective good practice in relation
to Learning for Sustainability
Explore the wider roll-out to schools of the Climate
Solutions Accelerator Certificate, a one module overview
of the Climate Solutions Certificate
Ensure that natural capital and circular economy
considerations are recognised as core skills across all
disciplines
Education Scotland, Keep
Scotland Beautiful, Scottish
Forum on Natural Capital,
Zero Waste Scotland,
Regional Colleges and
Universities
Immediate/Ongoing
43
Priority Area 3: Developing the future workforce for the transition to net zero
Skills Action Areas Current activity Future focus Lead (and partners) Timescale
Aligning the education and
training opportunities in
colleges and universities to
support the transition to net
zero
Use of Regional Outcome Agreements, shaped by
labour market intelligence, to ensure cohesive and
coherent provision which meets national, regional
and local learner and employer needs
Number of examples of the development of
courses to respond to industry need, e.g., Hydrogen
Awareness and Electric Vehicle Maintenance and
Repair (ESP) and circular construction materials
A number of colleges are being supported through
Scottish Power Energy Network’s Green Energy
Fund and ESP, to develop specialised renewables
and energy efficiency training centre to support the
development of green provision and train the future
workforce in renewables, energy efficiency and
emerging technologies in collaboration with industry
All FHEIs (Further & Higher Education Institutions) in
Scotland to review existing provision and its alignment
with the net zero transition, and then develop a 10-year
strategy for addressing gaps in existing provision and
to provide dynamic alignment with changing skills and
jobs needs in space and time
Co-design and development of a Construction Retrofit
national training programme
Develop a ‘Green Internship Scheme’ to upskill young
workforce on circular economy and net zero whilst
supporting employment opportunities
SFC (Regional Colleges and
Universities)
Zero Waste Scotland
Zero Waste Scotland
Ayrshire College, Borders
College, Dumfries &
Galloway College, Edinburgh
College, Fife College, Forth
Valley College, Glasgow
Kelvin College, South
Lanarkshire College, West
College Scotland and West
Lothian College
Immediate/Ongoing
Autumn 2021
Autumn 2021
Immediate/Ongoing
4544
Priority Area 3: Developing the future workforce for the transition to net zero
Skills Action Areas Current activity Future focus Lead (and partners) Timescale
Maximise the uptake of all
skills pathways relevant to
supporting the transition
to net zero across training,
education and work-based
learning
Promotion of opportunities flowing from the
transition to net zero through high quality careers
information, advice and guidance
Promoting apprenticeship pathways to all employers
in the green economy by showing the relevance and
credibility of apprenticeships, as well as underlining
the idea that it is within employers’ responsibilities to
support youth employment
Continue to promote and develop multiple accessible pathways into
sectors key to the transition to net zero (including energy transition,
construction, transport, manufacturing & agriculture and land use
management) through work-based learning, FE and HE
Increase reach and uptake of work-based learning and
apprenticeship opportunities (Foundation, Modern and Graduate
Apprenticeships) relevant to a transition to net zero through
awareness raising
Approaches to maximise the opportunities from energy transition
including:
• Michelin Skills Innovation Park (MSIP) Advanced
Skills Academy to develop the workforce of the
future, through a permanent Skills Academy to
embrace future technology, advanced engineering,
AI and Low carbon transport specialisms
• Energy Transition Zone (ETZ) Aberdeen-Skills and
Jobs Plan established to support energy transition
across sectors, and as part of the proposed ETZ
activities
• consider scope and plans to develop an online
Skills Academy to support the development of future
Construction Skills (included in Construction Sector
COVID-19 Recovery Plan)
SDS, Skills Providers,
Regional Colleges and
Universities
SDS, SFC
(Industry/Sector Skills
Groups, Developing
Young Workforce)
MSIP, Dundee & Angus
College
SDS, North East of
Scotland College,
Aberdeen City Council,
Robert Gordon
University, University
of Aberdeen, and
Opportunity North East
Construction ILG Skills
Group
Immediate/
Ongoing
From April 2021
From early 2021
From early 2021
From 2022
Build capacity for Research
and Innovation to support
the transition to net zero
Through the SFC’s Outcomes and Impacts Framework
universities are guided to focus their knowledge
exchange and innovation activities to support
economic recovery, including a green recovery. The
Innovation Centres and Interface are already working
collaboratively to prepare for COP26 and beyond
bringing together a wide range of technological,
social and cultural solutions to make a successful
transition to net-zero
Invest in a broad range of research capacity, developing our
partnership with the challenge funding of UKRI in order to build
multi-disciplinary responses to social, technological and regulatory
challenges of net zero
Evolve the relationships between businesses, universities and
colleges to help academic teams form and align to the short,
medium and long-term challenges of a just transition
Support the talent pipeline of future academic and industrial
researchers. Explore the role of pooled graduate schools and the
demand-led industrial doctorates facilitated by Innovation Centres
Incentivise the creation of net zero focussed spin-out companies
taking research IP to the market, building on the momentum of the
enterprise and net zero education growing in the curriculum
SFC
SFC
SFC
SFC
Immediate/
Ongoing
Immediate/
Ongoing
Immediate/
Ongoing
Immediate/
Ongoing
45
Priority Area 4: Driving awareness
and action to support reskilling and
upskilling for the transition to net
zero
The transition to net zero will require
significant action from industry, individuals and
wider society to upskill and reskill. Some jobs
will require specific upskilling or retraining to
move to sustainable, green jobs while all jobs
will require higher levels of environmental
awareness as well as adjustments to reduce
emissions, recycle waste materials, and
sustainably source products.
This priority area sets out the collective
action required to support greater awareness,
reskilling and training as part of the transition
to net zero including:
• supporting individuals to make informed
career choices in relation to net-zero
opportunities and developing a Green
Careers and Skills Assessment Tool
• raising awareness amongst employer
and individuals of the need for behaviour
change, and changes to workplace
practices
• taking action to support behaviour change
across public and private sectors that can
drive demand for new skills
• support the development of leadership and
management skills that will be required for a
net zero future.
4746
Priority Area 4: Driving awareness and action to support reskilling and upskilling for the transition to net zero
Skills Action Areas Current activity Future focus Lead (and partners) Timescale
Enable individuals and
their influencers to make
informed career choices to
support the transition to net
zero
Enabling learners and workers to make informed
choices about learning and career options in the
future net zero economy through SDS’s all-age,
impartial and independent career information, advice
and guidance (CIAG) service
Develop a Green Careers and Skills Assessment Tool as
part of the Green Jobs Workforce Academy to enable
everyone to recognise and articulate their existing core
skills, understand how these skills relate to green jobs
in a future net zero economy, and explore and navigate
routes careers in this area
Develop a package of case-study based marketing
and communication materials tailored to career
opportunities emerging from the transition to net zero
Build on LMI and evidence base to further enhance the
knowledge of CIAG staff on opportunities across the
economy which support the transition to net zero
Ensure that CESAP supports the implementation of
the Fairer Scotland Employment Action Plan through
targeted promotion of green careers and designing
training opportunities which are accessible to disabled
people
SDS
Implementation Steering
Group
(SDS, Industry Skills Groups,
Zero Waste Scotland,
NatureScot SDS, Skills
Standards and Qualification
Bodies, Employer
Organisations
SDS
SDS
From July 2021
From September 2021
From April 2021
From July 2021
Raise awareness amongst
employers of all sizes of the
need to change behaviours
and workplace practices to
contribute to the transition
to net zero and of the options
available for training in
climate literacy and green
skills and training
Bespoke circular economy business support has
generated learning on the capacity and capability of
businesses to deliver circular economy innovations
Training developed by Keep Scotland Beautiful
has helped organisations to better understand the
climate emergency and respond to the risks and
opportunities it presents
Developed multi-disciplinary training on natural
capital approaches
Undertake Circular Economy Skills audits in supported
businesses to understand the business’s learning
journey, and the challenges and opportunities
presented
Examine potential for upscaling to national approach
Zero Waste Scotland, SDS
(CESEH)
Keep Scotland Beautiful
(SE, HIE, SOSE, SDS, Sector
Skills Bodies, Zero Waste
Scotland, Scottish Forum on
Natural Capital)
NatureScot
From April 2021
Immediate/Ongoing
Immediate/Ongoing
47
Priority Area 4: Driving awareness and action to support reskilling and upskilling for the transition to net zero
Skills Action Areas Current activity Future focus Lead (and partners) Timescale
The actions of employers
across private, public and
third sectors can drive
significant behaviour change
in the workplace, leading to
the demand for new skills
Potential for Scotland’s public sector to be world leading
in the transition to net zero and develop net zero plans
across their operations and supply chains. This will
involve:
• building internal capacity across public
sector entities
• transforming the current and future workforces to
develop green skills and awareness to deliver on
these plans
• capacity building for effective procurement
Build a ‘Toolkit’ to help small/micro businesses develop
the skills and knowledge they need to adapt to the
demands of the transition to net zero. Develop and pilot
for use in agriculture but with the potential to roll out to
other sectors
Implementation Steering
Group
(All public sector agencies)
Skills for Farming Group
(SDS, NFUS)
From Spring 2021
2021-2022
Support the development of
leadership and management
skills required for a net zero
future
Energy Transition Leadership programme
Digital and online executive education programmes
such as the Climate Solutions Certificate, developed
by the Universities of Edinburgh and Stirling, Royal
Scottish Geographical Society and Jump Digital,
aimed at Graduates, Supervisors, Managers and
Leaders is currently being piloted across public and
private sector
Building on the current development of post-grad online
leadership programme aimed at experienced graduate
and apprentice engineers to provide leadership skills
and techno-economic understanding of new and
emerging low carbon energy. Designed to retain talent
and upskill in technical and project management
leadership to support energy transition
Develop existing leadership training and peer-to-peer
learning in rural sectors (e.g. SE Rural Leadership
Programme) to include skills for transition to net zero
and role of the sector in helping to achieve it
Industry, ECITB, SFC
SE, Member organisations
From Summer 2021
From Spring 2021
4948
Priority Area 5: Ensuring fairness and
inclusion in the skills system as part
of a just transition to net zero
The transition to net zero will bring significant
disruption to the economy and to jobs, and if
not mitigated, has the potential to dilute fair
work practices and widen existing inequalities.
Scotland is putting Fair Work at the centre of
our economic recovery and embedding the
principle dimensions of Fair Work (respect,
opportunity, security, fulfilment and eective
voice) into our just transition to net zero to
support sustainable economic growth and
good jobs, whilst ensuring no one is left
behind. Trade Unions will play a critical role
in protecting and enhancing workers’ rights
throughout the transition to net zero and play
a key role in the just transition.
Supporting and enabling communities
to participate in the transition will help
them benefit from the opportunities while
also building societal engagement on the
challenges the net zero transition will bring.
This priority area sets out the actions to
ensure that the skills system makes a central
contribution to a Just Transition by ensuring
fairness and inclusion are at the heart of the
good, green jobs agenda, including:
• Embedding the dimensions of Fair Work in
sectors that make a significant contribution
to net zero
• using the opportunities presented by net-
zero to address disadvantage
• providing support for young people to
capitalise on net zero opportunities.
49
Priority Area 5: Ensuring fairness and inclusion in the skills system as part of a just transition to net zero
Skills Action Areas Current activity Future focus Lead (and partners) Timescale
Embed the dimensions
of Fair Work including
workforce engagement
in sectors which make a
significant contribution to
net zero
An important theme within Scotland’s curriculum is
Learning for Sustainability – an approach to life and
learning which enables learners, educators, schools
and their wider communities to build a socially just,
sustainable and equitable society
Striving to meet targets for equal representation
across apprenticeship frameworks, helping
individuals access apprenticeships and supporting
employers to develop inclusive approaches to
recruitment and sustainable growth. First produced
in 2015, the SDS Apprenticeships Equality Action
Plan sets out the approach by SDS to working with
partners to increase the diversity of apprenticeship
uptake.
Working with partners to instil the principles of
inclusion, diversity, and equality in all SDS work-
based learning programmes
Build on successful examples such as the Women
in Agriculture Task Force to ensure that training is
focused on the training needs of underrepresented
groups
Continue to collaborate and support key influencers to
promote understanding of the barriers to employment
faced by underrepresented groups, and advocate for
inclusive workplace practices in target sectors, including
flexible working, mentoring, and support for those with
caring responsibilities
Co-create and implement solutions to support
workplace progression for underrepresented groups
through targeted mentoring and networking in the net
zero frameworks
Commission further user research and surveys in order
to develop content and user journeys tailored to needs,
utilising emerging digital services to allow individuals to
explore and navigate to routes to net zero jobs
Trade Unions will play a critical role in promoting
worker’s rights, and effective voice, and fair access to
reskilling and upskilling opportunities throughout the
transition to net zero and play a key role in the Just
Transition Commission
Increase understanding of the opportunities for career
progression in key sectors, to increase the attractiveness
and appeal of work in those sectors and work to remove
any barriers faced by underrepresented groups
SG
(Enterprise Agencies,
Education Scotland,
Equalities organisations,
Employers)
SDS
SDS
Trade Unions
Industry/Sector Skills
Groups, Regional Colleges,
Employer Bodies, and
Industry
Immediate/Ongoing
From April 2021
Immediate/Ongoing
Immediate/Ongoing
Immediate/Ongoing
5150
Priority Area 5: Ensuring fairness and inclusion in the skills system as part of a just transition to net zero
Skills Action Areas Current activity Future focus Lead (and partners) Timescale
Build on the opportunities
provided by the transition
to net zero to address
disadvantage across groups
and communities
Equality Impact Assessments ensure that policies
and skills interventions do not discriminate and,
where possible, promote equality of opportunity
Maximise the opportunities flowing from City and
Regional Growth Deals (including Community Wealth
Building), Regional Economic Partnership and Regional
Land Use partnerships
Ensure that any training that is being delivered in
relation to CESAP is also available in rural areas and for
rural audiences
Make both tackling occupational segregation and
accessibility for rural communities’ core aims of skills
and training programmes and making the most of
the potential for digital delivery to help maximise
accessibility
Regional Economic
Partnerships, SDS, Enterprise
Agencies and Local
Authorities
Immediate/Ongoing
Provide support for young
people to maximise their
opportunities for success
through work, education or
training
The Young Person’s Guarantee will ensure that every
young person aged between 16-24 in Scotland can
access support to secure:
• Fair employment, including work experience
• Further or higher education
• Pathway Apprenticeships, an apprenticeship or
other training programme
• Formal volunteering or supported activity
programme
Within the end-to-end review of the career service, seek
to identify how better to support young people, parents,
families, carers and key influencers, as the economy
shifts towards net zero
Build on approaches to accrediting experience and skills
gained through volunteering
SG, Young Person’s
Guarantee Implementation
Group which includes LA,
SDS as well as partners
from the public sector, third
sector, and private sector
Awarding Bodies, Skills,
Standards and Qualification
Bodies, Scottish
Environment LINK, The
Conservation Volunteers
Immediate/Ongoing
Spring 2021
51
Priority Area 6: Taking a
collaborative approach to ensure a
skills system responsive to changing
demands
The transition to net zero will require co-
ordinated action and investment across
employers, the skills system, local and
national Government and its agencies.
This priority area sets out the key actions
for a collaborative approach that enables
employers and individuals to maximise the
opportunities flowing from the transition to
net zero as they emerge, supported by a skills
system responsive to changing demands,
including:
• Establishing a Climate Emergency
Economic and Investment Leadership
Group to provide leadership, oversight &
drive for the national economic ambition
supported by an Implementation Steering
Group of industry experts and skills
partners
• Creating an agile and responsive skills
system through Skills Alignment
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Priority Area 6: Taking a collaborative approach to ensure a skills system responsive to changing demands
Skills Action Areas Current activity Future focus Lead (and partners) Timescale
Multi-agency and industry
collaboration around skills
issues to support the
transition to net zero
Intensive collaborative action to develop the CESAP
setting out the priority areas for action in sectors
central to transition to net zero
Establish a Climate Emergency Economic and
Investment Leadership Group to provide leadership,
oversight and drive for the national economic ambition.
The ILG would report on progress with the
implementation of the CESAP to progress to this group
Establish an Implementation Steering Group (ISG) of
industry experts and skills partners to facilitate delivery
of the CESAP
Establish a dynamic, dedicated Green Jobs & Skills
Team to support the implementation of the CESAP and
produce labour market intelligence on future green jobs
requirements
SDS/SG
SDS (SG, SFC, SE, HIE,
SOSE, Education Scotland,
STF, Skills, Standards and
Qualification Bodies
Scotland, Zero Waste
Scotland , NatureScot)
SDS
Immediate/Ongoing
From January 2021
From April 2021
Shape a skills system that
is much more responsive,
more innovative, and more
collaborative to cater for the
degree, complexity and pace
of change coming in the
wider economy and labour
market
SDS and the SFC are working on a programme of
skills alignment to match skills provision with the
needs of learners, employers, and industry to drive
sustainable and inclusive growth
The Joint Skills Alignment Team across SDS/SFC
commissioned to ensure alignment with the green
economic ambitions as set out in the CESAP
SDS, SFC Immediate/Ongoing
53
The CESAP sets out a wide range of actions
with significant implications for employers,
individuals and skills providers to support the
transition to net zero. This will be a significant
and long-term challenge and will require
agility from the skills system to respond to the
change and disruption throughout Scotland’s
transition to a net zero economy. An ongoing
commitment from the Scottish Government
and its agencies, stakeholders and employers
will be vital to aect both the behaviour
and system changes that are required for
successful delivery as well as a commitment
to continued iteration and development of the
CESAP in future.
Timescale for CESAP
The net-zero transition will require long term
commitment and action over the next 25
years. This CESAP focusses on the collective
action that needs to be undertaken from 2020
through to 2025, with a particular focus on the
period to 2023 as part of a green recovery
from COVID-19.
While there is clear early action that needs to
be addressed, it is also clear that this CESAP
will need to be agile and responsive.
The skills action plan will be a living
document, that adapts both its focus and its
timing in response to changes in the policy
environment, economy and the emergence of
new technologies. The CESAP will be updated
by the end of 2023, taking into account any
changes in the wider economic environment
and setting out a further set of short, medium
and long-term activities.
Implementation and governance of
the plan
The development of the Plan has been
guided by an Expert Group comprising
Skills Development Scotland, the Scottish
Funding Council, Zero Waste Scotland,
the Scottish Cities Alliance, NatureScot,
Scottish Government’s Domestic Climate
Change and Skills Divisions, Highlands and
Islands Enterprise, Scottish Enterprise, South
of Scotland Enterprise, the University of
Edinburgh and the University of Strathclyde.
This group will form the basis of a CESAP
Implementation Steering Group that will be
extended to industry, employers and trade
unions who are central to delivering the net-
zero transition, along with colleges and skills
providers and other partners with a sectoral
focus including Transport Scotland, SEPA and
Lantra Scotland. The Implementation Group
will have an independent Chair appointed by
the Scottish Government.
5: Delivering the Climate Emergency Skills Action Plan
A key early task for the Implementation Group
will be to develop a detailed implementation
plan for the period through to 2023. The
purpose of the Implementation Group will be
to act as the focal point for the delivery of the
actions in the CESAP. The Implementation
Group will develop a clear Monitoring
and Evaluation Framework to ensure that
the progress of the actions in this plan is
monitored.
The Implementation Group will seek guidance
from, and report on progress, to a new
Climate Emergency Economic & Investment
Leadership Group to provide leadership,
oversight & drive the alignment of skills
investment with our national economic
ambition. The membership will be based
around the existing Scottish Energy Advisory
Board, supplemented by representation from
the Scottish Government’s wider network
of Industry Advisory Boards. This direct
engagement with employers, to both shape
and be involved in the delivery of the plan,
will be central to its success and the group
will also feed into the Scottish Government to
ensure continued alignment with Scotland’s
Climate Change Strategy and delivery of a just
transition to a net zero economy.
5554
Resourcing the plan
The transition to a net zero economy will
involve considerable investment from the
private sector, government and its agencies
to mitigate and adapt to the eects of climate
change and to support business growth, drive
the creation of new technologies, support the
transition of the workforce and to capitalise
on emerging opportunities. The Scottish
Government has made significant spending
commitments for net zero initiatives. The
2020–21 Budget brought the overall low
carbon capital spend to £1.8 billion on an
annual basis, while the 2020-21 Programme
for Government and the draft Infrastructure
Investment Plan committed additional capital
investment to support the green recovery over
the life of the next Parliament. Further details
of this investment are set out in the Climate
Change Update that is being published
alongside this CESAP.
Similarly, the transition of the workforce to
the net zero economy in coming decades
and implementation of the CESAP will require
alignment and reorientation of educational
and skills support. Currently, the Scottish
Government commits £1.8 billion per annum
in support of work-based learning, further
and higher education and research and
innovation through SFC and SDS. Both
agencies, through their Joint Skills Alignment
Team, will have a critical role to ensure that
our annual investment in skills through work-
based learning, further and higher education
and upskilling and reskilling is fully aligned
behind our economic ambitions for a net-zero
transition. Our labour market response to
COVID-19 has also seen significant additional
resources committed to upskilling and
reskilling through the Transition Training Fund
and the Flexible Workforce Development
Fund. This commitment to upskilling and
reskilling will be maintained through the
establishment of the Green Jobs Workforce
Academy.
55
AI Artificial Intelligence
BAME Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic
BIM Building Information Modelling
CCC Climate Change Committee
CCP Climate Change Plan
CCUS Carbon capture, utilisation,
and storage
CERG Climate Emergency
Response Group
CESAP Climate Emergency Skills
Action Plan
CESEH Circular Economy Skills and
Education Hub
CIAG Careers Information, Advice,
and Guidance
COP26 26th Conference of the Parties,
United Nations Climate
Change Conference
ESP Energy Skills Partnership
ETZ Energy Transition Zone
FA Foundation Apprenticeship
FE Further Education
FHEIs Further and Higher Education
Institutions
FWDF Flexible Workforce
Development Fund
GA Graduate Apprenticeship
GHG Greenhouse Gas
GVA Gross Value Added
HDV Heavy Duty Vehicles
HE Higher Education
HIE Highlands and Islands Enterprise
ILG Industry Leadership Group
ITA Individual Training Account
JTC Just Transition Commission
LCREE Low Carbon and Renewable
Energy Economy dataset
LMI Labour Market Intelligence
MA Modern Apprenticeship
Glossary
MCS Microgeneration
Certification Scheme
MSIP Michelin Skills Innovation Park
MtCO2e Metric Tonnes of Carbon
Dioxide Equivalent
MyWoW My World of Work
NFUS National Farmers Union Scotland
NMIS National Manufacturing
Institute Scotland
NOS National Occupational Standards
NTTF National Transition Training Fund
ONS Oce for National Statistics
PACE Partnership Action for
Continuing Employment
PAS Publicly Available Specifications
PfG Programme for Government
SCA Scottish Cities Alliance
SDS Skills Development Scotland
SE Scottish Enterprise
SEAB Scottish Energy Advisory Board
5756
SEPA Scottish Environmental
Protection Agency
SFC Scottish Funding Council
SG Scottish Government
SME Small and Medium-sized Enterprise
SOSE South of Scotland Enterprise
SQA Scottish Qualifications Authority
STF Scottish Training Federation
STP Scotland’s Towns Partnership
SURF Scotland’s Regeneration Forum
UKCS United Kingdom Continental Shelf
UKRI United Kingdom Research
and Innovation
ULEV Ultra Low Emission Vehicle
WBL Work-Based Learning
57
@skillsdevscot
Skills Development Scotland
sds.co.uk
@scotgov
The Scottish Government
gov.scot
