Importance of Green Skills

Green skills are the knowledge, abilities, values, and attitude needed to live in, develop and, support a sustainable society. Such skills are required to adapt processes, services, and products to climate change and environmental rules and necessities related to it. As far as sustainable society is concerned, it is defined as a society meeting the needs of present generation without compromising the needs of future generation.

There is a Green General Skill Index that identifies four groups of work tasks that are very important for green occupations. First group comprises engineering and technical skills which are basically tough skills normally mastered by technicians and engineers. Second group comprises science skills which are the skills having roots in natural sciences like physics and biology. They are high in demand in each value chain stage and utility sector.

Third group comprises operation management skills which are related to change in organisational structure required to support green activities. Such skills are important for sales engineers, climate change analysts, sustainability experts, etc. Last but not the least, fourth group comprises monitoring skills. These skills are required to assess the observance of technical criteria and legal standards. They are important for environmental compliance inspectors, legal assistants, nuclear monitoring technicians etc.

According to International Labour Organisation, 100 million jobs can be created through the transition to sustainable energy sources and a circular economy scenario. Action for Climate Empowerment (ACE) is a term adopted by United Nations Climate Change to denote work under article 6 of the United Nations framework convention on climate change and article 12 of the Paris agreement.

It provides tools to change the systems, attitudes and behaviours needed to transition to a just, low emission and climate resiliant world. ACE elements of education, public awareness, and training are particularly important in the context of green skills to promote these transitions. Using sustainable energy sources has capacity to promote sustainability or sustainable development.

When we talk about sustainable development goals these are the global goals which are a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity.

They were launched at the United Nations sustainable development summit in New York in September 2015, forming the 2030 agenda for sustainable development. It includes 17 Sustainable Development Goals framed with the objectives to address vital issues facing businesses, governments, and society such as poverty, gender equality,  water use, energy, climate change and biodiversity. It is not wrong to say that sustainable development goals basically look for growth that is green.

Green growth aims  at achieving economic growth that is socially inclusive and environmentally sustainable. The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate change, Government of India recognised green growth in its vision, wherein poverty eradication along with green growth is to be seen as the focal point for green economy.

The term green economy was first coined in a 1989 report for the Government of the United Kingdom by a group of leading environmental economists, entitled 'Blueprint for a green economy'. United Nations Environmental program (UNEP) has defined the green economy as one that results in improved human well-being and social equity while significantly reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities.

It is low-carbon, resource efficient and socially inclusive. It is a system which helps in economic growth while at the same time taking care of the environment. Green consumer is the main protagonist of the green economy who is someone very concerned about the environment and therefore only purchases eco-friendly products. It is important to know that we celebrate green consumer day on 28 September every year.

There are different components of green economy including renewable energy, green buildings, well-managed transport,  well-managed water system, well-managed waste system, and well-managed land system. A million dollar question is in which areas green skills can contribute to sustainable development.

They contribute in many areas taking account of renewable energy, water and waste management, rainwater harvesting, conservation of energy and, reducing pollution. Basically, green skills give rise to green economy and green economy gives rise to economic development that is sustainable in the long-run. Hence, it is important for every economy to develop green skills as much as possible. They play a crucial role in promoting a more eco-conscious and sustainable and healthy future.

Dr. Binish Qadri, Former, Assistant Professor, Cluster University , Srinagar