Green Is Good When It Comes To Jobs In NI

It seems that Northern Ireland is really taking to the ‘Green revolution’ which could be great news for the future economic growth of the country. The number of green jobs advertised, as an overall proportion of all jobs, has risen in the last 12 months from 2.4% to 4%, which happens to be the second highest share of green job adverts in the whole of the UK. Only Scotland is higher with an overall proportion of 5.6%.

Benefit From The Opportunities Of A Net Zero Transition

This is more than a 25% increase in green job adverts in Northern Ireland over the course of a year, which is quite an astonishing rise in such a short space of time. Here is what Jason Calvert, Director and Economist at PwC Northern Ireland, said about the rise in green jobs, as quoted from an article on the Business Eye website. He said that:

“It’s encouraging to see that green job creation in Northern Ireland continues to show resilience. It is clear that there are opportunities for further growth here – while our green jobs market is small and needs to be scaled up, there is a lot we can do. DAERA’s Green Growth Strategy, which includes developing a workforce that supports climate action, is a further step in driving us toward creating meaningful solutions for businesses here to benefit from the opportunities of the net zero transition.

“Ultimately, in order for Northern Ireland to thrive in a net zero world, we need a skilled workforce, and so we must make a concerted effort to create new low carbon jobs, and adopt a coordinated approach to up-skill and re-skill the existing workforce. Policymakers also need to incentivise higher education in fields that will support the green economy, creating better conditions to retain new graduates in the region, ensuring that we are harnessing young people’s passion for the environment and creating the skills NI will need to thrive in a net zero world.

“The UK’s successful transition to a low carbon economy rides on a two-pronged approach: a concerted effort to create thousands of new low carbon jobs across the UK and a coordinated approach to up-skill and re-skill the existing workforce. This requires collaboration between government, industry, and education providers to develop and implement a comprehensive action plan.”

There are certainly opportunities and numerous benefits to be had in being at the forefront of the move to a carbon zero future. It would be great if Northern Ireland could be one of the countries leading the way.