Net zero and the labour market: evidence from the UK

The urgent need for tackling climate change brings with it the need to understand the impacts of net zero policies on the labour market. Various approaches have been taken in attempts to measure and describe green jobs, and compare them to their non-green counterparts. This essay focuses on the UK and summarises findings from an occupational approach, which classifies jobs as being green when they involve new tasks or skills required by the transition to net zero, or when they are likely to see increased demand due to the transition. Drawing on this analysis, and other complementary approaches, this essay sets out evidence that green jobs have the potential to be good jobs, requiring higher skills and paying well. However, they have not been accessible to all workers to date. In the next phase of the transition, net zero is expected to be a net creator of jobs. Overall, this is largely a story of change in existing jobs and sectors–very few jobs will be phased out. The transition and its impacts on the labour market will be difficult in specific sectors and places, requiring targeted programmes and broader skills policies to ensure that net zero can not only be delivered, but delivered in an inclusive way.