Meeting Skill Needs for the Global Green Transition: A Role for Labour Migration?

In this approach, a cohort would be trained in the country of origin to the skill level needed in the country of destination. [...] In addition, the global nature of the shortage of the skills needed for the green transition means that this is an approach that is unlikely to be able to wholly fulfil needs: labour migration must be accompanied by training. [...] Targeted public investments are likely to be needed to support reskilling, relocation, and retirement to ensure that the workforce exists to support the green transition and that the transition is equitable. [...] In the UK, men are estimated to comprise 82 percent of the workforce for ‘net zero’ industries (Christie-Miller and Luke, 2023), rising to 95 percent in, for example, the heat pump installation sector (DESNZ and DBEIS, 2023a); in the US, women account for only 26 percent of the solar industry workforce (DoE, 2021b). [...] In the context of the green transition, heat pumps are recognised by the IEA to be “the central technology in the global transition to secure and sustainable heating.” In low temperature settings, heat pumps are superior to ‘conventional’ heating methods; in warmer conditions, they can be used to cool homes (Eyre, 2021; Sissons, 2023).