FAQs | Green Skills at COP
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Green Skills at COP

Frequently Asked Questions

Welcome to the FAQ section of our campaign.

Here, you’ll find answers to common questions about our mission, how you can get involved, and what we aim to achieve. Whether you’re new to the campaign or looking for more details, this section is designed to provide you with all the information you need to support our efforts in tackling climate change and protecting our planet’s biodiversity.

Your questions

What are Green Skills?

Green skills refer to the technical knowledge, behaviours, and capabilities required to tackle environmental challenges and promote sustainability across all sectors. While certain roles, such as those directly involved in environmental initiatives, are clearly defined as green jobs, achieving a net-zero future necessitates embedding green skills into every role across every industry.

The transition to a sustainable economy isn’t just about creating new green jobs; it’s about ensuring that everyone, regardless of their profession, has the skills needed to contribute to this goal. This includes procurement teams leading sustainable practices, HR departments fostering environmentally conscious workplaces, and even hairdressers or landscape architects integrating sustainability into their work.

To make this transition inclusive, it’s essential that green skills and jobs are accessible to all, promoting diversity and equal opportunities within the workforce. By prioritising green education, skills, and jobs, we not only protect the environment but also create a more equitable and prosperous future for everyone.

What are you hoping for the #GreenSkillsAtCOP campaign to achieve?

IEMA’s #GreenSkillsAtCOP campaign aims to encourage all countries that are signatories to the Paris Climate and Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework agreements to create a robust roadmap on education and skills investment to enable their deliver through national action plans – namely Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) at COP 29 and National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs) at COP16.

Climate change and the global loss of biodiversity are two global crises that are intrinsically linked and need to be tackled together. Starting in September 2024, IEMA and CWP will begin the #GreenSkillsAtCOP campaign to advocate for negotiations at COP16 and COP29 to recognise the crucial role that green skills play in tackling the global climate change and biodiversity crises. We will ask organisations, IEMA members and the wider community to sign an open letter that will be sent to the new UK Government’s negotiating team and the two COP presidents urging the prioritisation of green jobs and skills at the upcoming COP conferences (and beyond).

How does my signature make a difference?

The COP16 and COP29 summits bring together negotiators, policy-makers and advocates from countries all around the world in order to develop and update their national action plans that will drive targets, policies and funding towards mitigating and adapting to climate change, and preventing the global loss of biodiversity.

Adding your signature to the campaign will add weight to the letters that IEMA will write to key COP stakeholders advocating for #GreenSkillsAtCOP.

The more businesses, not for profit organisations and individuals that support us, the more pressure our campaign will bring to bear.

Who will be receiving the letter?

IEMA will be writing to the two COP presidents and the two UK Government Ministers with responsibility for COP negotiations in advance of both summits, urging them to support and champion our campaign.

COP16 – Biodiversity Summit in Colombia

  • COP16 president – Susana Muhamad
  • UK Government Minister – Mary Creagh

COP29 – Climate Summit in Azerbaijan

  • COP29 president – Mukhtar Babayev
  • UK Government Minister – Kerry McCarthy
Do you provide regular campaign updates?

We will be providing regular updates on the campaign on this website and via social media.

Can I do more than just add my signature to the campaign?

Yes. If you have the authority, you can sign up to show your business or organisation supports the campaign and have your logo appear on this website. We will be regularly sharing the names/logos on social media of businesses and not-for-profit organisations showing their support for #GreenSkillsAtCOP campaign.

Why are Green Skills important?

Building wind farms, manufacturing electric vehicles and restoring habitats are just some of the job sectors that are crucial for tackling climate change and the loss of biodiversity. And that means making sure we have the skilled people able to fill those job roles.

But climate and environmental targets are an economy-wide challenge. Many organisations will need every team member of their workforce to have some level of green skills – much like the way digital skills spread across businesses over previous decades. Our ambition should be to make “all jobs greener” – by weaving green competencies throughout the global workforce.