Skills shortage delays global energy transition, puts climate targets at risk – report

The shortage of skilled labour is a drag on the global energy transition and could put UN climate targets at risk, says a report by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) that was seen by newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. By 2030, there will be a global shortage of seven million skilled workers that would be needed for the necessary climate and energy projects, such as installing solar panels, heat pumps, electric car charging stations, and wind farms. The resulting delay alone could lead to a global temperature increase of 0.1°Celsius, BCG warned. "The 1.5°C target could thus move even further out of reach," BCG senior advisor Janina Kugel told the newspaper. "When it comes to climate protection, there is a lot of talk about infrastructure, financing, technology and innovation," Kugel said. "The fact that skilled workers are also needed for implementation, on the other hand, has not been given enough thought so far."

According to BCG’s calculations, 400,000 green economy jobs could remain vacant by 2030 in Germany alone. "In any case, we also need to recruit abroad," report co-author Johann Harnoss said. He added that global education and training cooperation was needed, especially with countries in the Global South, where unemployment is high.