Skill shortages hinder current green development- skills and polices are interdependent in achieving a transition.

Challenge 1: Skill shortages are already hampering the transition to greener economies. A lack of the skills needed to meet the requirements of changing and newly emerging occupations impedes green investment and hinders green economic development. This equally applies to skills of established occupations for which demand is growing. Shortages generally reflect underestimates of growth and labour demand, particularly in technology-driven green sectors. In green building, for instance, skills shortages frequently arise when projects are undertaken without sufficient provision for skills development. Similarly, a lack of efficient coordination between investment in a green economy and investment in skills can lead to shortages of relevant green job skills. Many countries lack sufficient teachers and trainers in environmental awareness and specialist areas such as renewable energy.

Challenge 2: Skills and environmental policies need to come together. While most countries have drawn up some environmental policies, few have put in place the skills development strategies needed to implement them (see figure 1). Without coherence between skills and environmental policies, skills bottlenecks may well impede the successful transition to greener production and consumption. European countries are taking a lead in this area, notably France (see box 3). Outside Europe, the United States and Australia stand out in terms of their training response to the challenges posed by greening. In the least developed countries, skills development strategies are rarely included in national climate change adaptation plans. The reasons for this include weak coordination between national planning and labour ministries, and a lack of adequate resources and institutional capacity to implement such strategies. Coordination within individual sectors is also important. In the case of renewable energies, for example, policy coordination and planning are needed to smooth the pace of investment over time so as to provide stable employment for workers, avoid periods of serious skill shortages, and make future demand for skills more predictable, both for providers of training and education and for their students.