Developing a skilled workforce for the low-carbon economy must be a “priority focus” for government, an IMechE expert has said, after the Climate Change Committee (CCC) shared pressing concerns about the UK’s ability to hit ‘net zero’ targets.
The independent body, which advises government on emissions targets, said today (28 June) that its confidence in the country meeting its goals from 2030 onwards is “markedly less” than it was one year ago amid approvals for new oil and gas plants and slow progress on key green policies.
The UK government’s Carbon Budget Delivery Plan (CBDP) provided much greater transparency on its net zero plans in the last year, the CCC said – but that transparency has been eclipsed by a lack of urgency on decarbonisation, according to the organisation’s Progress in reducing emissions report.
Responding to the report, Matthew Rooney, IMechE head of policy, said: “Achieving net zero is the most ambitious engineering project ever and it will be underpinned by technical skills. Delivering this skilled workforce for a low-carbon economy needs to be a priority focus at the highest level of government in Westminster, and across devolved administration and local authorities. As well as expanding the pipeline of new engineers and technicians, we need to equip those from mid- to late-career to retrain.
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