Skills for a green economy

The Department for the Economy (DfE) states that the Green Skills Action Plan, published in late-May 2025, aims to “equip individuals with the knowledge and skills needed to support a sustainable, low carbon economy”.

It sets out a framework aiming to develop the skills base required to support Northern Ireland’s green economy and the statutory pathway to net zero.

The Action Plan, developed by the Northern Ireland Skills Council (NISC) and its Green Skills Delivery Group, sets out key priorities and policy actions to be delivered across the current Assembly mandate and beyond. It responds to sectoral skills gaps identified in the 2023 Energy Skills Audit and is aligned with the Department’s Energy Strategy: Path to Net Zero Energy, published in 2021.

The plan prioritises targeted interventions in three initial focus areas: large-scale energy production, infrastructure, and domestic low-carbon technologies and energy efficiency. These sectors are deemed critical to achieving the Executive’s legally binding target of reducing energy-related emissions by 56 per cent by 2030 and reaching net zero by 2050.

The Action Plan identifies 28 actions structured around four key priority areas: strengthening the skills ecosystem, developing cross-sector partnerships, promoting awareness of green careers, and building a skilled green workforce. The document also recognises the need for system flexibility, cross-departmental collaboration, and sustained industry engagement to ensure that the skills system remains responsive to evolving green sector demands.

The Green Skills Delivery Group, chaired by NIE Networks executive director Gordon Parkes, will be tasked with overseeing the implementation and monitoring of the Action Plan.

Policy priorities

The Green Skills Action Plan is structured around four central priorities:

1. Skills ecosystem: Developing a more integrated and accessible green skills landscape.
2. Partnerships: Building collaborative frameworks between government, industry, and education providers.
3. Awareness: Increasing public and stakeholder understanding of green job opportunities and skills pathways.
4. Workforce development: Supporting the upskilling, reskilling, and transition of the existing workforce into green sectors.

Skills ecosystem

A key component of the plan is the modernisation of the skills ecosystem to ensure it can meet the growing demand for green competencies. The Green Skills Delivery Group will contribute to ongoing reviews of Northern Ireland’s regional skills offering, with a specific focus on future-proofing apprenticeship frameworks and vocational pathways.

Short-term actions outlined in the Action Plan include the establishment of a ‘green cluster’ of sectoral experts, a central information hub for green skills, and scoping for a green skills curriculum hub to coordinate provision across further and higher education. Additional commitments include the review of apprenticeship frameworks relevant to green sectors and the development of competency pathways to support career progression.

The plan identifies the integration of green skills into curricula from primary school through to higher education as an ongoing requirement.

Partnerships

The Action Plan stresses the importance of a cross-government, cross-sector partnership model to deliver green skills at the scale required. A net zero communications group is to be established to coordinate messaging and provide system-wide leadership on green skills promotion.

Dedicated employer and trade union groups will be formed for each of the three priority sectors to inform skills planning, support worker transition, and develop new career pathways. The Green Skills Delivery Group is to collaborate closely with the Department for Communities, Labour Market Partnerships, and City and Growth deals aiming to align skills interventions with employment programmes.

The plan acknowledges the challenges associated with engaging economically inactive groups, particularly those aged between 50 and 64, and proposes targeted employer engagement to address these barriers.

Promoting awareness

The Action Plan places strong emphasis on improving the visibility of green careers. Key short-term actions include the development of green sector career bulletins and the creation of employer-led promotional materials targeted at schools, with a particular focus on increasing female participation.

Work experience opportunities in the green sector are to be expanded for young people, career changers, and people classified as ‘economically inactive’. The plan also identifies the need to promote the transferability of skills from declining industries into green sectors and highlights the role of businesses in providing industrial experience to students through guest lectures and placements.

Workforce development

The plan outlines a series of actions to support upskilling and reskilling in high-demand green sectors. These include the delivery of targeted training programmes in digital, transversal, and zero-carbon skills and the facilitation of inter-industry partnerships to fast-track training.

The Green Skills Delivery Group has committed to supporting pathways into the sector for those already in the workforce, as well as new entrants and those transitioning from traditional industries. Programmes such as Skill Up, Skills Focus, and the Joint Utilities Entry Level Programme will be used to support delivery.

Recognising the demographic challenge facing the green sector, the plan proposes the development of initiatives to capture knowledge from older workers and retired industry experts, particularly in niche roles.

Implementation and governance

The delivery of the Green Skills Action Plan will be overseen by the Green Skills Delivery Group, supported by sub-groups aligned to each of the four priority areas. Each action is assigned a lead organisation and a delivery timeframe. Progress will be reported to the Northern Ireland Skills Council at each of its meetings.

The Green Skills Action Plan is intended to be a living document, subject to regular review and amendment to reflect sectoral developments, policy updates, and emerging technologies. The Department has emphasised the need for flexibility to adapt to changing skills requirements over the life of the plan.

Delivery plan

The Green Skills Delivery Group has identified a range of existing delivery mechanisms and funding streams to support implementation. These include the Skill Up programme, which provides fully funded courses in green technologies, and the Skills Focus initiative, which supports upskilling for SMEs.

Funding opportunities through Labour Market Partnerships, City and Growth deals, and the PeacePlus programme are also referenced, along with the potential to engage private training providers in the delivery of specialist green skills.

Further work is planned to explore the potential for embedding green skills criteria in public sector contracts to promote sustainability across government procurement.

Sectoral focus

The Action Plan prioritises three green sectors with immediate skills needs:

• large-scale energy production (including renewables, thermal generation, and energy storage);
• infrastructure (electricity, gas, water networks, and waste management); and
• domestic low-carbon technologies and energy efficiency (including heat pump installation, insulation, EV charging, and solar PV).

Occupational heat maps have been developed for each sector to quantify projected skills demand and anticipated recruitment challenges through to 2030.

The Action Plan states that DfE and the Green Skills Delivery Group will use these data to prioritise training delivery and inform the sequencing of future interventions.
Challenges

The Action Plan identifies a number of structural challenges that will need to be addressed to meet green sector demand. These include:

• misalignment between the current skills system and net zero objectives;
• limited regional availability of green skills training;
• a shortage of skilled labour in key occupations, particularly engineering and electrical roles;
• difficulties in attracting new entrants to the sector;
• retention of skilled workers in the face of competition from other jurisdictions;
• an ageing green workforce and low participation in lifelong learning among older workers; and
• low public awareness of green careers and available training pathways.

The plan notes that overcoming these challenges will require improved coordination, sustained investment, and cross-sectoral collaboration.

Opportunities

The green transition presents significant opportunities for employment growth and economic development in Northern Ireland. The Northern Ireland Audit Office’s Skills Audit Report projects that employment in green-aligned sectors will increase by approximately 15 per cent by 2035, with some industry forecasts suggesting that up to 58,000 new green jobs could be created over the next decade.

The plan identifies opportunities for greater cross-border collaboration on green skills with counterparts in the Republic of Ireland and the UK, including joint participation in the PeacePlus programme.

DfE has also signalled that clearer policy commitments and funding certainty, particularly in relation to energy efficiency and housing decarbonisation, will be critical to unlocking private sector investment in skills development.

Analysis

The Green Skills Action Plan provides a detailed framework to support Northern Ireland’s transition to a sustainable, low-carbon economy. It sets out a coordinated programme of skills interventions to address the region’s immediate labour market needs, while building the longer-term capacity required to meet net zero targets.

While the Action Plan acknowledges the scale of the delivery challenge, it also highlights the significant opportunities available to build a green, inclusive workforce and contribute to regional economic growth.

The success of the Action Plan will depend on sustained collaboration across government, industry, and education providers, underpinned by flexible delivery mechanisms and a commitment to continuous review. The next phase will focus on operationalising the strategy, scaling up training provision, and aligning skills development with the Executive’s broader decarbonisation agenda.

Gordon Parkes, Chair of the Green Skills Delivery Group, says: “The transition to net zero presents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to build a resilient, adaptable workforce that can support Northern Ireland’s economic growth while delivering on our environmental commitments. The Green Skills Action Plan provides the roadmap, but its success will depend on the shared commitment of all partners to lead, engage, and deliver.”

Minister for the Economy Caoimhe Archibald MLA says that the action plan “will create pathways into the green economic sectors and ensure the skills are developed to meet the needs of industry”.

She adds: “The Green Skills Action Plan represents an important step in equipping business and individuals with the capabilities to drive the transition to net zero.

“By investing in skills and our people, we are also investing in the environment, leading to a reduction in carbon emissions and a more prosperous and sustainable future for us all.”