How 'green education' could speed up the net-zero transition

Green jobs, green skills, green economy. We hear these terms more and more and with good reason. The energy transition required for countries to achieve their net-zero goals is gargantuan. According to LinkedIn data, job postings for 'green' jobs are growing nearly twice as fast as the number of workers with the skills to fill them.

A much-talked-about barrier to meeting that challenge is the potential shortage of specific skills tied to the green transition. The LinkedIn research in 48 countries over the past five years found that, while green job postings grew by 8% annually, seven in eight workers lacked even a single green skill. A recent Economist Impact survey of 1,000 global business leaders reported that 62% of respondents believe that green skills shortages could slow the global net-zero transition.

But even if we close this skills gap, will that be enough to shape a resilient world? I’m doubtful. What’s needed is something both broader and deeper: a shift in our collective mindset to an authentic consciousness that puts sustainability at the heart of our decisions, habits, and practices.

In this expanded definition, green skills should cover everything from the specialist skills of a solar panel technician to the programmes shaped by an environmental policymaker to an accountant working for a green finance investment firm. They describe the transferable skills of a communications officer or geography teacher, or the localized knowledge of a community leader. In short, green skills encompass the knowledge, attitude, and abilities needed to live in and support a sustainable society.

At the Abdulla Al Ghurair Foundation (AGF), we started down this path a few years ago. In 2023, during the build-up to COP28, AGF was asked by the United Arab Emirates Ministry of Education to became a strategic partner in its Green Education Partnership Roadmap. The stated goal was to actively shape the future “by providing students with the knowledge and resources they need to make informed decisions that positively impact the environment.”

COP28 itself saw the launch of the Declaration on Education and Climate Change – a global initiative aimed at getting learners around the world climate-ready. To date, 90 countries have signed the declaration.

Strategic philanthropies like AGF are well placed to be the coordinating hub for diverse stakeholders as they work to elevate teaching green skills at scale and create the broader mindset shift needed in communities. Unfortunately at the moment, too few are taking up the challenge: only 2% of global philanthropy is dedicated to climate-related initiatives.

By contrast, within the UAE, collaboration among AGF, the government, and private sector organizations has helped establish a number of new data-driven, evidence-based green education programmes. The Al Ghurair Open Learning Scholars Program, for example, gives youth access to high-quality online education and places significant emphasis on career readiness, financial assistance and providing whatever support learners may need to secure a sustainable livelihood.

Another initiative, the University Consortium of Quality Online Learning (UCQOL)—a partnership between the AGF, the UAE Ministry of Education, and nine UAE universities—raises the capacity of regional universities to offer high-quality, online courses. UCQOL allows for a sustainable, inclusive learning environment that can reach students anywhere, including those in remote, conflict-torn, or climate-change impacted areas.

Then there’s the Greening Communities Initiative, which runs in collaboration with the UAE’s Green Education Roadmap. As part of this initiative, in 2023, AGF designed a new Ecopreneurship Program, in partnership with the UAE Ministry of Education, the Sharjah Entrepreneurship Center (Sheraa), and Expo City Dubai. The programme has so far equipped over 150 18-to-35 year olds with theoretical knowledge, practical skills training, mentorship opportunities, and funding support.

Five teams from this programme were selected to pitch their potential start-ups at COP28, and the top three won the chance to participate in a 16-week accelerator programme to develop their ideas into reality. The innovations include: leveraging satellite imagery and AI models to monitor pollutant sources that affect public health; focusing on producing and selling locally sourced jojoba oil to encourage innovative, sustainable agricultural techniques; and creating a mobile app to monitor an intelligent solar-powered irrigation system for agriculture.

Another set of programmes within the Greening Communities Initiative focuses on climate awareness. To date, 1,370 students, parents, and citizens have participated in local workshops, conducted in settings that range from the beach to the desert to community centres. All are run in collaboration with universities, schools, academies, and local government entities, and all underscore the impact that climate change can have on every aspect of life.

The Takween Al Ghurair, aimed at younger children, is a strategic collaboration in this vein with the Emirates School Establishment. Through it, over 1,000 students have participated in an activity-based, after-school national programme, whose courses prepare children to participate in the UAE’s future knowledge economy, including sustainability awareness with a focus on the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Alongside the new insights they gather, participants bring home a different consciousness. Says one child: “I’ll start by using my metal bottle that I received from Takween Al Ghurair. Secondly, I’ll use metal spoons rather than plastic spoons when ordering from different restaurants. I also learned that I should always click ‘no cutlery’ in Talabat [an online food ordering company] in order not to receive plastic spoons and help the environment.”

These are the lessons we aim for with our programmes, education where the participants, by changing their habits and minds, also change our future.

Like many other organizations around the world, we are only at the start of our green education journey. We have no doubt that strategic philanthropy can and must become a key player in accelerating the change that’s needed. Through extensive collaboration, like the kind described here, philanthropies can help shape and scale effective approaches to create a consciousness that goes beyond providing specific skills for the job market—one that enables everyone to play a part in our transformation to a greener economy and a more sustainable world.