This report focuses specifically on explaining the relevance of skills to enable the green transformation in the industrial sector, understood broadly to comprise not only manufacturing but also other productive sectors. In particular, it examines what upcoming trends in greening the industry in developing countries imply for the necessary skills, what kind of skills and competencies are expected to play a role in greening the industry, and what interventions may be necessary to develop such skills. Lastly, drawing on experiences with such interventions in developing countries, it highlights what the pre-requisites are for implementing effective skill development programs and for scaling them up. This report focuses on necessary interventions to improve existing green skills and/or to develop new skills in order to meet the demand created by greening the economy also in the context of other major transformations, such as digitalization. It stresses that the effectiveness of these skill development programs depends not only on the set of policies aimed at deploying green technologies and at building knowledge related to the transition to a green economy. Much more important is the process by which policies and interventions are implemented across sectors. Specifically, several guidelines emerge as important for stakeholders involved in skill development programs: Policy coherence between green skills development programs and other policy goals through a systematic process of stakeholder consultations Close coordination of goals and interventions across sectors and stakeholders (at national but also at regional and even at global level) Solid empirical base on existing green jobs and green skills Systematic mechanisms for green skills forecasting to anticipate future needs in terms of skills development interventions Monitoring and evaluation of outcomes. The report underlines that the private sector should be seen as a central player in green skills development programs. Therefore, the above pre-requisites emphasize the need for firms to be active participants not only in implementing such programs, but also in the policy-making process. Other stakeholders, such as civil society, trade unions, development agencies and international financial institutions are also important players in designing and implementing training programs, especially when it comes to green skills.
