Ensuring London has the right skills for a low-carbon circular economy

A core aspect of the Mayor’s commitment to making London a zero-carbon city by 2050, is the need to transition to a low-carbon, circular economy. To achieve this, London will need a dynamic and responsive skills system that can meet the ever-changing demands of businesses and provide Londoners with a fair chance to access new employment opportunities.

Today, the London Assembly Economy Committee published a report “Future of skills in a low-carbon circular economy” which makes a series of recommendations to ensure Londoners have the right skills to transition to a low-carbon, circular economy. The recommendations include:

• The Mayor should establish a Green Procurement Standard, a benchmark for environmentally sustainable procurement practices
• The Mayor should use the Adult Education Budget to provide funding for retraining employees with a view to assisting London’s transition to a low-carbon economy, and to provide detail on how he will work with employers to ensure the delegated AEB and wider technical and vocational education system delivers for the London economy, as promised in his Skills for Londoner’s Framework.
• The Mayor should produce an action plan to show his commitment to help London make a transition to a low carbon economy.

Léonie Cooper AM, Chair of the Economy Committee, said:

“For the Mayor to reach his target of London being zero carbon by 2050, London will have to reduce emissions from the current 34 megatons, to near zero. And while change can bring challenges for some businesses, there’s clearly an economic opportunity to grasp as London leads the way in tacking the climate emergency.

“There has already been significant growth in the number of employees in the low-carbon and environmental goods and services sector, from 156,000 in 2007-8 to 246,000 in 2017-18 and further growth could depend on the rate that people acquire the necessary skills.

“That’s why we’ve set out recommendations to the Mayor on how he can seize the opportunity in the rise of low-carbon goods and services to not only boost London’s economy and reduce emissions but also provide necessary skills for Londoners for the future.”