A green career can be extremely rewarding, providing you with both purpose and passion every day. There are green, sustainability and environmental jobs across all sectors, and in the future, we hope that everybody will have the relevant skills and knowledge to make their job greener.
Developing your career
Green skills are in demand
New green, sustainability and environmental jobs will be created, and existing jobs will need to be done in a greener way to ensure that all businesses are operating sustainably. Every single individual will need to develop green skills. We believe that everybody has a role to play in our green future, and that green knowledge and skills must be brought into every role. Alongside this, you might also want to develop your career in a specific area, for example, working on renewable energy, actively working outdoors to protect the natural environment, or working on new green technologies.
It is widely acknowledged that there is a growing demand across all jobs for candidates with green skills. We need to train individuals and plug the green gaps for future generations, to prevent demand outstripping supply. In 2024, LinkedIn reported that, “By 2050, there will be twice as many jobs requiring green skills as people qualified to fill them if today’s trends continue…. Job seekers with green skills or titles see a 54.6% higher hiring rate than the workforce overall.”
Play your part
This is your opportunity to be part of the solution to climate change, biodiversity loss, the plastic waste crisis and other environmental challenges. In response to the global need for action, the UK government has a target of reaching net zero emissions by 2050, and to turn around the decline in our natural environment. This can only be achieved with a trained workforce with relevant skills.
Support for you
The Green Careers Hub has content to develop your career, whatever stage you are at in your journey. Navigate to some of our careers advice pages to discover your next step towards a green, sustainability or environmental job.
Key terms
Green Skills
An umbrella term for the knowledge, behaviours, capabilities and technical skills required to tackle the environmental challenges we face and to unlock new opportunities for growth.
Green Jobs
Employment in an activity that contributes to protecting or restoring the environment, including those that mitigate or adapt to climate change.
Green Economy
A potential future state of the whole UK economy, in which fundamental changes in the way the economy functions have taken place. Growth will continue to be the essential motif of our economy, but its measurement will be more holistic, more consistently factoring in people and planet, alongside profit.
Created by
IEMA is the membership body for environment and sustainability professionals