Joint statement – 26 October 2023

 

A broad coalition of leading industry and professional associations, education institutions, local governments and other non-government organisations is calling for the Commonwealth, state and territory governments to take real action to secure Australia’s  emissions reduction and workforce goals.

 

With multi-year lead times, workforce development needs to be considered up front to ensure we have the workforce to deliver our 2030 target of 43 per cent lower emissions, and our 2050 target of net zero emissions.

 

In support of this, the Clean Energy Council and Energy Efficiency Council launched the Careers for Net Zero campaign.

 

Careers for Net Zero showcases the many career opportunities that will help deliver an equitable, prosperous and net zero emissions Australia.

 

The campaign is underpinned by three goals:

• Growing the clean economy workforce
  • Ensuring the clean economy workforce is appropriately sized and skilled to enable a rapid transition to an equitable, prosperous and net zero emissions economy.

 

• Empowering everyday Aussies to make a difference
  • Enabling students, graduates and experienced workers to find their role in Australia’s clean economy.

 

• Moving beyond ambition to action
  • Supporting government and industry to co-create and deliver an effective workforce development strategy for the clean economy, and education and training systems that can rapidly scale to meet our net zero emissions goal.

 

Careers for Net Zero is aligned with the findings from the Australian Government’s recent Working Future white paper and The Clean Energy Generation report, which highlights that “Ambitious net zero targets will need to be matched with ambitious workforce and skills policy.”[i] Signatories to this statement are calling on government to urgently undertake the recommended actions in The Clean Energy Generation report.

 

We must support the growth of Australia’s renewables, energy efficiency and electrification, carbon removals and circular economy workforces.

 

Specifically, this joint statement:

• Reiterates earlier industry calls for government to determine baseline employment figures across the clean economy, including a fully funded, designed and delivered Australian Energy Employment Report that includes energy management work across the whole economy, and is repeated periodically;
• Calls for the National Energy Workforce Strategy to support the wider clean economy workforce following The Clean Energy Generation report’s definition of clean energy, which includes workers across energy supply, energy demand, clean energy enabling, carbon lifecycle, emissions-intensive and transitioning sectors; and
• Urges government to rapidly fund and deploy an implementation plan alongside the National Energy Workforce Strategy that outlines a clear pathway to bridging the gap between the numbers of clean economy workers we have now, and what we need to realise our 2030 and 2050 emissions reduction goals.

 

As signatories to this joint statement, industry, educational institutions, and civil society organisations are ready to roll up their sleeves and collaborate with government on developing a world-class skilled, safe and resilient clean economy workforce – and the work needs to start now.

 

This joint statement is supported by:

 

Enquiries:

Holly Taylor, Head of Strategy and Partnerships, Energy Efficiency Council
holly.taylor@eec.org.au
0481 346 145

 

Anita Talberg, Director – Workforce Development, Clean Energy Council
atalberg@cleanenergycouncil.org.au
0405 674 702

 

[i] Jobs and Skills Australia 2023, The Clean Energy Generation: workforce needs for a net zero economy, Australian Government, Canberra, p. 8.