On Thursday 26 October 2023, the Clean Energy Council and Energy Efficiency Council hosted the inaugural Careers for Net Zero Fair at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.

 

The Careers for Net Zero Fair was co-hosted by the Clean Energy Council’s Director for Workforce Development, Anita Talberg, and Energy Efficiency Council’s Head of Strategy and Partnerships, Holly Taylor.

 

The pair were joined by Victorian Premier, the Hon. Jacinta Allan MP, Commonwealth Minister for Skills and Training, the Hon Brendan O’Connor MP, Victorian Minister for Energy, Resources and Climate Action the Hon. Lily D’Ambrosio MP, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Atlassian and Chair of Boundless Earth, Mike Cannon-Brookes, and a host of other leading industry, education and training sector, and civil society representatives.

 

The Fair was the launching pad for the Careers for Net Zero campaign, which exists to showcase the many career opportunities that will help deliver an equitable, prosperous and net zero emissions Australia.

 

The day commenced with an opening plenary that included Premier Allan and Mike Cannon-Brookes.

 

Premier Allan used her time at the podium to announce the State Electricity Commission’s 10-year strategy, telling the story of her dad, who began his electrical apprenticeship with the SEC at 19, and highlighting that one of the strategy’s three key pillars is building a renewable energy workforce.

 

Mike Cannon-Brookes used his speech to reiterate the opportunity, highlighting the International Energy Agency’s estimates of more than 30 million new clean energy jobs will being added globally by 2030, which far surpasses the close to 13 million jobs in fossil fuel-related industries that will be lost. In Mike’s words: “a 2 for 1 deal.”

 

As the day moved on and some of Australia’s brightest lights in the clean economy took the stage, key focus areas emerged.

 

Firstly, as Victorian Minister D’Ambrosio put it, that “there’s no reason all jobs can’t be climate jobs.” Additionally, just as clean economy solutions like electrification and carbon removals are complex and often confusing, so too can be finding a job in the clean economy.

 

One of the final speakers, Hannah Curtis of  Year 13 nailed the crux of the issue, and one of the core reasons for the existence of Careers for Net Zero. While her team’s polling found that the huge majority of young Australians are deeply concerned about climate change and are motivated by a career in the clean economy, 60 per cent say they know nothing about clean economy jobs, and 75 per cent don’t know anything at all about pathways in.

 

The career pathways on careersfornetzero.org.au exist to help students, graduates and experienced workers do just that.

 

The Fair demonstrated one thing clearly: it’s time to move into a clean economy career.

 

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