New Delhi: According to academicians and experts, the conversation about climate change is making a global shift towards a green economy and the emergence of related jobs inevitable, but the Indian education system is still not ready for this change.
at the World Economic Forum in Davos The yearFormer US Vice President Al Gore called renewable energy “the cheapest source of electricity”, while UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres focused on climate risk, saying the world is teetering on an imminent climate disaster.
Back home, on 15 August 2021, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the National Hydrogen Mission, a policy aimed at promoting green hydrogen to cut emissions and make India a major exporter in the sector over the next 25 years .
First announced in the Union Budget for 2021-22, the scheme was seen by many as an opportunity to create 6 lakh “green jobs” – employment opportunities that can Contribution To preserve or restore the environment.
Despite this decision towards green jobs around the world, Market experts and educators claim that demand exceeds supply, at least in India currently.
Experts believe that to match the growing demand, Indian educational institutions need to prepare their students better. And, this means designing their curriculum to focus Climate technology and sustainability.
“The supply of talent in this industry is currently less than the growth in demand. And I think universities need to create special programs for this or include some part of these skill set qualities in their regular curriculum so that people become more professional professionals,” Shantanu Rooj, Founder, TeamLease, ThePrint informed that one of the largest providers of HR services in India.
Gap is enough. According to Rouge, 1.3 lakh people got employment in the green sector in the financial year 2021-2022, while the figure was 1 lakh a year ago. He said that this is just 60 per cent of the actual demand.
Roose said the number of “green jobs” could be as high as 2.4 million by 2030 – a key reason why, according to him, institutions should consider revamping the curriculum.
increase in green jobs
There has been a substantial increase in the number of green jobs around the world. according to a joint report Published by International Renewable Energy Agency and International Labor Organisation, India created 8,63,000 green jobs in 2020-21.
The report states that 12.7 million green jobs could be created globally in 2020-2021.
Similarly, a report good by linkedin found 100 Entrepreneurs in India are highly skilled in two green. The report, released in February last year, also found that “green talent” in the workforce worldwide is set to increase from 9.6 percent in 2015 to 13.3 percent in 2021 (a growth rate of 38.5 percent).
In terms of “green-intensive” jobs, India ranks fifth in the global metric, it showed.
Likewise, “Sustainability Manager” Made It Into LinkedIn’s Latest Report 25 Fastest Growing JobsPublished on 18 January. Hence, it becomes important that educational institutions catch up with this trend.
According to Rouge, while only a few While private institutions have launched specific programs for such job profiles, most of the mainstream public education system needs to catch up.
Of course, there are universities that offer courses on environment and sustainability. For example, Azim Premji University in Bangalore has a course called ‘Exploring Sustainability in the Indian Context’, which teaches students how to design a sustainable action plan keeping in mind the cultural, social and economic dimensions of the local ecosystem.
Another such institute is the Indian Institute of Sustainability, Gujarat University, which offers courses focusing on action-based models to ensure development with sustainability.
But, most educational institutions have yet to launch full-fledged programs focusing on climate action. For example, while elite IITs offer courses on biotechnology and related sciences, they do not have courses focusing on sustainability.
Minia Chatterjee, The Director of the Center for Sustainability and Anant Fellowship for Climate Action At Anant National University in Ahmedabad, we believe that simply adding a few ancillary subjects to a university’s list will no longer be enough and that the time has come to dedicate schools to climate action.
The privately owned Ananta National University claims to have launched first of its kind undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral courses in climate action and also offers fellowships.
“Adding a few courses on the environment or sustainability now won’t cut it,” she said. “Companies will need professionals trained in carbon accounting, sustainability management and technology to help them achieve their sustainability goals.”
The demand for green education is increasingly being reflected in online courses as well. US-based open online course provider Coursera told ThePrint that its programs on environmental, social and governance (ESG) have gained momentum over the past year.
ESG is a term used to describe a framework that will help investors understand the sustainable and ethical impacts of an organization.
According to Coursera, on its course introduction to sustainability (University of Illinois), From climate science to action, The first step in building the business case for sustainability (University of Colorado), Strategy and Sustainability (IESE Business School) sees a 35 to 100 percent increase in enrollment in 2022 as compared to last year.
The government, too, is focused on creating a green-skilled workforce. A report by the New Delhi-based public policy think-tank Council of Energy, Environment and Water Said in January 2022 that India can potentially create About 3.4 million short- and long-term jobs if it fulfills its plan to install 238 GW of solar and 101 GW of wind capacity to achieve a target of 500 GW of non-fossil electricity generation by 2030.
In 2015, the The Ministries of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and New and Renewable Energy have jointly set up the Skill Council for Green Jobs (SCGJ) to create a curriculum and assessment standards and train the available workforce in green skills.
Last February, the Modi government set up a door under SCGJ to help promote employment in the green energy sector.
SCGJ Chief Executive Officer P. Saxena said that in view of India’s plan to shift to hydrogen as the main source of energy by 2030, an additional 6 lakh skilled manpower would be required.
“To ensure that there are many such skilled workers in the country, we are planning to set up 10 centers of excellence and tie up with colleges, universities where such courses are taught. We will also identify and create 40 new qualifications for white and blue-collar jobs,” he told ThePrint.
Council members said over the past seven yearsSCGJ trained more than 1 lakh technicians in the field of solar energy and more than 5 lakh workers in waste management. These are mainly blue-collar jobs, but council members told ThePrint that there is still a dearth of trainers to train white-collar professionals.
need of green entrepreneurs
According to SCGJ members, India needs Entrepreneurs “who can innovate in the field of renewable energy”. At present, most of the technology was borrowed from the West, he said.
According to government data released in 2022, out of 72,993 start-ups under the Start-up India initiative, 3,300 recognized Working in climate action areas by providing solutions through renewable energy and green technology.
However, this number appears inadequate, especially in light of the projected investments in the green sector. A Boston Consulting Group report published in April last year revealed that investment in India’s green tech sector is expected to increase to $45-55 billion by 2027.
A 2021 report good Arete Advisors by the Impact Investors Council, Climate Collective and consultants said that between 2016 and 2020, Biggest investment in green tech sector of India.Sustainable Mobility Sector – 84 deals valued at $705 million.
this was it It was followed by energy (including clean energy production from new feedstocks, energy access, energy storage and energy optimization products) with 44 deals valued at $301 million.
Entrepreneurs ThePrint spoke to believe that although environmental values have a positive impact on the success of green entrepreneurial activities, it is innovative thinking that forms the essence of a business idea.
Entrepreneurs say that simply copying American and European green tech advances at a lower cost is not the way forward – what is needed is a more country-specific problem-solving approach.
Delhi based start-up Sheru Founder Ankit Mittal Told Green tech entrepreneurs require nuanced expertise in the fields of science and technology as well as economics, the environment, and sustainability.
Mittal, whose start-up provides cloud storage for batteries used in electric vehicles, believes that although the government is “forward-thinking” in terms of green tech entrepreneurship, school children should be provided with an “environment for innovation” to help drive innovation.
“To foster such entrepreneurship, the Indian education system must invest in providing school children with labs and spaces for innovation so that they can develop solution-based prototypes at an early age.”
(Edited by Uttara Ramaswamy)