30 October 2025 - The UK Government’s Clean Energy Jobs Plan, announced in October 2025, signals a major shift in the skills and investment landscape. With a bold ambition to double clean energy employment by 2030 — creating over 400,000 new roles — the plan commits significant funding to build high-quality, well-paid jobs across the country. It calls for deep collaboration between business, government and education to close the green skills gap, establish new Technical Excellence Colleges, and embed sustainability into the heart of economic growth.
This announcement reflects the wider global realty: an era defined by geopolitical tensions, resource-scarcity and disruptive technologies, companies that want to thrive must build the skills, alliances and market conditions that enable them to innovate and invest for the long term. Once considered a niche concern, green skills are now fundamental to business resilience, innovation and long-term value creation.
Green skills are no longer confined to specialist sustainability roles. They are becoming fundamental across business functions, from technology and finance to engineering, supply chain management, resource management, and operations.
Disruption is inevitable, but it’s also an opportunity
In her recent Forbes article, Nina Seega, Sustainable Finance Director at the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL), highlights the shifting landscape of green jobs. While some sustainability teams are being downsized, others — particularly in Asia — are thriving amid record investments in clean energy and mobility. The message is clear: disruption is coming, and it will affect every business function.
This disruption also presents an opportunity to reimagine how organisations operate. The next wave of growth will be driven by technologies and models designed for a carbon and resource constrained world. Success will depend not just on technical expertise, but on contextual intelligence, entrepreneurial thinking and cross-sector collaboration.
Green skills are strategic, not just technical
Thomas Vergunst, Programme Director for Finance Sector Education at CISL, emphasised in a recent BusinessGreen webinar that green skills now span far beyond environmental science. The term can be misleading as it includes strategic and leadership capabilities that enable organisations to respond to complex social and environmental risks and opportunities.
Thomas’ work with financial institutions shows how sustainability can be embedded into leadership development, helping executives integrate environmental and social considerations into core decision-making. This is vital for organisations that want to create and protect long-term value in a rapidly changing world.
The future of green jobs is integrated and commercial – predictions for the finance sector
In her article, Nina identifies five emerging roles in finance that will shape the future of green jobs:
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Deal-makers in transition finance – Structure capital for disruptive sectors while minimising stranded asset risks.
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Risk managers addressing disruption as standard practice – Integrate geopolitical, technological, and environmental shocks into risk, credit, and insurance processes.
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Client transition advisors – Guide clients through effective business model transitions with pragmatic financing.
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Foresight and data leaders – Use analytics and AI to assess exposures and find growth opportunities.
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Policy and market navigators – Ensure alignment with evolving regulations and maintain engagement with policymakers.
These roles may not carry the ‘green’ label, but they are essential to the transition. For sustainability professionals, this means working across functions and influencing commercial strategy, not sticking with the historic view of sustainability as environmental reporting or managing compliance requirements.
Building a green skills strategy that sticks
Vergunst advocates for a holistic approach to green skills: recruitment, training, re-skilling and retention. He also stresses the importance of collaboration between business, government and education to close the skills gap. His work with the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD), for example, demonstrates how targeted education can scale market capacity and build shared understanding (you can find out more about it here).
For organisations embedding sustainability into their culture, this means investing in people, not just policies. It means equipping teams with the skills to navigate complexity, challenge assumptions and drive innovation.
Green skills are no longer optional. They are the foundation of future competitiveness and resilience. The UK’s Clean Energy Jobs Plan underscores a growing consensus: sustainability is not a separate discipline but a a core capability for economic success.
For those looking to develop their skills within the finance sector, CISL offers programmes for individuals and organisations, and has recently launched a finance stream for the Master’s level Postgraduate Certificate in Sustainable Business:
For individuals
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Accredited study: Postgraduate Certificate in Sustainable Business – finance stream
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Introductory learning: Sustainable Finance Foundations: Banking, Investment and Insurance
