Northern Ireland has seen the volume of green jobs as a proportion of all job adverts increase year on year from 2.4% to 4%, the second highest share of green job adverts in the UK.

Northern Ireland has seen the volume of green jobs as a proportion of all job adverts increase year on year from 2.4% to 4%, the second highest share of green job adverts in the UK and higher than the UK average of 3.3%, according to PwC’s latest Green Jobs Barometer. Scotland ranked first, with a share of 5.6%.

The number of green jobs advertised in Northern Ireland has also seen a 25.6% increase year on year – despite market conditions – bringing the total number to just under 2800.

Northern Ireland saw the largest increase in the number of green job adverts in the mining and quarrying (41%), electricity (9.2%) and construction (6.9%) sectors. This growth was partially offset however by modest reductions in sectors including manufacturing (-0.5%), transport & storage (-0.4%) and accommodation and food services (-0.3%)

PwC’s Green Jobs Barometer, now in its fourth year, tracks the movement in green jobs creation, job loss, carbon intensity of employment, and worker sentiment across regions and sectors.

Jason Calvert, Director and Economist at PwC Northern Ireland, said:

“It’s encouraging to see that green job creation in Northern Ireland continues to show resilience. It is clear that there are opportunities for further growth here – while our green jobs market is small and needs to be scaled up, there is a lot we can do. DAERA’s Green Growth Strategy, which includes developing a workforce that supports climate action, is a further step in driving us toward creating meaningful solutions for businesses here to benefit from the opportunities of the net zero transition.

Ultimately, in order for Northern Ireland to thrive in a net zero world, we need a skilled workforce, and so we must make a concerted effort to create new low carbon jobs, and adopt a coordinated approach to upskill and reskill the existing workforce. Policymakers also need to incentivise higher education in fields that will support the green economy, creating better conditions to retain new graduates in the region, ensuring that we are harnessing young people’s passion for the environment and creating the skills NI will need to thrive in a net zero world.”

The UK’s successful transition to a low carbon economy rides on a two-pronged approach: a concerted effort to create thousands of new low carbon jobs across the UK and a coordinated approach to upskill and reskill the existing workforce. This requires collaboration between government, industry, and education providers to develop and implement a comprehensive action plan.