Local governments are key to driving Europe’s energy transition and bringing the EU's objective of climate neutrality by 2050 to reality. The EU’s Fitfor55 package calls for a great deal of work at local level to implement the wide-ranging measures on the ground: from building renovation, renewable energy deployment and district heating, to mobility changes, waste collection, and tree planting. The human capacity needed at local level to carry out this work is huge. Beyond technical skills, these essential tasks at the municipal level also require skills in planning, financial, legal, IT, communications, and much more. Currently, local governments simply do not have these capacities.
Studies revealing breadth of the skills gap at local level
The Local Staff for Climate Report published by Energy Cities estimated the capacity needed by local governments for one of these many tasks: building renovation. The report showed that the process of renovating buildings across Europe would require 214,000 new additional local employment positions by 2030 on average across the European Union, 16 billion euros more per year at the EU level to cover additional staff costs, and a 3% increase of local governments’ public expenditures per year to cover the additional staff cost.
Focusing on the case of France, the Institue for Climate Economics I4CE also published a report on their national situation, highlighting Frence’s main needs in terms of investment and human capacity at local level across France. This also requires strong and rapid actions from local governments. They estimated that local governments would need to substantially increase investment to €12 billion annually until 2030 to contribute to the national climate strategy, which means they need to more than double their current investment to be on the right track for carbon neutrality. To achieve this, approximately 25,000 dedicated staff members are needed to steer local policies in three key areas: developing and monitoring climate strategy, project management, and human resources to accelerate decarbonisation efforts.
These studies clearly demonstrate that if Europe wants to achieve its goals, it is essential to bridge the skills gap. Some cities, countries and EU institutions have put in place programmes to help. From hiring technical experts for heat planning to creating new jobs in the renewable energy sector, these examples highlight the importance of investing in human capital to secure a just green transition in Europe.
Utrecht, Netherlands: Strengthening Staffing for their Heating Plan
Utrecht exemplifies the need to address staffing requirements to respond to the implementation of mandatory EU heating plans. Utrecht’s heat and decarbonisation plan has positioned it as by far one of the biggest tasks for the municipality, with the objective of decarbonising 40,000 houses in 2030 and 120,000 in 2050. To transform the city's heating system at such a rate, the municipality is planning to increase its staffing capacity from 6 full-time equivalents to 31 between now and 2030. This dedicated workforce will be crucial in driving the necessary changes and implementing an effective heating plan that aligns with EU regulations and contributes to the energy transition goals.
Poland: Mobilising New Jobs for Renewable Energy
In the region on Małopolska, in Poland, a dedicated programme was created to hire and train new staff for the implementation of climate projects. The LIFE-IP Ekomałopolska project aims to implement the regional action plan for climate and energy in Małopolska. It is developing institutional capacity, know-how and tools that will strengthen the implementation of the plan, which also includes creating 20,000 new jobs in the renewable energy and energy efficiency sector. This initiative involves the establishment of a regional-level Excellence Center that supports all local authorities, as well as the creation and training of a network of advisors for climate and environment for municipalities. The network of advisors helps to close the capacity gap, by coordinating tasks in the Regional Plan, supporting local governments with strategic documents, funding applications, informational campaigns, and facilitating local cooperation with stakeholders.
Germany: Creating a Funding Scheme for Local Government
In Germany, the government has set up funding schemes to support local governments in hiring staff for various climate-related tasks, such as developing climate action plans, coordinating mitigation efforts, and implementing energy-saving measures. The funding scheme plays a very important role and has already supported over 1,400 climate action managers. By providing funding and additional staff, Germany aims to improve the implementation of climate policies and achieve better reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
European Technical Support Instrument: Strengthening Green Skills Transition
At European level, DG REFORM has developed an instrument – the Technical Support Instrument (TSI) – to help EU public authorities design and implement structural reforms, including for the green transition. The TSI program supports local governments in energy, sustainability and skills, among other policy areas. For example, in Flanders focuses on strengthening the transition to a greener economy through the development of green skills. Recognising that both new and existing jobs require additional green skills, this programme in Flanders aims to provide companies with self-assessment tools to identify skill gaps and training needs. This approach enables targeted workforce development and empowers individuals to adapt to the changing demands of the energy and climate transition.
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- Publication date
- 19 July 2023