Green Skills & GreenComp

Green skills are specific skills and knowledge required for a sustainable, climate-friendly, resource-conserving, green and circular economy[1] and these skills are supporting the transition to a sustainable society. CEDEFOP distinguishes three broad categories of such skills.[2]

• Transversal skills, linked to sustainable thinking and acting, relevant to all economic sectors and occupations;

• Specific skills, required to adapt or implement standards, processes and services to protect ecosystems and biodiversity, and to reduce energy, materials and water consumption;

• Highly specialised skills, required to develop and implement green technologies such as renewable energies, sewage treatment or recycling;

Against the growing prominence of the green and circular economy, the concept of green skills has gained increasing attention in the academic and policy literature, with such skills increasingly recognised as a key foundation for enabling and accelerating the transition towards greener, more resource-efficient and circular economies. Indeed, the green transition is not only creating new green occupations but also changing the tasks, processes and skill requirements of existing jobs. Green skills should therefore be understood not only as technical skills specific to particular sectors, but also as a broader set of skills that support sustainable production and work practices across sectors and occupations. This transition consequently requires education and training systems, as well as upskilling and reskilling policies, to adapt to evolving green skills needs.

Green Skills in Europe

In 2022, the European Commission published a taxonomy (classification system) of skills for the green transition in European Skills, Competencies, Qualifications, and Occupations (ESCO). The taxonomy supports a shared understanding of the skills required for a successful and fair green transition in the labour market by identifying the essential and optional skills and knowledge concepts associated with specific occupations. It includes 386 skills and 205 knowledge concepts and 5 transversal skills considered most relevant for a greener labour market. Examples of ‘green skills’ include training staff on recycling programmes or how to design and conduct energy audits and measure the sustainability of tourism activities, for instance. This broad classification serves to indicate that green skills are applied in a very wide range of jobs across all sectors of the economy.[3]

Figure 1. Distribution of the green concepts in the skills and knowledge (by European Comission)[4]

Employment in the EU’s environmental goods and services sector grew faster than overall employment over the last decade, rising from 2.02% of total employment in 2010 to 3.1% in 2022, equivalent to 6.67 million full-time equivalent employees.[5] Despite a growing demand for green skills, supply remains constrained. From 2023 to 2024, green talent supply in Europe increased by only 5.6%, compared to an 11.6% rise in demand. This disparity is projected to worsen, with a 101.5% gap anticipated by 2050 unless immediate interventions are made.[6] The growing gap between the demand for and supply of green skills highlights the need for a better understanding of evolving skills requirements and targeted measures to address skills shortages.

What is GreenComp?

GreenComp is a reference framework that defines the competences needed to understand sustainability and act effectively towards a more sustainable future, providing a common basis for learners and guidance for educators.

The framework was developed to respond to the objectives and priorities set out in the European Green Deal and to help address the green skills needs identified, particularly through initiatives such as the European Skills Agenda for Sustainable Competitiveness, Social Fairness and Resilience (2020) and the European Education Area (2020). As an EU framework that places sustainability at the core of education, skills development and lifelong learning, GreenComp provides a basis for developing the knowledge, skills and attitudes needed by citizens across the EU to live, work and act in a more sustainable way.[7] GreenComp consists of 12 competences organised into the four areas below:

Figure 2. GreenComp areas (by author)

Accordingly, GreenComp organises sustainability competences into four interconnected dimensions: embodying sustainability values, which covers valuing sustainability, supporting fairness and promoting nature; embracing complexity in sustainability, which focuses on systems thinking, critical thinking and problem framing; envisioning sustainable futures, which includes futures literacy, adaptability and exploratory thinking; and acting for sustainability, encompassing political agency, collective action and individual initiative.

Union of Skills

Green skills, alongside digital skills, have become an integral component of the skills landscape across a wide range of socio-economic sectors, particularly in the context of the European Green Deal and the green transition. In response to evolving labour market needs, sector-specific green and sustainability skills requirements have increasingly been identified, accompanied by upskilling and reskilling pathways to address emerging skills gaps.

Launched in 2025, the Union of Skills places skills development at the centre of the EU’s competitiveness and social objectives, with green and digital skills playing an important role in supporting the transitions and strengthening Europe’s workforce. To achieve these objectives, the Union of Skills will:

• Build skills for quality jobs and lives through a strong educational foundation, with an inclusive lifelong learning approach.

• Upskill and reskill an agile workforce mastering the digital and clean transition, notably those with lower and middle skills.

• Circulate skills with the free movement of people across the EU, unlocking the single market’s full potential.

• Attract, develop and retain talent.

Against this backdrop, green skills, together with digital skills, can be understood as key components of the Union of Skills, supporting Europe’s capacity to respond to the changing demands of the labour market while advancing the green and digital transitions.

[1] Wegenberger, O., & Ponocny, I. (2025). Green skills are not enough: Three levels of competences from an applied perspective. Sustainability, 17(1), 327.

[2] CEDEFOP. (N.d.). Skills for the green economy. European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training. https://www.cedefop.europa.eu/en/tools/vet-glossary/glossary/vaardigheden-voor-de-groene-economie

[3] Knudsen, M., Caniëls, M., Dickinson, P., Hery, M., Könnölä, T., & Lotz-Sisitka, H. (2023). Futures of green skills and jobs in Europe in 2050: scenario and policy implications.

[4] European Commission. (2022). Green skills and knowledge concepts: Labelling the ESCO classification. European Skills, Competences, Qualifications and Occupations (ESCO)

[5] European Environment Agency. (2025). Employment in the environmental goods and services sector in Europe., https://www.eea.europa.eu/en/analysis/indicators/employment-in-the-environmental-goods

[6] CSE. (2025). The green skills gap in Europe: A critical challenge for sustainability. CSE-NET, https://cse-net.org/the-green-skills-gap-in-europe-a-critical-challenge-for-sustainability/

[7] Bianchi, G., Pisiotis, U., & Cabrera Giraldez, M. (2022). GreenComp The European sustainability competence framework. Eur, 30955, 14-28