Green jobs in Scotland: FOI request

Information requested

a) What is the Scottish Government’s definition of green jobs?

b) Per the Scottish Government’s definition of green jobs, how many green jobs are there in Scotland as of August 2022?

c) What is the average annual salary for green jobs in Scotland in 2022?

d) What percent of workers who are employed in green jobs in Scotland are currently employed by companies that are headquartered in Scotland?

Response

I attach a copy of some of the information you requested.

a) What is the Scottish Governments definition of green jobs?

The answer to your question is;

There are a few definitions which have been used by Scottish Government to define green jobs in different policy contexts. The Green Jobs Fund is a five-year and up to £100m capital fund (from year 2021), which will support businesses and their supply chains to help them better transition to a low carbon economy. The support provided by the fund aims to create green employment through investment in equipment, premises, research and development.

Green Jobs Fund

The definition used in for the launch of the Green Jobs Fund (launched in 2021) was:

• Jobs in businesses that produce goods or provide services that benefit the environment or conserve natural resources.

For example, in a business whose products and services benefit the environment (such as a renewables or low carbon technology company), this would include any job from warehouse and office staff, to engineers and researchers.

• Jobs in which workers’ duties involve making their establishment’s production processes more environmentally friendly or use fewer natural resources.

For other businesses whose main focus isn’t the environment, this would include any job directly related to making the company, its processes and its products more environmentally friendly. This could be the main focus of their role (such as a Sustainability Officer) or just a part of their wider role (such as a Purchasing Manager who will aim to source more sustainable materials and suppliers).

The definition above is based on the US Bureau of Labor Statistics definition[1].

Climate Emergency Skills Action Plan

The Climate Emergency Skills Action Plan[2] , published in December 2020, states that ‘green jobs include those in renewable energy, the circular economy and zero waste and the nature based sector with wider green skills sitting on a spectrum ranging from highly specific requirements in sectors directly supporting the transition to net zero such as energy, transport, construction, agriculture, manufacturing, through to more generic requirements across all sectors to thrive in a net zero economy’.

To support monitoring of the 2 policy areas above, Scottish Government tracks relevant metrics related to the Green Jobs Fund, and is also engaging with external organisations on a statistical definition of green jobs, further details are provided in Annex B.

b) Per the Scottish Government’s definition of green jobs, how many green jobs are there in Scotland as of August 2022?
c) What is the average annual salary for green jobs in Scotland in 2022?
d) What percent of workers who are employed in green jobs in Scotland are currently employed by companies that are headquartered in Scotland?

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested for the above questions given that both Skills Development Scotland and the UK Government are currently reviewing the definition of green jobs and we await the outcome of these exercises. The reasons why we don’t have the information are explained in the Annex A to this letter, along with additional information which may be of interest to you (Annex B)

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.

FOI 202200314701 - Information released

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