Skills and Capabilities for a Net-zero UK Economy

要实现英国到2050年实现所有行业脱碳的净零目标，英国经济需要发生里程碑式的变化。预计到2050年，企业将不得不消除第1类和第2类排放，同时大幅减少第3类排放。然而，英国商会（BCC）最近进行的一项大规模调查显示，大多数公司在实现净零排放的过程中明显落后：大多数公司不了解和衡量其对环境的影响，也缺乏实现2050年减排目标的合理行动计划。绿色劳动技能（即技术和管理）和企业能力（即技术和组织）将成为有效地使英国企业参与净零转型的重要杠杆。这项研究项目由伦敦帝国理工学院和英国商会共同承担，将产生一种绿色技能和能力的分类，这对英国的净零转型至关重要。它还将产生对绿色技能和能力与企业经济和环境绩效之间复杂关系的见解。要让企业参与到净零排放的转型中来，最根本的挑战之一是将“绿色技能和能力”这一术语翻译成企业能够理解的语言。因此，这项研究将侧重于更好地理解“绿色劳动技能”和“绿色企业能力”，以及如何将它们应用于不同类型的企业，从而在企业层面实现切实的净零排放解决方案。该项目旨在形成框架和见解，帮助塑造英国公司在绿色技能和能力方面的投资；同时就一系列对英国经济的去碳化和增长至关重要的绿色技能和能力提供基于证据的政策指导。作为一个实证背景，我们将重点关注循环经济（CE）转型及其三个指导原则：(1)“消除废物和污染”，(2)“循环产品和材料（以其最高价值）”和(3)“再生自然”。在研究的第一阶段，使用一系列不同的数据源（例如BCC公司调查和英国创新调查，ONS职业数据，英国在线公司和招聘广告数据和专利数据），我们将在一系列英国行业（可能包括建筑，纺织，化学，农业和重工业等）中绘制出与上述三个CE原则相关的所需绿色劳动技能和公司能力。然后，我们将对绿色技能和能力与企业经济和环境绩效之间的复杂关系进行计量经济学研究。在项目的第二阶段，我们将为政策和行业团体组织利益相关者研讨会，以测试和验证项目的结果；以及有效地传播研究的关键见解。

Achieving the UK's net-zero target to decarbonize all sectors by 2050 requires a landmark change in the economy. It is expected that companies will have to eliminate their Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions, while significantly reducing their Scope 3 emissions by 2050. Yet, a recent large-scale survey by British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) shows that most firms are significantly behind in their net-zero journey: Majority of the firms do not understand and measure their environmental impact and they lack sound action plans to achieve the emissions reduction targets for 2050. Green labour skills (i.e. technical and managerial) and firms capabilities (i.e. technological and organizational) are going to be important levers foreffectively engaging UK firms into the net-zero transition.This research project, jointly undertaken by Imperial College London and British Chambers of Commerce, will generate a taxonomy of green skills and capabilities that will be essential for UK's net-zero transition. It will also generate insights towards the complex relationships that green skills and capabilities have with firms' economic and environmental performance. One of the fundamental challenges in engaging firms to the net-zero transition is translating the terminology of 'green skills and capabilities 'into a language understood by businesses. Hence, the study will focus on better understanding 'green labour skills' and 'green firm capabilities' and how they apply to different types of businesses to move towards tangible net-zero solutions at the firm-level. The project aims to generate frameworks and insights that can help shape the investments of UK firms in green skills and capabilities; whilst providing evidence-based policy guidance on the range of green skills and capabilities that would be essential for the de carbonisation and growth of the UK economy.As an empirical context, we will focus on the Circular Economy (CE) transition and its three guiding principles of:(1) "eliminating waste and pollution", (2) "circulating products and materials (at their highest value)" and (3)"regenerating the nature" . In the first phase of the study, using a range of diverse data sources (e.g. BCC firm surveys and UK Innovation Survey , ONS occupational data , UK online firm and job adverts data and patent data ), we will map out the required green labour skills and firm capabilities in connection to the abovementioned three CE principles across a range of UK sectors (likely to include construction, textiles, chemistry, agriculture and heavy industries among others). We will, then, undertake an econometric study of the complex relationships that green skills and capabilities have with firms' economic and environmental performance. In the second phase of the project, we will organize stakeholder workshops for policy and industry communities to test and validate the findings of this project; as well as effectively disseminating the key insights of the study.