Towards an EU strategy for enhancing green skills and competences for all (own-initiative opinion)

Key points

The EESC:

• emphasises that environmental responsibility is everyone's obligation and that achieving sustainable environmental development requires drastic social change;

• believes that green skills, environmental responsibility and sustainable development should be integrated within the learning outcomes of the formal, informal and non-formal learning of all age learners;

• calls for the implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals and of the first pillar of the European Pillar of Social Rights, with the involvement of social partners;

• reminds that environmental policies should be better connected to employment and education policies;

• calls for the establishment of national policies, focussing on education on environmental responsibility and green skills, as well as pro-active upskilling and reskilling to facilitate the just transition to a green economy for all;

• calls for comprehensive policies and funding to support teachers and trainers in their professional development on environmental protection and training on green skills and competences;

• welcomes the fact that the 2020 Skills Agenda focuses on green skills, but regrets that this does not provide a target on the share of adults participating in training on at least basic green skills and competences;

• welcomes the Commission's plan for a European competence framework, as announced in the European Green Deal; recommends that this competence framework be applicable to formal, informal and non-formal learning under the Open Method of Cooperation, involving the relevant stakeholders;

• calls on the Commission to conduct research on green skills and competence development in Member States, and to base its policy strategy thereon;

• calls for more cooperation between the Education, Employment and Environment Council to link the fight against climate change with the importance of providing green skills and competences for all as from the highest level of decision-making;
• calls for a comprehensive EU level strategy such as a Council recommendation, addressing the improvement of education and training on green skills and competences, the development of green school strategies and the provision of upskilling and reskilling in skills for environmental protection, for society and for greening the economy.