Addressing the barriers into green careers for people from historically underserved communities

I am proud that The National Lottery Community Fund and Greenworkx have published the most up-to-date insight into the barriers preventing people from entering green careers, because I know from personal experience how hard it can be to get your foot in the door in the sector.  

After training as a chef and then travelling internationally as a young adult, I decided I wanted a career that harnessed my passion for the environment – but found securing long term work in the sector difficult. I did some ad hoc work as a countryside ranger, and then completed a degree in Environmental Systems, and volunteered with an environmental charity, but found myself unemployed for over a year.  

However, everything changed when I was lucky enough to secure funding for supported green employment, doing a course in freshwater biology. Once I’d completed this supported employment, I ended up in the voluntary sector, but crucially, having struggled to secure a permanent job for so long, after the support of my green career access scheme, I have been in constant employment ever since.  

Put simply – supporting people into green careers works. However, as our new report with Greenworkx shows, people from historically underserved communities face many additional barriers in accessing these careers. These barriers, including factors such as access to training, low confidence, structural discrimination and inaccessibility, and employer-related practices, often combine to disproportionately affect those already underrepresented in the workforce. Additionally, these barriers can also impact wider community engagement in environmental projects and initiatives. 

The climate and nature emergency affects us all, and with the recent UK Government announcement of plans to create 400,000 new green jobs by 2030 opening many new career opportunities for people, it is vital that we do everything we can to give everyone the same access to those careers. 

What can we do to help people overcome the barriers?  

The report calls for us to build systemic interventions that tackle all of the barriers. Like the pilots that Greenworkx has already run while developing the report, these solutions should be co-designed with employers, and include things like: job shadowing where successful graduates help new people get experience; creating clear guides that show what "job ready" actually means; bringing together community groups, training providers, and employers to work on shared goals; and funders like us encouraging projects to consider how to create local green jobs. 

As an environmental funder, and the largest funder of community activity in the UK, we know the importance of actively supporting people into green jobs. Through Dormant Assets funding, we operate the Sustainable Steps Wales: Green Careers programme, which helps young people with disabilities and / or from ethnically minoritised communities across Wales into green careers.  

With over £12 million in Dormant Assets funding awarded to partnerships operating across North, West and South Wales, the Green Careers projects have helped identify the barriers cited in the report, and therefore can lead the way towards practical solutions. Foothold Cymru found that young people lack awareness about the wide range of jobs that can be considered green, and through Sustainable Steps Wales will be helping the next generation from historically underrepresented communities into all sorts of careers – from chefs at a sustainable cafe, to admin staff at an environmental charity, to renewable energy engineers. 

Alongside our commitment to large systemic initiatives like Sustainable Steps Wales, we also recognise the need for green jobs to be embedded at a grassroots community level, and our role as a funder to encourage projects to create those roles. In England, our National Lottery Awards for All – Environment programme is currently open for applications, with grants available from £300-£20,000. Projects receiving Lottery funding to make a positive difference to the environment can offer a gateway to green careers for many in their community, through creating opportunities to volunteer, or work part or full time in a role directly helping the community connect with their local environment.  

As we look to tackle the climate crisis and build a green economy, we need a skilled workforce that can deal with the challenges we are facing, and it is vital that everyone is able to contribute to that, including those from historically underrepresented communities. This report should give employers tangible ways of working to address barriers to green careers, and ensure that we can all work together to build a more sustainable future.  

You can find out more about applying for environmental funding from The National Lottery Community Fund here: https://bit.ly/Environmentfunding 

You can read the full report on the Greenworkx website – Greenworkx is the education technology startup building the workforce for a resilient future. They help employers to hire, train, and upskill the talent essential to power the energy transition, and they are on a mission to power 10 million people in green jobs in 10 years. 

Overcoming barriers to green energy jobs for historically underserved communities