Green-economy education is gaining momentum as demand for climate-linked skills continues to outpace the supply of qualified talent. Education New Zealand has been promoting awareness of future-focused, industry-aligned study options as education becomes more closely connected to sustainability goals. The trend is being driven by rapid growth in sustainability, climate action and environmental management roles, creating new opportunities for graduates with relevant expertise.

The Global Green Skills Report 2025 released by LinkedIn emphasized the magnitude of this transformation. Green hiring demands are increasing twice as fast as the supply of green skills in the workforce, and the report forecasted that there will be a need for doubling the global green workforce by 2050 in order to match the demand. It was also noted that individuals with green skills are being recruited globally at a 46.6 percent rate higher than the economy wide hiring rate.

The future scenario is similarly positive. According to the International Labour Organisation’s Workforce 2030 Report, the international energy transition policy, backed by proper investments, can create another 37.2 million employment opportunities worldwide, out of which 26 million will be created in Asia and the Pacific region due to increasing public investment in renewable energy capacity over the past decades. With increased investments in renewable energy and climate resilience, sustainability has become a major concern for the workforce.

What makes the difference is the wide range of industries that are now involved. The greening of skills has gone beyond environmental science and increasingly embraces cross-sectoral specialization areas such as climate resilience planning, sustainable agriculture, climate-resilient infrastructure development and ecosystem restoration. Organisations and universities now offer more programs that are geared towards meeting the green economy’s requirements for skilled personnel.

A number of organisations in New Zealand have programs which cover all sorts of climate actions, energy transition, and ecological restoration initiatives. For instance, there is the program for Environmental Planning and Climate Change in the University of Waikato, while Massey University has recently introduced the climate action specialisation in its program Master of Sustainable Development Goals.