Metro Mayor Dan Norris will meet workers helping deliver a green and fair recovery for the West of England as part of his 2nd Jobs and Skills Summit which commences today.
This year’s programme of events focuses on raising the profile of green jobs across sectors, showcasing career opportunities for local people and hearing from the region’s brilliant green workers supporting the West of England to reach its goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2030. The summit is happening in conjunction with a wider £478k project in the region to boost ‘green skills’ to better equip the workforce with the necessary skills to achieve net zero.
“The climate crisis is the single biggest challenge the West of England faces, touching on every aspect of the lives of local people”
The second Jobs and Skills Summit demonstrates the Metro Mayor’s forward-thinking commitments to tackle the climate crisis and transition to net zero through good-quality, secure jobs. With so many tech for good businesses based here in the South West that already align with this mantra, the region is in a strong position to realise these goals.
On the summit day, the Metro Mayor will meet with students at Chew Valley School; workers in Bristol’s retrofit industry; South Gloucestershire companies developing new and emerging green technologies, and union representatives working in green West of England workplaces.
The jobs and skills activity on display builds on the findings of the West of England Combined Authority’s Retrofit and Green Skills Reports following the Mayor’s inaugural Jobs and Skills Summit, showcasing the actions taken to provide green jobs of the future and kickstart our green recovery.
Metro Mayor Dan Norris says, “The climate crisis is the single biggest challenge the West of England faces, touching on every aspect of the lives of local people. Rising to the climate crisis is key to solving the jobs crisis and ensuring a green recovery the route to providing everyone with the opportunity of decent, well-paid and fulfilling jobs. I want to make our region a leader in green skills and jobs.
“That’s why I commissioned the West of England Combined Authority I lead to produce reports identifying exactly what we needed to do to get the green-skilled workforce we desperately need. This year’s Summit will demonstrate how we’re rising to that challenge and how the region’s businesses and workers are accelerating the change needed to reach our net-zero target. I look forward to meeting our inspirational green workers and building on these successes.”
The West of England’s green economy is worth over £760 million and now supports 6,250 green jobs. Dan will more than double this figure over the next decade by adding 23,000 new green jobs, central to ensuring the region plays its part in tackling the climate and biodiversity emergency.
Shona Wright
Shona covers all things editorial at TechSPARK. She publishes news articles, interviews and features about our fantastic tech and digital ecosystem, working with startups and scaleups to spread the word about the cool things they're up to.
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