Innovation and training needs to support Ireland’s transition to a low-carbon economy

Box 4.2 Innovation and training needs to support Ireland’s 
transition to a low-carbon economy

Expert contribution from Iulia Siedschlag.

Recent research commissioned by Skillnet Ireland (Siedschlag et al. 2022) found that developing new skills within the enterprise workforce was the top challenge that enterprises face associated with the implementation of Ireland’s Climate Action Plan in the medium term. Other key challenges include improving the way in which resources are used in their supply chain to reduce emissions and improving energy efficiency of processes, buildings and transport.

The research findings highlighted the importance of supporting business leaders in establishing sustainability strategies to enable the innovation needed for Ireland’s transition to a low-carbon economy. The research also identified digital skills as a key factor for enabling enterprises’ capacity to innovate and to support the transition to a low-carbon economy in all sectors. Against this background, using the most recent data available from the survey on e-commerce and ICT (Eurostat 2021), this research found that the demand for digital skills in the enterprise sector in Ireland is not sufficiently met, as a large proportion of enterprises had difficulties in recruiting for jobs requiring ICT specialist skills.

Taken together, the results of this research suggested that tailored training programmes to each sector and enterprise group and at different stages in the transition to a low-carbon economy would help businesses to better act and manage the transition to a low-carbon economy. The report also recommended that enhancing collaboration and coordination of different initiatives across government departments and agencies would be important to ensure accessibility and maximise benefits. In response to this research, the Climate Ready Academy, a national upskilling initiative led by Skillnet Ireland in partnership with Chambers Ireland, has recently launched a Sustainability Leaders Programme that supports enterprise managers in integrating sustainability into their business strategy