Moving towards a low-emission global economy will require new ‘green jobs’ and reskilling, and the maritime industry is no different, says World Economic Forum (WEF) in a new article. Global shipping’s green transition could create new jobs and skills for hundreds of thousands of seafarers worldwide. Therefore, coordinated policy-making will be key to matching supply and demand and for countries to capitalize on green job opportunities.
WEF notes that the effects of the green transition on employment are now requiring workforces across multiple sectors to reskill and upskill. This, coupled with new technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI) and digitalization, is leading to increased calls for investment in skills to ensure a thriving future workforce in 2030 and beyond.
Shipping’s decarbonization is expected to bring with it green job creation opportunities across new value chains, with 87% of the infrastructure projected to be land-based. According to the Africa Green Hydrogen Alliance, the production of green hydrogen – a fuel touted for zero emission shipping – could create 2 million to 4 million green jobs by 2050 in member countries.
As such, meeting decarbonization goals, coupled with fast-moving technological developments and ever-increasing smart ship technologies, reflects a general trend towards a ‘higher-skilled’ seafarer and requires increased digital; science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM); safety and organizational skills to meet net zero emission demands.
This was supported by a recent analysis commissioned by the Maritime Just Transition Task Force. In an interview to SAFETY4SEA, Martha Selwyn, Manager at the United Nations Global Compact and project leader, stressed that as many as 800,000 seafarers will require additional training to handle alternative fuels by the mid-2030s if shipping is to meet the world’s target of keeping global warming to 1.5C or less by 2050.
The authors of the WEF article highlight that it is a good opportunity to revise the STCW accordingly to address the required skills for shipping’s green transition and wider trends impacting the industry.
If environmental policy-makers agree on a more ambitious decarbonization trajectory this coming July at the Marine Environment Protection Committee meeting (MEPC 80), then national governments at the IMO should react by fast-tracking the development of training standards for alternative fuels to ensure the training infrastructure is in place to safely train a sufficient number of seafarers by the 2030s.
The authors conclude that, in this context, national governments can ensure better coordination between their own departments, ministries, agencies and authorities that are responsible for the policy levers that need to be engaged to prepare populations and infrastructure for shipping’s low-carbon future.
