Identification: While two-thirds of Asia-Pacific TVET stakeholders surveyed in 2020 said that their country regularly conducts national skills forecasts and that these forecasts pay explicit attention to the new skills required in a green economy, 1 in 6 stakeholders said their country does not regularly collect data on future skills needs while 20% said that their country’s skills forecasts do not target green skills needs. (UNESCO-UNEVOC 2020)

The BILT scoping study found that, in countries such as Australia, Republic of Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Thailand and UAE, national and/or sectoral skills councils are also a source of information concerning new green qualifications and competencies. (BILT scoping study of current trends in the Asia-Pacific carried out in 2021)

Integration: The BILT scoping study also found that countries in the region, such as India, Indonesia, Philippines and Thailand, are developing, adapting and/or updating the occupational standards for existing qualifications in national qualification systems to incorporate skills for green jobs. (BILT scoping study of current trends in the Asia-Pacific carried out in 2021)

However, a 2015 UNESCO study noted that some countries in the region have made slower progress than others  in advancing the ‘greening TVET’ agenda, and these have tended to be low-income and lower-middle countries in the Pacific and South Asia – the two subregions with the greatest vulnerability to climate change impacts. (UNESCO 2016)

Implementation: The high costs of re-tooling training facilities pose a major constraint to greening TVET, especially for the region’s low-income and lower-middle countries. The equipment and materials required to provide training in new technologies for more sustainable vocations can be significant: changing chemicals, using sustainably produced and certified wood, installing equipment for training in solar and wind technologies, etc. These modifications require corresponding changes to the budgets and management of TVET facilities. (UNESCO 2016)

A key concern is that the ‘greening TVET’ agenda could cause economic, social and environmental gaps between countries to grow if only some countries can afford to green TVET. Measures therefore need to be put in place to help disadvantaged countries ‘catch up’ with countries at a more advanced stage in terms of supplying the skills needed for green jobs. (UNESCO 2016)

Policy coherence, and the convergence of all interrelated actions, is needed to ensure a just transition towards environmentally sustainable economies and societies in the Asia-Pacific. To ensure this policy coherence, governments, TVET institutions, employers, workers, financial institutions, research institutions and local communities must work together to align education, employment, environmental, energy, climate and finance policies and coordinate climate-responsive actions. (ILO 2019)

A 2015 UNESCO-UNEVOC survey of TVET teachers and students in four Asian countries concluded that the inclusion of green skills in TVET construction programmes was closely linked to how far government policies support the transition to low-carbon economies – for example, through establishing green targets for the economy, promoting greening training standards and/or passing environmental legislation. The inclusion of green skills was less due to the emergence of new occupations requiring training in green skills or independent actions by TVET institutions to introduce green skills in their training programmes. These findings highlight the importance of governments, businesses and other stakeholders working together with TVET institutions to advance the greening TVET agenda. (UNESCO 2016)

Community involvement is important in the context of green TVET initiatives – to ensure that training is responsive to local needs, utilizes local resources, and has a positive impact on the local environment. It is also crucial for gaining an understanding of the local labour market and green skills needs in countries with large informal economies. (UNESCO 2016)

Special efforts must be made to engage local communities in green TVET planning and activities. In most countries in the region, local communities are not involved in TVET activities, which tend to take place inside schools, even when they relate to real-world problems happening outside. However, there seem to be sub-regional differences in terms of the level of engagement of communities in green TVET initiatives: teachers in South-East Asian countries such as Thailand and Indonesia widely engage local communities, while those in East Asia tend to do so irregularly. (UNESCO 2016)