Government wants to create broader definition of a green job, minister says

The Scottish Government is establishing a broader definition of what a “green job” is compared to the one used by the Office of National Statistics (ONS), a minister has said.

The Government says it is developing a wider measurement than the ONS estimates of people working in the low carbon and renewable energy sector.

The most recent ONS figures show these jobs have been declining since 2016, reaching about 20,500 in 2020.

Ministers in Edinburgh have already said they do not currently have a clear definition of what a “green job” is and there are competing views on the subject.

However, the Conservatives suggested this could lead to a “distorted” view of how the Government is performing on green jobs.

In a written response, the Just Transition Minister, Richard Lochhead, said: “These statistics, published by ONS annually, relate to what may be considered a narrower definition of direct jobs in the UK low carbon and renewable energy economy, including the offshore wind sector.

“Work is ongoing within the Scottish Government to establish a broader measure of green jobs.

“ScotWind puts Scotland at the forefront of the global development of offshore wind and represents a huge step forward in our just transition to net zero.”

Conservative net zero spokesman, Liam Kerr, who asked the question of Mr Lochhead, raised the issue again in the Scottish Parliament on Wednesday.

Addressing Green Skills minister, Lorna Slater, Mr Kerr said: “Richard Lochhead admitted that this Government, having only delivered approximately one in 20 of the offshore wind jobs that it forecast, proposes to widen the definition of a green job.

“He proposes to use a different definition to the one the ONS and therefore the rest of the UK is using.

“Does the minister accept that widening the definition would give a distorted picture on how this Government is really performing on the creation of green jobs?”

Ms Slater responded: “The discussion of what is a green job is an absolute live one.

“It is fair to say that in the future all jobs will be green jobs.

“Tackling the climate crisis isn’t something we can put in a box. Everybody needs to play their part, all sectors need to play their part.”

She said it was appropriate for Scotland to develop a definition of green jobs which was “appropriate for our workforce and our industry”.