Bridging the low-carbon skills gap to meet net zero target

The Mayor’s preferred pathway to net zero will require 2.2 million heat pumps installed and operational by 2030.^[1] The UK government has a target for installing 600,000 heat pumps a year by 2028^[2], however fewer than 10 per cent of this level were installed in 2022.^[3]

The Mayor declared a Climate Emergency in 2019, and in 2022 published the London Net Zero 2030 analysis by Element Energy.^[4] This evaluated four pathways for policies to reach net zero targets by 2030, with estimates for the numbers of jobs that would be needed to achieve these – estimated at around 50,000 additional green skills jobs in London by 2026.

The Mayor has a number of initiatives and programmes aimed at increasing the supply of low-carbon skills and jobs, including the Mayor’s Academy Programme and London Retrofit Accelerator.

The London Assembly Environment Committee will meet tomorrow to investigate the challenges of increasing supply of low-carbon skills jobs, and how effective the Mayor’s programmes have been to date.

Guests at the meeting include:

• Jules Pipe CBE, Deputy Mayor for Planning, Regeneration and Skills
• Dr Austin Entonu MBE, Head of Energy, GLA
• Cara Jenkinson, Interim Head of Cities, Ashden
• Andrew Eldred, Director of Workforce and Public Affairs, Electrical Contractors’ Association
• Ann-Marie Soyinka, Assistant Director for Skills and Employment Unit, GLA
• Nancy Jonsson, Technical Consultant, Heat Pumps Association
• Polly Persechino, Head of Economy, Skills and Employment, South London Partnership

The meeting will take place on Wednesday 18 October from 10am, in Committee Rooms 2 and 3, at City Hall, Kamal Chunchie Way, E16 1ZE.

Media and members of the public are invited to attend.

The meeting can also be viewed LIVE or later via webcast or YouTube.

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