LinkedIn calls for green‑skills metrics at COP31 Global Stocktake

LinkedIn’s managing director for EMEA and global vice‑president of public policy, Sue Duke, urged policymakers at COP31 in Turkey to include workforce readiness as a key metric in the UN’s Global Stocktake.

The company’s Global Green Skills Report 2026, published on 22 October, shows the share of green hiring rose 25 percent year‑on‑year, double the 13 percent growth in workers gaining green skills. Despite a generally sluggish hiring market, workers with green skills were recruited at more than 1.5 times the rate of the wider workforce, and demand outstripped supply in every industry measured.

Duke said the data “amounts to a call to action for policymakers”, noting that hiring across most markets is down 10‑15 percent while green‑skill hiring has surged. She highlighted a mismatch: demand for green skills is growing twice as fast as supply.

The report also revealed strong interest among younger workers. Six in ten Gen Z respondents said they wanted a role with a climate remit within the next year, and three in ten would quit their current job to find one. However, 54 percent of Gen Z said they find it difficult to locate a green job, compared with 26 percent of millennials.

Employers are seen as pivotal; only 15 percent of surveyed workers said their employer offered relevant training. Nevertheless, 74 percent of green hires now occupy positions without traditionally green titles, indicating the mainstreaming of these skills.

Source: Silicon Republic. Photo: Antoni Shkraba / Pexels.