PRESS RELEASE - Empowering a fair green transition: new ETF report urges stronger skills integration in climate strategies

Turin, 21 November 2025 — Countries across the EU neighbourhood and Central Asia are not yet ready for the human capital demands of the green transition, according to a major new report by the European Training Foundation (ETF). Empowering the Fair Transition in EU Neighbourhood and Central Asia analyses 25 countries and finds that most national climate plans remain at baseline or minimum levels of readiness on skills, jobs, and education – even as the report identifies encouraging reforms, from reskilling pathways in carbon-intensive regions to targeted training for disadvantaged groups. Published ahead of COP30, the report warns that employment, education, and skills are still only partially embedded in climate strategies. This gap risks slowing progress just as governments are under pressure to prove that the transition can be both fair and economically viable.

“The green transition will succeed only if it is also a skills transition,” said ETF Director Pilvi Torsti. “The ETF analysis shows that, in most EU neighbouring countries and in Central Asia, climate strategies should give people a more prominent space. If we think about renewable energies, the circular economy or new construction materials, workers, learners and communities need clear pathways, investment and support. Integrating skills and employment into climate action is not an add-on: it is a precondition for a fair and bankable transition.”

Fragmented skills dimension in climate plans

The study analyses how far Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) integrate skills development, labour market measures, and education reforms for a low-carbon economy. It finds that while climate mitigation and adaptation measures are ambitious – especially in renewable energy, waste management, transport, and agriculture – the necessary work force dimension is often fragmented and lacks operational detail, which hampers their implementation speed and equity.

References to human capital are scattered and seldom translated into actionable pathways for workers and learners. Financing for green skills and just transition measures is often absent or not clearly specified. Coordination across ministries responsible for labour, education, and environment remains weak. Vulnerable groups – such as young people, women, rural communities, and workers in carbon-intensive regions – risk being overlooked in transition planning.

As countries prepare their new climate goals submissions, the ETF stresses that integrating skills and employment into climate strategies is essential for making these plans credible, bankable, and effective. A fair transition must reduce emissions while ensuring that workers, students, and communities can adapt to change and empower the deployment of low carbon technology and a sustainable circular economy through new employment opportunities. 

Emerging good practices in EU neighbouring countries and Central Asia

Despite the gaps, the report highlights encouraging areas of progress which point to emerging trends.

• All countries have introduced new learning programmes to support the expansion of renewable energy production and distribution.
• In Algeria, Georgia and Morocco, institutions responsible for labour and education are starting to play a stronger role in NDC design.
• In Serbia, Moldova and Kosovo*, authorities are beginning to cost skills actions and engage development finance institutions.
• Targeted training for disadvantaged groups is expanding in Morocco, Tunisia, Georgia, Tajikistan, North Macedonia, and Moldova.
• Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, and Montenegro are designing reskilling pathways for workers in fossil-fuel sectors and other exposed industries.

ETF initiatives supporting green skills in EU neighbourhood

Beyond its analytical work, the ETF helps countries in the EU neighbourhood and beyond build skills systems for a fair and effective green transition.

Launched in 2021, the Green Skills Award highlights global success stories in education and training for sustainability, with winners from countries such as India, Kenya, Latvia, Lebanon, Morocco, Madagascar, Palestine** and Türkiye. The 2025 edition, launched in February, will announce its winners in early 2026.

This year, the ETF is launching in Egypt a Sector Skills Council for renewable energy: a structured forum where public authorities, businesses and training providers work together to identify emerging skills needs and co-develop training programmes supporting the green transition. Its members are already taking part in peer-learning visits in the European Union, gaining exposure to diverse approaches to skills dialogue in the renewable energy sector and strengthening their capacity to analyse labour-market trends, update occupational standards and support the development of future-oriented qualifications.

Another key initiative is GRETA (Greening Responses to Excellence through Thematic Actions), the ETF’s global partnership for green excellence, designed to build dynamic skills ecosystems through a 360-degree model covering curricula, teachers, stakeholders, financing and strategy. GRETA translates global climate ambitions into practical, socially inclusive and economically viable actions. The ETF’s policy paper Accelerating Vocational Excellence in the Construction Sector shows how Centres of Vocational Excellence (CoVEs) act as hubs linking education, industry and policy to close the green skills gap in construction. The policy paper features country perspectives and practices from around the world, demonstrating how concrete skills development accelerates climate goals while fostering inclusion and economic growth.

The ETF commitment to the green transition also extends to its own operations. The agency is undergoing a comprehensive transformation to make its work more sustainable, in line with EU climate objectives and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Since 2019, the ETF has implemented an environmental management system compliant with the EU Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) and ISO 14001. Between 2019 and 2023, it has achieved a 40% reduction in carbon emissions, placing it firmly on track to meet the EU target of a 50% reduction by 2030 and climate neutrality by 2050.

The European Training Foundation

The European Training Foundation (ETF) is the European Union agency that supports EU neighbouring countries in reforming education, training and labour market systems. The ETF works with nearly 30 countries – from Ukraine to the Western Balkans, from the Southern Mediterranean to Central Asia and the African Union– to strengthen the security and prosperity of Europe and its neighbours. The ETF Governing Board, chaired by the European Commission, brings together representatives from all 27 EU Member States. The ETF is based in Italy.

Press contacts

Daria Santucci – +39 366 9639638 – mediarelations@etf.europa.eu – www.etf.europa.eu