Green Skills Policies and Strategies
Policies and Strategies regarding Green Skills
Department for the Economy (DfE)
The Department’s Energy Strategy Action Plan and three-year Skills Action Plan both include references to green skills, and delivering on the Green Skills Actions will contribute to the successful implementation of both strategies as well as the four key priorities to deliver the Economic Vision - good jobs, promoting regional balance, raising productivity and reducing carbon emissions. The Climate Change Act and the global commitment to Net Zero emissions by 2050 demand a skilled workforce in sustainability practices creating a clear need for an actionable strategy to outline our priorities and the steps we need to take to achieve our goals.
Green Skills Action Plan
The Green Skills Action Plan provides a comprehensive framework to guide Government, employers, educationalists and individuals on what is needed to deliver the skills and the jobs for the future.
The Climate Change Act and the global commitment to Net Zero emissions by 2050 demand a skilled workforce in sustainability practices creating a clear need for an actionable strategy to outline our priorities and the steps we need to take to achieve our goals. The Action Plan is a blueprint on how we address these challenges and create the skills eco-system that will the meet the skills needs of the future as green technologies develop and our need for new skills increases. The Action Plan will evolve during its lifetime as the environment changes.
Northern Ireland Energy Strategy Path to Net Zero Energy
The context for energy has changed substantially since the 2010 Strategic Energy Framework (SEF) was published. In June 2019 the UK became the first major economy to commit to a 100 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. This ‘net zero’ target represents a significant step-change in the commitment to addressing the climate crisis.
Northern Ireland Energy Strategy Path to Net Zero Energy
- DfE Skills Strategy
Shaping policy, programmes and initiatives, designed to build and align the skills of people in Northern Ireland with the needs of the economy. Specific Policy areas include Digital Skills, Lifelong Learning, Immigration and also delivery of the CyberFirst Schools and Colleges programme.
Skills Action Plan
The Skills Action Plan builds upon the work achieved under the auspices of the Skills Strategy, as a distinct, forward-looking framework that will deliver the Minister’s Economic Vision through targeted actions to better reflect current and future economic needs.
The Action Plan sets out the key agreed actions that the Department will focus on to ensure that everyone has a pathway to enhance their existing skills. Designed to complement the existing strengths of our education system and the outcomes delivered through our schools, colleges, universities, apprenticeship programmes and the range of employment/pre-employment interventions already established.
Department for Communities (DfC)
The Department for Communities delivers a diverse range of functions that impacts on everyone in our society, and it wants to demonstrate leadership in its response to climate change through how it reduces its impact on the environment, adapts to make our communities more climate resilient and how it seeks to influence and encourage the wider community.
Warm Healthy Homes Strategy
The Department for Communities Minister launched the Executive’s Warm Healthy Homes Strategy 2026-2036 in a statement to the Assembly on 5 February 2026. The Strategy sets out an ambitious vision for everyone in Northern Ireland to live in a warm, healthy home.
The strategy was developed through extensive stakeholder engagement, ensuring that the voices of those most affected by fuel poverty and voluntary sector, industry and statutory partners shaped its priorities.
Key elements of the strategy include:
- A coordinated, cross-government approach to addressing fuel poverty.
- Long-term measures to improve energy efficiency and affordability.
- Partnership working with stakeholders to deliver sustainable solutions.
The Strategy’s success will rely on close collaboration to ensure effective delivery and meaningful outcomes. This whole-of-government approach reflects the Executive’s commitment to tackling fuel poverty and the challenges caused by living in cold, damp homes.
Housing Supply Strategy
The Department for Communities' Minister announced the launch of The Housing Supply Strategy 2024 - 2039, in a statement to the Assembly on 9 December 2024. The strategy, which was approved by the Executive on 5 December 2024, provides a 15-year framework for the development and delivery of policies and actions needed to deliver our housing supply needs.
This Executive Strategy takes a whole system approach which recognises that there is not one single overarching challenge affecting housing supply here, but a series of interlinked challenges which will require a coordinated and collaborative approach to address.
Consultation on Shaping Sustainable Places
Shaping Sustainable Places aims to create a flagship programme of interventions to arrest the decline in our valued village, town and city centres.
Shaping Sustainable Places lays the foundation for new ways of delivering regeneration outcomes. The Department for Communities aims to engage communities at the earliest stages of planning for change, developing solutions to specific place-based challenges through funding local physical and infrastructure projects.
Consultation on Shaping Sustainable Places
- Ministerial Advisory Group for Architecture and the Built Environment
Ministerial Advisory Group for Architecture and the Built Environment is here to support communities, developers, local authorities and government to create high quality buildings and places that promote well-being, sustainable futures and the economy in Northern Ireland. They do this by providing independent, expert advice on development proposals to facilitate the planning process and deliver results that consider our built environment holistically. The built environment is fundamental to the way we live our lives.
Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA)
Draft Green Growth Strategy
DAERA has been leading the development of the Draft Green Growth Strategy, on behalf of the Northern Ireland Executive. The Green Growth Strategy will set a high-level vision to ensure future government policy making has climate, environment and a green economy at its core. Green Growth means using the move from a high to a low greenhouse gas emissions society to improve people’s quality of life through green jobs and a clean environment.
The document remains a draft and is subject to further Executive consideration.
The Climate Change Act (Northern Ireland) 2022
The Climate Change Act (Northern Ireland) 2022 (Act) sets a target of an at least 100% reduction in net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050 (i.e., net zero emissions by 2050) for Northern Ireland compared to baseline, along with interim targets including an at least 48% reduction in net emissions by 2030.
- The Act also sets other sectoral targets including 2030 targets at least 80% of electricity consumption from renewable sources (DfE) and 70% of waste is recycled (DAERA) as well as a target for a minimum spend of 10% of overall transport budgets on active travel (DfI).
- The Climate Change Act (Northern Ireland) 2022
Northern Ireland’s draft Climate Action Plan 2023-2027
In 2022, Northern Ireland passed its first climate legislation. The Climate Change Act (Northern Ireland) 2022 sets an ambitious target to reduce Northern Ireland’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to net zero by 2050. This means that we must remove at least as many emissions from our atmosphere as we produce.
The Act requires us to prepare and publish a Climate Action Plan every five years. This plan sets out policies and proposals to achieve required reductions in emissions and the actions to enable this to happen. The focus of this draft Climate Action Plan is on meeting the first carbon budget, 2023-2027.
- Northern Ireland’s draft Climate Action Plan 2023-2027
- The Climate Change Act (Northern Ireland) 2022
- Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs