A study of the estimated employment potential of four broad green economy strategies in South Africa has indicated that at least 445 587 jobs could be created, according to Gesell-schaft Für Internation-anale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) senior adviser for skills development for green jobs Karsten Feuerriegel, who spoke at the Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of South Africa’s business breakfast on green skills development last week.

Feuerriegel further stated that natural resource management would create 51% of potential jobs, emission control and pollution 7%, energy efficiency 16% and renewable-energy generation 26% .

Several technologies relating to waste-to-energy and biofuels could create a further 100 000 jobs.

In the local energy efficiency sector, green buildings, solar water heaters and transport are promising in terms of job creation for South Africa.

Meanwhile, GIZ partnered with the Manufacturing, Engineering and Related Services Sector Education and Training Authority (Merseta) last year under an agreement to undertake strategic sustainable green skills development in the manufacturing and engineering sector.

Feuerriegel said that, in the future, every job would have to be green.

“The boundaries between green and brown jobs are becoming increasingly blurred and generic skills need to be improved across the entire workforce. “An overall greening of jobs seems to be an appropriate strategy. “Close cooperation between industry and training providers is required and integrating skills into existing green qualifications and the green upskilling of existing skills in the workforce are much more effective than creating new training standards,” he stated.

He added that, in most cases, upskilling is a convenient way of making full use of the opportunities green economies offer a middle-income country like South Africa.

Most skills in the industry need upskilling and this can be achieved through short- to medium-term training, such as that from further education and training (FET) colleges.

FET lecturers need to be trained in renewable-energy technologies so that they can pass on this knowledge to the future workforce.

Merseta senior manager Ansa Liebenberg stated at the event that the triple bottom line of sustainability is people, the planet and profit.

In business, one approach to sustainability is to focus on the impact of decisions on the environment and communities, in addition to profit.

Liebenberg said that business needed to rethink what it meant to be in business if profits were achieved at the expense of people and communities.

“The notion of sustainability drives Merseta’s approach to green skills development, informed by the National Skills Development Strategy III, the National Development Plan, the Human Resources Development Strategy and the National Qualifications Framework. We have to take the cue from these national documents,” she asserted.

She noted that, while these documents focus on transformation and key issues such as access, redress, equality and social justice, none of these has yet been achieved.

Liebenberg stated that it was a shared responsibility, an intersector education and training authority collaboration with government departments, State entities and critical interest groups through building and establishing part- nerships across national and international contexts, supported by research and ongoing engagement with stakeholder communities.

“Merseta has good infrastructure and the political will behind it and collaboration is important. The Merseta-GIZ agreement [is geared] towards a sustainable future. “The agreement aims to be an international benchmark for green skills processes and to understand the success and challenges of green skills development in developing and developed countries,” she said.

The agreement outputs include a green dialogue platform, a green Merseta, a survey of the green activities, innovation and technology of Merseta’s levy-paying companies, as well as renewable-energy qualifications processes, greening the occupational trainer assessment system, knowl- edge management and career guidance.

The survey of green activities aims to show what businesses are doing in terms of waste and whether renewable energy is being used.

The results of the survey will be available in about two months and will be used to decide how to plan around skills development.