Barbados announces the plan for the establishment of a Renewable Energy Skills Council at the National Symposium on “Just Transition and Job Creation in the Blue and Green Economy” held on 10-12 April, in Bridgetown, Barbados. The Government of Barbados, the ILO, and PAGE led this three-day meeting, which explored the transition to a sustainable, low-carbon future with a focus on renewable energy. Participants shared experiences and developed recommendations for strategies promoting decent work, social justice, and job creation while addressing technical and institutional capacity gaps.
The Symposium commenced with a high-level opening session with Hon. Adrian Forde, Minister of the Environment, National Beautification, Green and Blue Economy; Dr.Joni Musabayana, Director, ILO Decent Work Team and Office for the Caribbean; Hon. Colin Jordan, Minister of Labour, Social Security and Third Sector. The welcome remarks recognized the Symposium’s potential to drive ambitious climate action while fostering decent work employment & advancing just transition. Minister Adrian Forde remarked, “We must look at what is required to transition in a climate-resilient manner, looking at aspects such as social protection, equity, job reskilling & upskilling. The list goes on“. Minister Colin Jordan reiterated, “Our transition must be inclusive, it must be equitable, and be mindful of the diverse needs of our society. Simply put: it must be human-centered“.
The symposium brought together government officials, private sector actors, labor representatives, academia, NGOs representatives, and experts to address employment and labor market concerns in the green and blue economy. Discussions covered topics such as global Policy responses to climate change, job creation in the green and blue economy, climate policies and social justice, upskilling for a climate resilient future, and policy and practice in the renewable energy subsector.
Highlighting the Green Innovations and Greening Business in Barbados, Misha Lobban Clarke, Executive Director of Barbados Chamber of Commerce and Industry, expressed, “We have embarked on a ground-breaking and transformative project in the Wildey area. By being not just a catalyst but becoming what we would call the thought leaders to lead other businesses across Barbados”.
Our transition must be inclusive, it must be equitable, and be mindful of the diverse needs of our society. Simply put: it must be human-centered.
Colin Jordan, Minister of Labour, Social Security and Third Sector.
We must look at what is required to transition in a climate resilient manner, looking at aspects such as social protection, equity, job reskilling & upskilling. The list goes on.
Adrian Forde, Minister of Environment & National Beautification, Green & Blue Economy
The event concluded with the announcement of the plan to establish a Renewable Energy Skills Council to implement recommendations for a Just Transition in the renewable energy sector, advancing towards a sustainable future.
“Skills councils are used all over the world as a mechanism to bring the public, well all the sectors together, public, private and third sector, so that we can work collaboratively in order to make sure that as a country, we are positioned to take advantage of the opportunities that lie ahead of us.” said the Minister of Labour, Social Security and Third Sector Colin Jordan.
This new initiative aims to implement the recommendations generated during the group discussions on designing a Just Transition for the renewable energy sub-sector.
Sources: ILO, ILO Caribbean, Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation and GIS