Educators: focus on climate change response skills

Educators advised to focus on major new skills arising from climate change response

Skilled workers - not polar bear huggers - will be in strong demand as New Zealand and the world respond to climate change.

Delegates to an international conference of post-secondary educators in Christchurch were told this afternoon the response to climate change - and the massive international move to lower-carbon economies - demanded a pragmatic move to skill Kiwis, rather than an admirable focus on simply caring about the planet.

New Zealand will need thousands more skilled workers as it develops new projects, technologies and industries to lower emissions here and overseas.

Peter Neilson, Chief Executive of the New Zealand Business Council for Sustainable Development, told the Post-Secondary International Network Conference that billions in new project opportunities in the next 10 years were possible as a result of the country putting a price on carbon.

New skills and career training will be needed to take advantage of new opportunities in

• Agriculture: developing then selling new technology, like that now within reach to reduce ruminant animals' methane emissions to a worldwide market of a billion farm animals, using nitrogen inhibitors, and bio char (boosting carbon storage in soils by 50 to 80%)

• New forestry ventures, bio energy (heat and power from woody forest residues)

• Transport bio fuels, and

• Geothermal, ocean and wind energy.

There were also other breakthrough products and technologies coming, including low cost batteries to store wind and ocean power for use later, and low-cost photo voltaic cells allowing homes to be net producers of electricity, selling surpluses into the national grid.

In the shorter term, if the Government delivered a hoped-for programme to improve the performance of nearly a million poorly insulated homes, this would generate more than $500 million a year in energy savings, health and other benefits.

Apart from rescuing skilled jobs in the building industry, immediately at risk from the recession, new skills would also be needed to rate homes' performance and install "solutions" not just products. Solutions include combinations of insulation, double glazing, heating and moisture removal products and technology.

"We will need architects, developers, builders, electricians, plumbers, painters and installers who understand the desire for better performing homes and can provide pragmatic solutions. We'll need trades people skilled enough to offer better options, and planners, valuers and structural engineers to do performance ratings," Mr Neilson said.

"That means encouraging students to keep studying math, science and english for as long as they can, to provide the foundations for careers with a future in a low-carbon economy."

The Business Council welcomed statements by the National, Labour and Green parties that they were prepared to discuss a multi-party deal on an emissions trading law.

"Pricing carbon - and creating the incentive to invest in new low-carbon technologies and projects - is a policy for the next 30 governments, not just the current one. We need greater buy-in to sensible long term policy goals," Mr Neilson said.

It would not be good for New Zealand to wait for Australia to implement its emissions trading scheme, or tie into it too closely long term, if that delays taking action on climate change here.

"While the countries have common issues, each has a major carbon issue that is quite different: New Zealand needs to deal with its agriculture emissions, Australia needs to tackle emissions from coal. Australia is likely to meet its 2008-2012 emission reduction targets; New Zealand is likely to have 26% excess emissions, at a cost of more than $600 million. The Australian Government may also not find a Senate majority for its Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme.

"New Zealand needs to argue to have other countries include agriculture in the next world agreement. Arguing to exclude it would be like Saudi Arabia arguing to exclude oil.

"Our agricultural products leave a lighter carbon footprint to market than others. In a world putting a price on carbon, New Zealand wins. The question is - how quickly can we get the rest of the world paying?"

Mr Neilson says the ETS, in current law, will generate at least $1.6 billion a year for the Government, from the sale of emissions credits to large emitters from 2013. This can be ploughed back into incentives like improving homes, clean up the car fleet, and rapidly commercialising new Kiwi technology.

The education and training system needs to align with the mega shift to low-carbon investment and behaviour.

ENDS

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