Rising Green Roles: Shaping Sustainability Leaders For Tomorrow

India’s commitment to Green Transition to become net-zero carbon by 2070, aligned with United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, allows, or rather urges every sector to internalise the practice of sustainability. With climate change and global warming knocking at doors, India is in desperate need of more experts in environmental sustainability, particularly on sustainable reporting.

Navneet Singh, Founder and CEO, Avsar shared, “India's objective to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2070, is of paramount importance to employers. It helps them avoid penalties and in attracting environment-conscious customers and investors. The oath to turning green helps employers draw in purpose-oriented talent, which can help in the acquisition and retention of talent. By embracing green roles today, employers can ensure a sustainable and prosperous future.”

 According to a study by Foundit, India commits to achieving a 500-gigawatt clean energy target by 2030 which has in turn, led to an increase in the demand for green jobs in metropolitan cities such as sustainability managers, ecologists, environmental health and safety specialists, ESG analysts, EV engineers and solar consultants, which were also listed to be the fastest growing green job titles with an approximate of 1,19,600 job openings by the end of 2028.

“India offers a wide range of green roles in engineering, tech, renewable energy and environmental science. The government is giving incentives and subsidies to promote green initiatives, and people are more aware of and concerned about environmental issues. India has a pool of abundant natural resources and a great business culture, so green jobs are easy to find. But employers may have to deal with skills shortages, policy issues, infrastructure issues, and competition. Despite these challenges, India is a great place for green businesses that want to make a difference in the world and attract the best talent,” Singh added. 

Currently, as the field witnesses accelerated growth and organisations immediate need for experts to take their sustainability agenda further, it opens up interesting career avenues for India’s younger demographics.

Universities and business schools need to focus on including sustainability as one of their core modules within any and every chosen stream. It will help pipeline future carbon reduction managers, green data scientists and many such sustainability officers. It requires the youth to have a holistic approach to detail, risk assessment and impact analysis skills to keep up with the green trends changing every year.

Manish Kumar, Head, CSR and ESG, ICICI Bank, commented, “While there are several universities in India that have curated courses in sustainability, the content is basic. These courses will have to become sector-specific and will have to adapt to the evolving climate science theory, data and industry requirements. The availability of people with requisite skills and practical experience is currently a challenge. Hence, in addition to qualification, the ability of the person to apply current theory and available information at work and the assigned role is important.”

The future leaders graduating from these programmes are instantly absorbed by CSR and sustainability divisions or departments of private and public sector organisations such as consultancy firms like KPMG, PwC, E&Y and Deloitte that have dedicated verticals on responsible and sustainable business practices.

Even financial institutions have started rising to the occasion by hiring professionals who can help them make responsible investment decisions.

“We need to understand that sustainability is a larger and wider area than ‘Green’. Employability in the banking sector in sustainability is growing rapidly with the slew of global regulations around sustainability coming into force. SEBI’s BRSR has also opened up avenues for people interested in regulatory reporting, compliance and audit/assurance types of roles”, Kumar added.

According to the 'Gearing Up the Workforce for a Green Economy' report by Skill Council for Green Jobs (SCGJ) and Sattva Consulting, supported by JP Morgan, India has the potential to produce up to 35 million green jobs by 2047 across the sectors of renewable energy, waste management, EVs and sustainable textiles. Solar energy is expected to support 3.26 million jobs by 2050, followed by wind energy, which is expected to support 1.8 lakh jobs by 2030. Furthermore, the bioenergy and green sectors are expected to provide 2.7 and 6 lakh green jobs by 2030 respectively.

Kumar stated, “Requirements for green roles are rising in the areas of climate risk evaluation, stress testing, capital management, developing models for using and applying climate science and climate data to facilitate calculation of carbon emission, facilities and infrastructure management, training and skilling the available human resources.”

To foster a circular economy, given the convergence of information, emerging technologies, social impact and economy, a pure understanding of sustainability is an essential requisite for any career today; from banking, FMCGs, tourism to hospitality, manufacturing and retail; green jobs are the future.

To promote a more sustainable way of living and to foster a culture of sustainability at every organisation, it is important to practice what you preach.