Skills for green jobs in the Republic of Korea : Unedited background country study

At a national address on the 60th anniversary of the Republic of Korea on 15 August 2008, President Lee Myung-bak proclaimed a "low-carbon, green growth" strategy as a new vision to guide the nation's development. Since then, Korea has been undertaking major restructuring processes across different ministries and central government offices to implement this vision in policies and practices.Since Korea's Green Growth National Vision announcement in August 2008, Korea is attracting global attention to its comprehensive nation-wide policy measures and implementation efforts. This report particularly presents the changes in the labour market due to greening initiatives and skills development strategies for emerging green jobs. The objectives of this report are: 1) To explain major policy measures including general environmental strategy towards a green growth, green response to the current economic crisis, and skills development strategy in response to greening in Korea; 2) To discuss the green structural change and its impact on the labour market, and to outline the plans that Korea has put in place for skills response; 3) To present case studies that show actual examples of skills response to green economy in various sectors; and 4) To discuss the general issues, challenges and limitations of the current approach and suggest policy recommendations. This report was prepared in consultation with several researchers in government-funded research institutes and universities, agencies involved in the formulation and implementation of Korea's green growth strategy, and representatives of civil society and the private sector in Korea. The authors reviewed a wide range of documents including numerous government issued reports and documents, legislations and laws, academic papers, and news paper articles on green growth. In addition, the authors conducted several expert panel discussions on issues discussed in this report. To carry out case studies, the authors interviewed more than 50 people from ten different agencies or organizations in green sectors; some were students of a training programme and others include instructors, directors of HR departments, current employees, and representatives of the organizations. Those conversations with people who were actual beneficiaries of the green policy measures and those who were implementing the policy at the ground level served as invaluable resources for this report. The views and opinions expressed in this report are the sole responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the institutions and individuals cited in this document.Foreword iii Abstract ix Executive summary xi Abbreviations and acronyms xxiii 1. Introduction 1 2. Policy context 2 2.1 Key challenges and priorities for the green economy 2 2.2 The response strategy 6 2.2.1 General environmental strategy 6 2.2.2 Green response to the current economic crisis 11 2.3 The skills development strategy in response to greening 19 2.3.1 Green jobs skills development 19 2.3.2 Trade unions and civil society organization's response 21 2.3.3 Response to green economic by small and medium enterprises 22 3. Anticipation and provision of skills 24 3.1 Green structural changes and (re)training needs 24 3.1.1 Green restructuring and its impact on the labour market 24 3.1.2 Identification of (re)training needs 29 3.1.3 Skills response 32 3.1.4 Case studies 33 3.2 New and changing skills needs 43 3.2.1 New green collar occupations 43 3.2.2 Greening existing occupations 46 3.2.3 Identification of skill needs 48 3.2.4 Skills response 48 3.2.5 Case studies on new green collar occupations 50 3.2.6 Case studies on greening existing occupations 53 4. Conclusions 61 4.1 Main 'greening' shifts in economies and labour markets 61 4.2 Skills implications and development 61 4.2.1 Anticipation and identification of skill needs 61 4.2.2 Response policies and programmes 62 4.2.3 Effective delivery mechanisms 63 5. Recommendations 64 5.1 Policy recommendations 64 5.1.1 Integrating approach for greening economy and the importance of educating green competencies for all 64 5.1.2 Strengthening information infrastructure related to green jobs and green skills 64 5.1.3 Integrative utilization of VET system 65 5.1.4 Diverse and flexible curriculum development and retraining teachers 67 5.1.5 Green skills development in the context of community development plan 67 5.1.6 Strategies for career development for green collar workers 68 5.1.7 Enhanced partnership among tripartite 69 5.2 Recommendations for further research and data collection 69 References 71 Appendix: List of key resourse persons 7