African edusphere must get its green act together, guru warns

Higher education and labour systems in developing countries, especially in Africa, must urgently adapt to a changing planet by embracing green skills beyond the classroom to enhance sustainable development, according to an expert.

According to Romain Boitard, green skills expert at the European Training Foundation (ETF), climate change, energy transitions, and sustainable development imperatives are reshaping employment. He called for higher education to be reoriented accordingly.

Speaking during an online seminar organised by the NGO Paeradigms and the Swiss Network for Education and International Cooperation, or RECI, on 20 May 2025, Boitard warned of the lag between green-job demand and the real responsiveness of education systems, particularly in the Global South.

The webinar was targeted at exploring how education and training systems can accelerate green skills adoption in response to growing ecological and labour-market pressures. Boitard used case studies in Algeria, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Tunisia, and Sierra Leone to emphasise his stance.

He defined green skills as those skills that lead to the establishment of green economies which result in improved human well-being and reduced inequalities over the long term, while not exposing future generations to significant environmental risks and ecological shortages.

Tripartite model

Boitard presented the ETF’s tripartite model of green competencies that includes technical skills for emerging green sectors like renewable energy systems; transversal skills like systems thinking and ICT; and values and attitudes, including fairness, intergenerational responsibility, and ecological awareness. This model, he said, forms “the foundation for a truly inclusive and effective green transition”.

The webinar also delved into the interdisciplinary green business challenges in higher education in Algeria; Ghana’s NGO-led water and waste management awareness in low-income communities; Kenya’s solar training and capacity-building for vocational trainers; and Senegal’s development of new masters programmes in renewable energy.

“Many countries still have no structured approach to teaching sustainability, and teachers often lack training and institutional support. Decarbonising our economies is not optional, it is a matter of survival,” Boitard said.

“But green skills are not just about solar panels or wind turbines. They are also about mindset, responsibility, and values. And that starts long before the labour market – in early childhood, in schools, and across adult learning,” Boitard told the participants, who came from Africa, Europe and the Middle East.

Essential social foundations

He said that failure by all education systems in Africa is a holdup to the realisation of the UN 2030 Agenda on sustainable development.

“All 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) are very big ideas to make the world better, fairer, and healthier for everyone by the year 2030. They all tackle the world’s most pressing social problems – like poverty, inequality, access to education and healthcare. And there are the essential social foundations without which neither climate action nor economic systems can function effectively. So, failing to achieve the SDGs means that we’re leaving people behind – which undermines the stability, fairness and resilience for any green or inclusive transition to succeed.”

Boitard urged countries to stay within ecological limits as they strive to ensure economic development. He mentioned Ethiopia, that is operating within environmental limits but still needs to improve basic social outcomes such as health and education, while Germany, on the other hand, achieved a high standard of social well-being for its citizens but with massive environmental impact that exceeds the safe limits for carbon emissions, resource use, and pollution.

Greenness, he said, is to quantify the number of green jobs within a sector, while green pervasiveness tells how an entire sector is greening up, irrespective of how many green jobs it has. The degree of greenness varies as some jobs emerge while others are transformed or affected.

He used the example of a car mechanic who needs upskilling to work with electric vehicles, and a banker who must understand environmental regulations and ethical investing. A farming technician must understand precision irrigation while a medical professional also needs to understand the environmental impacts on human health and plastic waste.

“So, not all jobs are affected equally, but all jobs are affected, and we’ll probably get to a labour market in the future where all jobs are green. We must stop treating green skills as the exclusive domain of engineers or climate specialists. Every learner, every worker, every citizen will need to navigate this transition. This means we need integrated models that combine education, labour, and sustainability policies, and we need them now.”

Lifelong learning

Egyptian online job vacancies show a high demand in the clean energy sector, which Boitard linked to large renewable energy projects.

Kenya had the highest growth in green skills among the African countries discussed, but agriculture and the energy sectors dominated. The education sectors lag behind in integrating green skills.

Boitard advocated for an integrated approach that helps industries evolve towards greener practices and includes a workforce that is prepared for continuous learning and reskilling opportunities. “The idea that you train once in your life is now completely over. You need reskilling throughout your career.”

Boitard said research conducted by the International Labour Organisation two years ago found that more than half of national school curricula worldwide still make no mention of climate change although young people are expected to play a significant role in the transition to greener economies.

This “raises serious questions about the coherence and preparedness of education systems globally”.

Boitard appealed to schools, vocational centres, and universities to become green environments, embedding sustainability into infrastructure, procurement, and daily practice, stating that schools cannot teach sustainability in buildings powered by fossil fuels and managed unsustainably.

He said that, for universities to work with the private sector, more research and development are needed. Students should also learn within the enterprises. “But because green technology is so expensive and keeps changing, nobody can expect any school to keep up with the rate of technological development. Therefore, partnering with the private sector is essential.”

Nina Volles, managing director of Paeradigms, lobbied for green university campuses and exposing all learners to technology “right where they learn”.