What do you want to be when you grow up? Perhaps a footballer? Maybe a popstar? What about a lawyer or a doctor?

Whatever the answer to the question, a green job is likely to be very low on the list. New research by the Prince’s Trust suggests that only 27% of young people today have heard the term ‘green job’, let alone thought about what the jobs of tomorrow might look like.

Our sustainability expert, Sarah Walkley, considers why we need to inspire the next generation about the jobs of the future.

We want to reduce emissions, restore nature and build a sustainable future. That means changing the way we live… and work. For someone who is 16 years old today there will be a lot of change. They will still be in their early 40s in 2050 when we are targeting to reach net zero.

However, research by the Prince’s Trust has found that only 27% of 16 to 25 year olds have heard the term ‘green jobs’. Even once it was explained to them that this covered all jobs that are needed to build a greener future, less than half (46%) could imagine what those jobs look like.

Young people expected the big opportunities to be in conservation and ecology not domestic heating. And yet, there is a significant need to change all our boilers to heat pumps. We also need specialists to fit insulation and install solar panels. And that is just thinking about our homes.

What about the way we travel, eat, communicate….?

When asked, just 7% of young people were interested in roles such as being a heat pump engineer.

Young people also felt that green jobs were for university graduates. Just 5% of respondents thought you might be able to get a green job if you did not go to university. Yet many of the jobs of the future lend themselves to vocational development, like heat pump engineer.

It is hard to know what the world of work will look like in five years’ time, let alone by 2050. We have seen so many changes over recent years, for example to working patterns as a result of the pandemic. But we do know about some of the things that are going to change like the fact that we will have heat pumps in our homes, drive electric cars, repair what we have rather than buy new or recycle more. We will need people to do those repairs, to fit the heat pumps and to develop the cars of tomorrow.

What is clear from the Prince’s Trust survey is that we need to start talking to our children more about those changes and the exciting opportunities that await them, so that they are inspired to think about how – whatever job they choose – they can do it more sustainably.

Sarah Walkley is a freelance writer and researcher on a mission to empower everyone to play their part in addressing climate change and nature loss.

She set up Purplefully to help organisations develop their sustainability strategy and communication.