Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on ‘Young people’s role in the green transition’ (Exploratory opinion at the request of the Swedish presidency)
Date: 2023-03-22
Institutions: European Economic and Social Committee
Subjects: EU environmental policy, climate change policy, environmental cooperation, environmental education, environmental protection, green economy, innovation, young person, youth movement, youth policy








C_2023184EN.01001301.xml










25.5.2023   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 184/13






Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on ‘Young people’s role in the green transition’
(Exploratory opinion at the request of the Swedish presidency)
(2023/C 184/03)






Rapporteur:



Nicoletta MERLO











Request by the Swedish
Presidency of the Council


Letter of 14.11.2022




Legal basis


Article 304 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union




Section responsible


Employment, Social Affairs and Citizenship




Adopted in section


8.3.2023




Adopted at plenary


22.3.2023




Plenary session No


577




Outcome of vote
(for/against/abstentions)


152/00/01




1.   Conclusions and recommendations









1.1.


The EESC believes that young people can and must play a crucial role in the context of the green transition. It considers that a new governance model that is more inclusive and capable of ensuring the active involvement of young people in decision-making processes, overcoming the obstacles that still exist, is essential.












1.2.


The EESC stresses the importance of ensuring that youth organisations have a leading role in the decision-making process and in the development and dissemination of projects relating to sustainability and the environment, including by guaranteeing them the necessary financial support.












1.3.


The EESC considers it vital to constantly monitor the effects that public investments, including those relating to the green transition, have and will have in the future on young people through an economic, political and social impact assessment of the policies to be implemented, using indicators before, during and after their approval.












1.4.


The EESC encourages the EU institutions and the Member States to implement measures and mechanisms to ensure that the youth perspective is taken into account in all policy areas and to create a space that is able to guarantee active participation of young people through the full adoption of the EU Youth Test.












1.5.


The EESC considers it crucial to link the initiatives and policies that will be adopted in the context of the European Year of Skills to the theme of the green transition, sustainable development, and the challenges that young people face in a rapidly changing world.












1.6.


The EESC considers it essential to consider education and the development of the skills expected by young people on this issue using a cross-cutting approach that is capable of providing theoretical and practical skills, including by implementing and enhancing school-to-work paths and professional apprenticeships, and also involving the social partners. Training on these topics should also be made structural, by designing and developing it starting from the territories and their needs, within a broader framework at national level.












1.7.


The EESC considers it necessary to start teaching sustainability and environmental protection issues from an early age, adopting innovative educational tools that take into account environmental protection, social and economic development, and the achievement of related objectives. Quality education for all and decent work for those providing it are key to ensuring this.












1.8.


The EESC stresses the importance for schools to engage in green transition issues in concert with local authorities and out-of-school activities, especially with youth organisations and organised civil society, thereby generating an increase in awareness and participation among ordinary citizens. In this connection, the EESC judges the experience of the Green Erasmus Project positively and looks forward to it being implemented.












1.9.


In order to equip workers, both younger and older, with enabling skills to govern the innovation brought about by the green transition, the EESC believes it is important to invest in work-based learning and to promote on-the-job training and quality internships and apprenticeships that are capable of creating a virtuous dialogue between market needs and the individual skills of young people. Social dialogue and collective bargaining can play a key role in this regard.












1.10.


The EESC considers it essential to have holistic training policies that are integrated with industrial policies, coordinated with other development strategies, and planned in detail at territorial and local level, in close connection with the social partners, so as to ensure that the green transition is a just transition that leaves no one behind.












1.11.


In order to ensure adequate participation of women in sectors linked to the green transition, the EESC believes that gender equality must be an integral part of the green transition. The Member States should invest more resources in careers guidance for young people at school and in supporting them into work through efficient public employment services that are adequately linked to the productive fabric of the territory.












1.12.


Young entrepreneurs can play an important role in the development of innovation, including in the field of the green transition. The EESC believes that these young people need to be encouraged through specific training and support for innovative projects, and by ensuring adequate financial support.












1.13.


To ensure that the green transition is also a just transition and that company closures with subsequent job losses are avoided, the EESC considers it a priority for the Member States to invest significant resources, starting with those of the National Recovery and Resilience Plans, in supporting businesses that need to convert their activities, in redeploying workers who have been made redundant, and in supporting entrepreneurs, particularly young entrepreneurs, who intend to invest in green businesses.




2.   Background to the opinion









2.1.


This exploratory opinion was requested by the Swedish presidency of the Council of the EU in order to investigate young people’s role in the green transition.












2.2.


‘Green transition’ refers to the transition of the EU economy and society towards the achievement of climate and environmental goals mainly through policies and investments, in line with the European Climate Act, which sets an obligation to achieve climate neutrality by 2050, the European Green Deal, and the Paris Agreement, ensuring that the transition is just and inclusive for all.












2.3.


In the face of these great challenges, it is important to note that the generation that is most sensitive and aware of the need to act in order to achieve environmental sustainability is precisely that of young people. In fact, if there is one issue today that is capable of creating a virtuous link between the sensitivity and values of young people and the open questions of our time, with high innovative potential when it comes to production and consumption models, it is that of the environment, the promotion of health, and the safeguarding of the planet’s biodiversity.












2.4.


In recent years, climate action has mobilised a large number of young people across Europe and numerous environmental and social movements have grown up at territorial, national and European levels, made up of young people demonstrating and demanding tangible measures from governments and policy-makers to protect the environment and achieve climate neutrality.












2.5.


The year 2022 was declared the European Year of Youth not only to celebrate and support young people, the generation most adversely affected by the pandemic, by instilling in them new hope, strength and faith in the future, but also as an opportunity to highlight how the green and digital transition offers new prospects and opportunities.




3.   Youth involvement in the green transition









3.1.


In order to achieve a just green transition, the implementation of the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through the European Green Deal is necessary, including by implementing a new governance model that is more inclusive and capable of actively involving young people in decision-making processes.












3.2.


The decisions that political leaders take today on climate change and other environmental issues will have repercussions on today’s young and future generations in particular. Young people have a right to have a say on the issues that affect them, as stated in the 2030 Agenda, which recognises young people as ‘crucial agents of change’ within its SDGs.












3.3.


Although the role of young people in building a more sustainable, inclusive and greener world is increasingly recognised, and despite the proclamation of a year dedicated to them, it is clear that in reality young people still find it hard to participate actively in decision-making bodies.












3.4.


In recent years, despite a high degree of youth activism on the issue of climate change, we have also been witnessing an increasing disaffection and loss of trust among young people with respect to political institutions, which translates into a decrease in their active participation in political parties and a growing abstentionism in political elections, both as voters and as candidates. This represents a threat to the democratic system and an obstacle to the development of forward-looking policies, starting with those needed to meet the challenges of the climate transition, and capable of responding to different sensitivities and needs. In this regard, the EESC believes that promoting youth participation in politics and other decision-making processes should be a priority and that all options should be explored to make it feasible and effective at all levels.












3.5.


As a starting point, it would be important to identify and overcome social, economic and cultural obstacles to the full participation of young people, which may also be due to a lack of awareness or difficult accessing information concerning youth participation and representation mechanisms. Another aspect that should be emphasised concerns the new, often informal ways in which young people today engage and dialogue, often through the use of technology and social media, and which should be taken into due consideration as they are capable of mobilising entire generations.












3.6.


Sustainability is deeply embedded in young people’s view of the world and their decision-making processes, but with much pragmatism. Youth organisations, which represent the interests and sensitivities of millions of young people in Europe, can therefore play an important role in ensuring that the younger generation not only has a voice in institutions and in civil society, but also the opportunity to make a meaningful and qualified contribution to the decision-making process at local, regional, national and European level (1).












3.7.


For these reasons, the EESC emphasises the importance of creating opportunities for all the most representative youth organisations, starting with those representing the most vulnerable young people and those living in the most peripheral and rural areas, to be involved in policy-making and in developing ideas on sustainability issues.












3.8.


Youth organisations can fulfil many functions and play a crucial role in disseminating and implementing projects relating to the environment and sustainability. For this reason, the EESC calls on the EU institutions to provide these associations with structural financial support through adequate and specific resources, so that youth organisations have the right conditions to ensure and develop young people’s engagement in the green transition.












3.9.


Involvement alone, however, is not enough. All public policies must take into account the impact they will have on young people and their expectations, including those of future generations. Therefore, an ex ante, in itinere and ex post evaluation of all investments, including those relating to the green transition, must be carried out in order to establish, with certainty, through the use of indicators, the economic, political and social impacts these will have on young generations.












3.10.


The EESC encourages the EU institutions and the Member States to implement measures and mechanisms to ensure that the youth perspective is taken into account in all policy areas, while creating a space for young people to make a coherent and competency-based contribution to the challenges they face through the full adoption of the EU Youth Test (2).












3.11.


What is needed, both for the planet and for the advanced development of our Member States, is the empowerment of young people across four pillars: involvement in the processes of change; the possibility of playing an active role by exercising responsibility in individual and collective choices; the improvement of knowledge about the transformations taking place and the inevitable consequences of the green and digital transition; and the development of skills in order to intervene in a qualified manner.




4.   The green transition in education and the labour market









4.1.


The year 2023 has been declared the European Year of Skills. The EESC considers it crucial to link the initiatives and policies that will be adopted in this context to the theme of the green transition, sustainable development, and the challenges that young people face in a rapidly changing world.












4.2.


In the context of the climate and environmental emergency, education for sustainability should become a priority for schools. Educators have an instrumental role to play in ensuring that students are climate literate and have the knowledge and skills they need to take part in the green economy. There are many approaches that teachers and schools can take to explore these issues with students, but this also requires quality education for all and decent work for those providing it. The EESC considers it essential to ensure adequate funding at European, national, regional and local level in order to provide support for projects and initiatives to foster and implement teaching and learning in the fields of the environment and sustainability.












4.3.


The topic of the green transition and sustainable development strategies are absolutely cross-cutting. It is therefore necessary to consider education and the development of the skills expected by young people on this issue using a cross-cutting approach that is capable of providing theoretical and practical skills, including by implementing and enhancing school-to-work paths and professional apprenticeships. Training on these topics should also be made structural, by designing and developing it starting from the territories and their needs, within a broader framework at national level and with a view to life-long learning.












4.4.


Teaching children about sustainability and environmental protection issues should start at an early age, beginning in pre-school and continuing with dedicated programmes throughout school. It is therefore important that teachers also receive specific training and that they have guaranteed opportunities to update their skills on an ongoing basis.












4.5.


Introducing paths of green and cultural transition within the educational processes implies re-asserting the educational role of schools, which are entrusted with the task of supporting civic paths that are capable of teaching students to inhabit the world in a new and sustainable way. Students thus become the protagonists of a change that directs them towards a new model of society that places the environment at the centre and allows them to experiment and disseminate new lifestyles that are in balance with nature.












4.6.


The current context, which is constantly and rapidly changing, calls for innovative educational settings by creating a new ecological alphabet that is in line with the goals of the 2030 Agenda and centred on the methods of implementing the circular economy and the tools offered by life-cycle thinking (LCT) (3), which takes into account environmental protection, social and economic development, and the achievement of related objectives.












4.7.


The EESC emphasises that everyone needs knowledge to tackle climate change, especially regarding all aspects of sustainable consumption and production, responsible food choices and reduction of food waste, and the use of sustainable energy. Education of young people should be supported by lifelong learning for parents and education of citizens (4).












4.8.


The success of the ecological transition will therefore depend on the ability of schools to work in concert with local authorities and out-of-school activities, especially with youth organisations and organised civil society, generating an increase in awareness and participation including among ordinary citizens. In this connection, the EESC judges the experience of the Green Erasmus Project positively and looks forward to it being implemented.












4.9.


Awareness, knowledge and positive leadership on environmental protection issues are even stronger among the younger generation, i.e. Generation Z or ‘Gen Z’ (those under 25) and those with more education and stronger cultural tools. This means that awareness and qualified information are bound to grow and consolidate, but also that the positive responses required can be strengthened by improving young people’s education and enhancing their human capital in the social and economic spheres. On the contrary, low educational qualifications and the difficulty in entering the world of work not only slow down the contribution to the country’s current growth, but also weaken the role of young people as active participants in new growth processes that are more in line with the challenges of the age in which they live.












4.10.


There can be no transition without skills. It is crucial to equip workers, both younger and older, with enabling skills to govern the innovation brought about by the green transition that inevitably has, and will have in the future, a significant impact on the world of work. The EESC believes it is important to invest in work-based learning. Work-based learning, i.e. the set of training and learning practices that take place in work contexts, in particular in the form of apprenticeships, represents a decisive asset for the (re)acquisition of skills, both technical and cross-cutting. On-the-job training, internships and apprenticeships are three forms which, in their own and diverse ways, help to create a virtuous dialogue between market needs and the individual skills of young people. The social partners have an essential role to play in achieving this, through social dialogue and collective bargaining.












4.11.


The green transition must be a just transition, ensuring reskilling and upskilling for workers and quality jobs for all in order to ensure that no one is left behind. This is why the EESC considers it essential that training policies be holistic, integrated with industrial policies, coordinated with other development strategies, and planned in detail at territorial and local level, in close connection with the social partners.












4.12.


There is currently evidence of a lack of such a holistic approach, and of the poor diffusion of green skills and, as a consequence, of green jobs, especially among those with lower educational and skills levels. This runs the risk of generating a new polarisation: between those who possess green skills, and thus enjoy excellent employability in the scenarios opened up by the green transition, and those who instead remain excluded from these training processes, possess limited skills, and are often engaged in operational tasks that risk disappearing due to the combined effect of the green transition and industrial automation.












4.13.


Gender equality must also be an integral part of green economy strategies. Young women are underrepresented in technological and scientific fields, because they are unlikely to choose a specialised education in these sectors due to gender stereotypes that see certain jobs as purely male. In order to ensure adequate participation of women in sectors that are undergoing and will undergo in the near future a major development due to the green transition, these stereotypes must be addressed and careers guidance at school can play a crucial role. The EESC believes that the Member States should invest more resources in offering young people careers guidance at school and in supporting them into work through efficient public employment services that are adequately linked to the productive fabric of the territory.












4.14.


The development of innovation is a key to the success of the green transition. Encouraging young people with an entrepreneurial attitude in the innovation process through specific training and support for innovative projects and by ensuring adequate financial support is therefore a key aspect when it comes to achieving the objectives.












4.15.


The green transition in the European Union could create 1 million new jobs by 2030, but could also lead to between 500 000 and 2 million people becoming unemployed, according to an impact assessment (5) by the EU Environment Agency. The EESC considers it a priority for the Member States to invest significant resources, starting with those of the National Recovery and Resilience Plans, in supporting businesses that need to convert their activities, in redeploying workers who have been made redundant, and in supporting entrepreneurs, particularly young entrepreneurs, who intend to invest in green businesses.





Brussels, 22 March 2023.


The President of the European Economic and Social Committee

Christa SCHWENG




(1)  EESC opinion Towards structured youth engagement on climate and sustainability in the EU decision-making process (OJ C 429, 11.12.2020, p. 44).

(2)  EESC opinion on The EU Youth Test (OJ C 486, 21.12.2022, p. 46).

(3)  https://www.lifecycleinitiative.org/starting-life-cycle-thinking/what-is-life-cycle-thinking/

(4)  EESC opinion on Empowering youth to achieve sustainable development through education (OJ C 100, 16.3.2023, p. 38).

(5)  https://www.eea.europa.eu/policy-documents/swd-2020-176-final-part