The next major in-demand workplace skill

Peter du ToitI'm the founder of FutureWork IQ where I spend my time assisting businesses to improve their climate literacy so as to understand the projected impacts from the expanding climate crisis and how to adapt their workplaces in the face of these impacts.

Data from reports on skills (eg the World Economic Forum Job Skills Report and the LinkedIn Economic Graph) have identified these high demand skills:

Data Analytics/Science
Creative Intelligence (Complex Problem Solving, Creative Thinking, Creativity)
Digital Literacy

The importance of these is set to grow exponentially.

We need to add another skill to this mix: Carbon Literacy — defined as “the awareness of climate change and the climate impacts of mankind’s [& businesses] everyday actions.”

This decade we have a tiny window of opportunity to keep global heating below 2°C. In order to do so, we are going to need to decouple revenue generation from fossil fuels and transition to clean energy.

Your business is going to need a clear picture of what your current emissions are and produce a roadmap to end those and transition operations to renewables. The faster you do this the more disruption you will avoid.

In the South African context we have a unique set of issues. (See Chris Yelland: You have to take responsibility for your own electricity future in South Africa – Expert)