As the UK economy enters recession and the cost of living crisis continues, there are worries that the long-term goal of net zero may lose its sense of urgency. But as of this month, the government’s autumn budget has confirmed that net zero is an integral part of the revitalisation of the British economy, and at JTL, we recognise this cannot be achieved without a new generation of skilled apprentices to pave the way for it.
To understand how net zero may assist with the economy, it is important to know that a migration towards net zero is not solely an imperative demanded by the climate crisis. Dependence upon costly fossil fuels has continuously driven up the prices of heating our homes and played a huge role in spurring the cost of living crisis that we currently face.
But in order to reap the benefits of a net zero nation, UK industries must accept that an entirely new, skills-based infrastructure must be developed to support it. An infrastructure that cannot be created without training providers such as JTL, who are already tailoring courses to meet the net zero requirements of the future.
Take the Level 3 Plumbing and Domestic Heating Technician Apprenticeship, which delivers a direct pathway for learners to skill themselves toward greener technologies. Apprentices that choose the Environmental Technologies pathway will find themselves taking on a training programme that accommodates solar thermal, heat pumps and water recycling systems.
It is technologies such as these which could sustain an entirely new period of economic prosperity through the development of more efficient energy solutions, new industries, and with them a new workforce. It is a workforce that JTL feel primed to deliver, one that may enable us to prosper in the pursuit of net zero whilst treating unemployment, achieving energy independence, and contributing to a solution for the cost of living crisis that affects us all.
