Green Jobs for Youth Pact

By 2030, the pact aims to:

1. Create 1 million new green jobs for youth, with a particular focus on young women; 

2. Accelerate the greening of 1million existing jobs; 

3. Support 10,000 young entrepreneurs to establish and/or  grow sustainable green businesses, while contributing to  the creation of green jobs for their peers 

The Pact brings together employers, governments, youth and education partners through three main tracks: 

1. Employment and Entrepreneurship 

• Support the development of new, decent green jobs. 

• Support the greening of existing jobs to make them more sustainable. 

• Foster green startups and young entrepreneurs. 

• Promote innovation in sustainable business models in high impact sectors. 

          Examples of this work include: 

• Capacity building for policymakers, academia and youth.   

• Technical assistance for green job assessments. 

• Supporting research on green jobs needs and gaps.  

• Enhance company/institutional capacities for resource efficiency and circular economy strategies. 

• Mentorship programs for youth. 

• Develop sectoral green entrepreneurship programs. 

2. Green Education and skills 

• Support governments and academic institutions to integrate sustainability into educational curricula and training programs with a focus on universities and TVETs. 

• Promote green skills training and assessment.  

Examples of this work include: 

• Supporting the development of and promotion of climate education tools. 

• Supporting governments, universities, and TVETs to update their curricula to meet green skill demands. 

• Empowering policymakers to establish skills anticipation systems for the green economy. 

3. Empowerment and Youth Engagement 

• Supporting youth advocacy for green transition policies. 

• Offering mentorship, capacity building, bootcamps, training, and accelerator programs to support youth-led green businesses and promote green skills. 

          Examples of this work include: 

• Supporting youth participation at high level forums such as COP and UNEA.  

• Supporting youth in accessing finance for sustainable innovations and businesses. 

 

The pact is currently being implemented in Africa, Asia Pacific, Europe and Central Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean and West Asia.

Read more on the regional implementation here 

How you can take action to advance green jobs and skills:

Governments, the private sector, education entities, and young leaders commit to the Green Jobs for Youth Pact—your measurable, time-bound actions can directly contribute to green employment for the youth. 

     1. Governments 

• Develop policies that strengthen the availability and access of green jobs and skills  

• Strengthen the education sector to offer relevant green skills to youth  

• Create an enabling environment for private sector to create new jobs, green existing jobs and for youth to take up green skills and entrepreneurship  

     2. Private sector  

• Adopt business models that can create new green jobs and green existing jobs, including circular economy and sustainable consumption and production  

• Provide training opportunities for youth  

• Support green innovations and startups with funding, training and mentorship 

    3. Youth and youth organizations  

• Engage in youth forums  

• Upskill and take up training on green skills, sustainability  

• Advocate for green jobs and skills policies from government 

• Advocate for sustainable business practices from big and small companies 

• Advocate for greening of existing jobs through transition to circularity and sustainable consumption and production