DUBAI, UAE – As the JOBS4RE initiative has started gaining high-powered support from various countries as well as development-partners, the Philippines is joining peers in the world on this transformative movement that will address glaring gap on the technical as well as professional skills that will underpin present and future renewable energy (RE) investments as a linchpin to the just energy transition call headlining at the COP28 Climate Change summit.

For this particular endeavor, the Danish government made declaration at the COP28 summit during a Ministerial event organized by the Global Offshore Wind Alliance (GOWA), an organization co-founded by Denmark, the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC), that it “will look positively on future collaboration with the Philippine government to accelerate the upskilling and reskilling of a global workforce for the renewable energy industry.”

The global offshore wind sector, in particular, has sounded off that the clock is already ticking for the industry’s need for 700,000 new technically-skilled workers that shall be on board by 2027 – and that is a daunting challenge that must be resolved with urgency through targeted collaborations on upskilling, reskilling as well as reinforcing knowledge and technical expertise for the RE workforce.

Denmark Climate Change Ambassador Tomas Anker Christensen rationally stated that “while it is positive that an increasing number of offshore wind and other renewable energy projects are being planned all over the world, it becomes clear that the growing lack of skilled workers hampers the faster deployment of projects.”

The JOBS4RE program, which is anchored on the mantra “Empowering People for a Just Transition”, is targeting to link nations, industry players, local and foreign development-partners, educational institutions as well as government policymakers “to create a flexible and globally capable renewable energy labor pool by defining training standards” – and the initial target will be for the wind industry; with potential expansion in the solar sector.

It was further noted that “the initiative will seek to build upon existing wind industry standard certification schemes, such as that of the Global Wind Organisation (GWO), ensuring that high-priority job roles are aligned with training standards and that proof of qualifications is internationally recognized.”

In an exclusive interview, Danish Ambassador to the Philippines Franz-Michael Mellbin conveyed that “the launch of the initiative was good and we saw a lot of interest -- and we also saw new countries that came along – like Australia.”

He added “I’m optimistic that after COP28, the work will start. The Philippines has sent very clear signal that it wants to cooperate on standardization of education, so the certificates that people get from the training will fulfill both the needs of the Philippines, but also give people the option to work internationally.”

Beyond the wind sector’s need for technically-equipped workforce, the Danish ambassador indicated that the JOBS4RE collaborative program will also scale up into the solar side of the mammoth RE business.

“Altogether, after the launch, we’re looking forward to the specific works that will start now; and hopefully, we would be able to expand to the solar side as we would like to join next year - and maybe have a presentation at COP29,” he said.

Along with other development-partners, the ambassador expounded “all of us are trying to shape the conditions that will allow training for green transition in the Philippines. Fortunately, everybody agreed it’s much better to go standardized way and that’s what the Philippine government is also thinking very clear about – let’s make sure that the money invested in training that is given actually has standardized format so we can have better use for money.”

This high-minded program for the RE sector, the ambassador explained,” is really about trying to make best use of people, resources, time and effort – this is an opportunity for people to get well-paid jobs, to get more skills and be more employable for the future.”

As the undertaking gets headway, Mellbin qualified “there are a lot of private training institutions and schools who are used to educating people for the seafarers – they see this as a market opportunity – both for the Philippines and the international market. I welcome that we have a lot of actors – let’s see who will be doing the training at the end of the day; and we may see governments invest; we may see international organizations invest; and we may also see the industry invest – so there would be money going into this.”

The envoy, thus, reiterated “it’s very important that money gets maximized – that we get the most value for that; and I think everybody must welcome the private sector trying to be part of that process.”

Beyond the need for highly specialized workers in the wind and solar industries, Mellbin emphasized that there are other parts of the RE investment equation that are still missing on the wider movement toward creating a pool of knowledge and skills that will transcend international borders – these are the workforce in the transmission, distribution as well as industrial energy storage systems, hence, that must also be targeted as part of the whole chain of endeavors moving forward.

“There are still some areas that are challenging – and this initiative will not be able to cover and I know this is on the radar of the Philippine government – and that is transmission and distribution…then battery – industrial battery for both grid management and for power storage are also not covered and there’s also tremendous need for good workers for these areas,” he stressed.