2030: what could your Net Zero job be?
As the UK transitions to becoming a Net Zero country by 2050, completely new jobs and industries will be created. It’s hard to imagine what this future jobs market will look like, so we asked our research and innovation experts to predict a range of jobs that could play a part in a Net Zero economy — which ones appeal to you?
Net Zero transformation advisor
The UK’s pledge to reach Net Zero is enshrined in law: we’ve pledged to cut emissions by 78% by 2035. Companies, charities and other organisations will all need to adapt their practices so they don’t fall foul of the law.
This is where you could come in. Transformation advisers will provide the legal expertise and imagination to help businesses and others meet their obligations, whether it’s helping them trade carbon or reduce their emissions by using electric vehicles only.
Vertical farmer
The burgeoning vertical farming industry is transforming more places into indoor farms — office blocks, shipping containers, old warehouses, and even unused underground spaces. Plants are stacked in trays vertically, grown without soil, and environmental control systems ensure they have optimal levels of water, temperature, light and anything else they need.
British innovators have even developed smart technology that means these crops can be controlled remotely from a mobile phone — so you can grow lettuce, strawberries or coriander all year round, and keep an eye on your farm from wherever you are in the world. If you know someone with a passion for sustainable growing practices, vertical farming could be the job for them.
Sustainable packaging designer
We’re having a reckoning over our use of single-use plastics — as well as our use of packaging in general. The UK alone uses 13 billion plastic bottles each year, which all stay intact for at least 100 years. If you’ve been a designer, an engineer or an environmentalist, you could design Net Zero packaging for consumer goods.
That could include coming up with innovations to turn waste into packaging, develop ways for supermarkets to reduce their reliance on plastic, designing packaging that keeps products protected but use fewer resources, or engineering packaging that’s biodegradable or can be reused, maybe in unexpected ways.
Digital carbon trader
What if you could trade environmental gain, just as you do stocks, shares and bonds?
The UK has established an Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) — this means there’s a cap on the amount of carbon emissions an industry can produce. But while technology is catching up, it’s not easy for industries like shipping, aviation, agriculture and others to decarbonise. A digital carbon trader will work between these industries and those with lower emissions to trade carbon — offsetting and reducing overall emissions.
Floating wind turbine engineer
The UK is a global leader in offshore wind — a key renewable energy source that will help us get towards Net Zero.
Perhaps you’re an engineer used to working on ships, or helicopters, or domestic boilers. You could reapply your expertise to offshore wind farms.
You could help work out how to mount turbines so that they can operate in deeper water, or take on the complex challenge of fixing a turbine that’s miles from shore.
Cell-based protein biologist
Cruelty-free meat with Net Zero benefits— that’s the goal of the cell-cultivated meat sector. By aiming to produce quality meat in labs, from ‘real’ animal cells, they hope to reduce the environmental impacts of industrial livestock production which is responsible for 14.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions.
While lab-grown meat went on sale for the first time last year, it is still far from viable on a mass scale. If you know a biology student who wants to help develop sustainable food solutions, this might be the Net Zero job for them.
Net Zero education officer
Do you like working with young people and organising events? In a Net Zero world you could be an education officer who helps inspire young people (and their teachers and communities) to adopt more Net Zero practices.
If you’ve ever worked in recruitment, community engagement or with young people, this could be the job for you. And the good news is it will be varied — there are so many facets to Net Zero that the remit will be wide. Food, transport, energy — you’ll help spread the word on how we can all contribute to them becoming Net Zero.
Inspired by these jobs of the future? Find out more about the jobs that are changing the world right now.
Want to know more?
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