Can the fight against climate change be good for business?

Industries across the globe are seeking to reduce their carbon footprint and become more sustainable. To do so, many are turning to employees with specific credentials. According to LinkedIn's Global Green Skills Report 2026, workers with green skills are being hired at more than 1.5 times the rate of the wider workforce. 

"Green skills are skills that make economic activities more sustainable, typically either by conserving natural resources or by taking out pollution," explains Sue Duke, LinkedIn's Managing Director for EMEA and LATAM. "Operational efficiency is the fastest-growing green skill this year. That's because not only are many workers applying it in core green jobs, but a whole host of workers are applying it in traditional jobs, not typically considered green jobs – everything from construction workers to sales assistants to financial professionals." 

Duke says that Gen Z is enthusiastic about tackling climate change in the workplace. "There is huge, huge hunger amongst younger workers to get involved and work in this space. Fully six in ten are telling us that they want to work in a job that helps combat climate change." She urges businesses and governments to "ensure that we're putting training programmes in place for young workers, so they can get these green skills and activate their role in the transition". 

Duke says the emergence of energy-intensive artificial intelligence is transforming the skills that workers need to do their jobs. "It's creating huge demand for workers with green skills in the AI industry itself, as organisations seek to reduce the impact of data centre buildouts and training models (...) Secondly, we are seeing an enormous opportunity emerging with this technology, as green workers start using AI to combat climate change."

Also in the programme, FRANCE 24's Charles Pellegrin speaks to Jacob Nathan, founder and CEO of Epoch Biodesign. Nathan says recycling textiles is not just about sustainability, but makes good business sense. "Circularity is the way forward. To be clear, this is no niche industry, this is the future of the materials industry."