Innovation Zero Insights Report: Skills or Stagnation

The transition to a low-carbon economy will not be delivered by technology and infrastructure alone. It will ultimately depend on people.  

Across energy, transport, construction, industry and the built environment, the UK is entering a period of profound industrial transformation. Delivering that transition will require hundreds of thousands of workers with the technical, operational and digital capabilities needed to build, maintain and operate new low-carbon systems. Yet employers across multiple sectors are already reporting severe shortages in critical skills, with project delays, rising costs and constrained delivery increasingly becoming visible consequences.   

This report captures the key insights and outcomes from the Innovation Zero World 2026 working group session, Skills or Stagnation: Building the Low-Carbon Workforce, hosted in collaboration with our charity partner, EngineeringUK.    

The session brought together stakeholders from across the skills ecosystem, including industry bodies, employers, policymakers and education to examine whether the UK can build the low-carbon workforce quickly enough to prevent skills shortages becoming a structural barrier to decarbonisation.

Fill out the form below to access the full findings from the Skills or Stagnation working group: