How London Climate Action Week Highlights the Role of People in the Energy Transition
London Climate Week brings together ideas, investment, and ambition. But behind the high-level pledges and global momentum lies a quieter challenge: who is actually going to deliver all of this?
As climate infrastructure scales, from green hydrogen to data centre decarbonisation, the gap between what needs to be built and the people available to build it is growing.
This article explores why talent is becoming one of the most critical levers in the energy transition, and what businesses and policymakers need to understand if we’re going to meet the goals being set this week in London.
Policy drives ambition. Talent delivers it.
It’s easy to be energised by the headlines during Climate Week. Net zero roadmaps. Hydrogen investment plans. Record solar deployments. But when the announcements are over, delivery begins. And across the global energy transition, one question keeps surfacing:
Do we have the people to build what has been promised?
In the past year, public and private capital flowing into net zero infrastructure has hit record levels. According to BloombergNEF, global investment in the energy transition reached $1.8 trillion in 2023. That includes $600 billion into renewables, $310 billion into electrified transport, and more than $50 billion into technologies like hydrogen and carbon capture.
And yet, the World Economic Forum warns of a major green skills gap. The number of cleantech roles is growing faster than the available workforce. In the UK, National Grid estimates that 400,000 new energy workers will be needed by 2050 to meet net zero targets.
Where talent gaps are slowing progress
There are four clear areas where talent shortages are already limiting growth:
Leadership for scale: It is no longer just about technical experience. Businesses need leaders who can manage complexity, navigate policy shifts, and work across borders.
Specialist project delivery: From gigafactories to offshore wind hubs, there is fierce competition for experienced project managers, commissioning teams, and grid engineers.
Commercial and regulatory fluency: Commercial leaders with deep knowledge of power markets, PPAs, and compliance are increasingly hard to find, especially in fast-moving areas like hydrogen and long-duration storage.
Transferable expertise: Some of the most impactful hires are coming from adjacent industries such as automotive, aerospace, and data infrastructure. But many businesses still struggle to identify and translate those skills effectively.
What needs to change
This is not just a hiring issue. It is a strategic challenge that goes to the heart of delivery. If talent is the bottleneck, then it must be addressed with the same urgency as technology and funding. Leading organisations are already making shifts:
Hiring for adaptability: The most important question is no longer “Have they done this before?” but “Can they build something that has never existed?”
Emphasising purpose and values: People want their work to matter. In this space, purpose is a powerful differentiator.
Thinking long term: Success depends on building future teams now, not just reacting to gaps when they appear.
A moment to reflect and refocus
London Climate Week is about ambition, but it is also about delivery. Every net zero target, every project milestone, and every climate breakthrough depends on the people who will design it, build it, operate it, and lead it.
The future of climate action is not only shaped in policy rooms or investment committees. It is shaped every day by the decisions we make about who we hire, what we value, and how we support the people who are making it happen.
Because in the end, the energy transition is not just about infrastructure. It is about the people driving change, and living their purpose doing it.
