London has the sixth highest concentration of sustainability professionals in the world, a ranking of cities by LinkedIn has revealed.
Only Stockholm, Helsinki, Amsterdam, Zurich and Vancouver feature higher in the ranking, with the number of job postings on LinkedIn for sustainability roles increasing by nearly a third in the UK last year.
In total, the UK saw a 12% increase in its number of sustainability professionals in 2019, higher than the global average of 7.5%, while Europe saw a 13% rise.
“Climate change remains a defining issue of our time, and while COVID-19 is all-encompassing at this moment, it's reassuring to see that the UK is well-placed to lead on sustainability with the world-class talent to take us forward,“ said Josh Graff, UK country manager at LinkedIn.
“As the UK increases its focus on lowering emissions and with an ambition to hit climate neutrality by 2050, we have seen a rise in the number of people pursuing green careers.“
The top 10 cities with the highest concentration of sustainability professionals are shown below:
Stockholm (Sweden) Helsinki (Finland) Amsterdam (Netherlands) Zurich (Switzerland) Vancouver (Canada) London (UK) Milan (Italy) Auckland (New Zealand) Melbourne (Australia) Washington (US)
LinkedIn also found that the fastest rising core skill among sustainability professionals globally is data analysis, with year-on-year growth of 18%.
Circular economy, corporate sustainability and environmental monitoring are other key sustainability skills that have shown strong growth over the last year.
Moreover, the findings show that environmental services, renewables and environment, architecture and planning, civil engineering, and utilities are the top five industries for green job opportunities in Europe.
“With the breadth of sustainability roles and skills available, it's encouraging to see an increasing number of businesses and professionals looking to make a positive difference to people, society and the planet,“ Graff added.
Image credit: iStock
