The Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (IEMA) and City & Guilds developed the three training courses in response to growing demand by business for workforce-wide universal environmental training.

They will provide training and skills for the whole work force, with the first qualification aimed at all staff up to manager level within an organisation. The second is aimed at manager level and the third is a strategy session aimed at senior executives.

According to IEMA, companies are now seeing the environment as a game-changer for business and are building resilience in response to growing environmental challenges, improving competitiveness and productivity, saving money and discovering new business opportunities.

Defra has said that UK businesses could save up to £55bn a year through energy and resource efficiency savings by employing environment practitioners and having a ‘green’ workforce.

IEMA CEO Tim Balcon said: “For the UK economy to compete globally, and maximise the business opportunities that the environment presents, we need to be bold – we need to comprehensively upskill all parts of the economy. The key to this is through quality standards of environmental skills and knowledge delivered at consistently high quality and at volume throughout organisations”.

“For the first time, every business will not only have access to skilled and qualified environment professionals who lead and improve on environmental performance, but also have the opportunity to truly embed environmental skills across every role and responsibility across their organisation.” added Balcon.

The courses cover a range of subjects including the main environmental risks and opportunities facing organisations, the importance of resource efficiency and the impacts of pollution, to more strategic discussions that may affect an organisation’s ability to do business in the long-term.

Leigh Stringer

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