Jennifer Phin, Managing Director and Catriona Gordon, Executive Assistant of A.C. Whyte recently met for a second time to collaborate on ideas and solutions to address the delivery gap in facilitating female talent across the ever growing green jobs market. They were joined by Renew the World’s Climate Youth Delegates and the Scottish Government’s Cabinet Secretary for Finance & the Economy, Kate Forbes.

The panel discussions initially started at the New York Times Climate Hub at COP26 and form part of a wider engagement process with the Scottish Government’s Just Transition Planning framework. Jennifer Phin, Managing Director of A.C. Whyte said:

I was delighted to be given the opportunity to contribute to this discussion and to support Renew the World’s youth delegates.  Supporting the delivery of net zero requires a nationwide response. A systematic shift is needed across all sectors and local communities, creating and keeping skills and talent in local areas, forming a “carbon army” to assist us on the road to net zero.

Jennifer also added:

The effort and planning required in this sense is unprecedented in peace time. In critical times such as this, we require strong, people focused leaders to emerge, who can contribute to a thriving net zero economy, improving how we all live and work to break down the barriers of inequality.

This, in tandem with the Scottish Government’s vision for a fairer, more equal Scotland, should provide new opportunities to underrepresented groups allowing them to contribute and be part of a just transition.

Renew the World youth delegates included Alicia Dobson, Molly Hucker, Anjali Raman-Middleton and Anna Kernahan as well as role models from industry, Dr Poonam Malik, FRSE, Head of Investments at University of Strathclyde, Global Scot, Climate Champion and Board member of both Scottish Enterprise and Skills Development Scotland; Fiona Lindsay, Director of ReBlade, the UK’s first wind turbine blade decommissioner; and Shannon Todd, Technical Business Apprentice at TechnipFMC and Career Ready Mentor.