Vision and Framework for Strategy and Planning
Published August 2005

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Approach 6: Ensure a Viable Technology Workforce of the Future

The development and deployment, on a global scale, of new and advanced climate change technologies will require a skilled workforce and an abundance of intellectual talent, well versed in associated concepts and disciplines of science and engineering. Workforce development and education are integral components of any sustained and successful scientific and technological undertaking of this scope and magnitude.

In the current absence of a commercial market for technologies that reduce, avoid, capture or sequester GHG emissions,²³ there is likely to be limited attraction for scientists and engineers to select and seek training in fields specialized for such endeavors. CCTP anticipates a future where such activities will be important. It recognizes that it takes time to attract and train entrants into such fields and nurture the careers, professional experience, skills and competencies required. Workforce development and education, begun in conjunction with CCTP’s efforts to develop and deploy the new climate change technologies, would ensure parallel development of the requisite skills and careers.

CCTP’s mission and goals provide a unique opportunity to strengthen and revitalize, across all CCTP participating agencies, the current and ongoing Federal investments in science, math, and engineering education, with an additional focus on climate change technology. The technological challenge will attract new talent and ensure the growth of a future workforce knowledgeable and skilled in the needed technical areas.