Book Review: Sustainable Careers by Liz Painter

Book Review: Sustainable Careers by Liz Painter

Reviewed by Peter Stewart, BIEE member and former Council member (2013-2021)

Liz Painter’s book on Sustainable Careers is subtitled: Navigating Career Options for a Resilient and Sustainable Future. It addresses the big question of how to live and work sustainably, both in personal and planetary terms, and how to encourage young people to do likewise through finding decent work and lifelong learning.

This is a book about careers rather than economics, but I hope it is of interest to other BIEE members, particularly those who may be engaged with young professionals in the energy economics research field. As I’ve said before, probably far too often, we aren’t paying enough attention to Energy Transition workforce skills. It’s all very well talking about technology and policy pathways, but to deliver on Energy Transition promises, you need people with the right skills to implement the agreed policy goals.

Painter’s acknowledgements section mentions the July 2024 conference in Birmingham on Career and Sustainability, which was hosted by the National Institute of Career Education and Counselling (NICEC). This important event, to which I also contributed, made a link between sustainable lifestyles, finding work in the field of sustainable careers and improving sustainable development education. Painter’s book covers all three fields through the three main themes of Sustainability and Careers; A Sustainable Career; and Sustainable Development Education.

Four chapters are devoted to the types of green jobs and skills required for economic sectors to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and encourage nature restoration. These are the core of most books on Green Jobs. But the book also addresses the need to prepare young people for work that is sustainable for their own mental health by offering decent jobs and lifelong learning opportunities. Further chapters focus on teaching for and about sustainable development, and building the skills and qualifications needed.

I enjoyed many aspects of this book, but especially the emphasis on non-STEM opportunities. “This book will help to support young people interested in media, finance, the law, the arts, music, charity work, spot and every subject, to find meaningful careers”. The books also looks at the impact of Artificial Intelligence, and the kinds of skills that are needed to fill existing and future skills gaps for the Green Transition.

Links to Other Resources

Although the coverage of the future of energy sector jobs is fairly high-level, there is an excellent range of links to other resources, including websites and other secondary literature. Interesting case studies and examples supplement the text throughout.

On a personal note, I found the section on qualifications most interesting and relevant. Despite the huge appetite among young people to do something about the climate crisis, they often find the labyrinth of job descriptions and abbreviations in job adverts quite bewildering. They want to get involved and engage, but the barriers to entry can feel insurmountable.

The one significant gap in the book, in my opinion, is that it lacks a detailed index. It is a good read from cover to cover, but the ability to zoom in on specific topics though an index would have been ideal.

Overall, however, this is an excellent and timely book. The book is supported by the Career Development Institute, the main UK organisation for careers advisers, and has a foreword by Dr Oliver Jenkin, who edits their magazine Career Matters. While careers advisers such as myself are perhaps its main target audience, I would highly recommend Painter’s Sustainable Careers for anyone concerned with the practical challenge of implementing Net Zero goals, whether policy makers, politicians, academics or those implementing projects and developing talent and skills in the private sector.

The UK has been a world leader in setting climate change goals and policy, but its record on implementing these goals through employment and skills development has been uninspiring for the young. As trade unions have recently advocated, now is the time to match words and targets with solid jobs and opportunities.

Liz Painter’s book will be invaluable for anyone involved in delivering change at ground level, and for building the skills needed for the drive towards Net Zero.

Sustainable Careers: Navigating Career Options for a Resilient and Sustainable Future by Liz Painter (Trotman Indigo Publishing, 2025). The book cost me £24.97 from Amazon. Also available from the publisher and other outlets.