EY's Green Skills Passport is an initiative designed to equip youth and underserved communities with sustainability awareness and entrepreneurial skills needed for green economy jobs. It bridges the gap between climate ambitions and workforce readiness by providing structured learning on environmental concepts and green entrepreneurship. The programme targets populations typically excluded from formal skill development pathways, making green job markets more inclusive and accessible as global demand for sustainability-focused professionals continues to rise across sectors.

The Green Skills Passport sits at the intersection of two major policy conversations: green jobs and inclusive skill development. As economies worldwide pivot toward net-zero commitments, demand for workers who understand renewable energy, circular economy principles, carbon accounting, sustainable agriculture, and green infrastructure is accelerating rapidly.

In India's context, this connects directly to several policy frameworks. The National Green Hydrogen Mission, the Panchamrit climate targets announced at COP26, and the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) all implicitly require a workforce trained in sustainability. Yet India's formal skill development ecosystem — through the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) and sector skill councils — has only recently begun incorporating green skills into its qualification packs.

The ILO defines 'green jobs' as work that contributes to preserving or restoring the environment, whether in traditional sectors such as manufacturing and construction or in new, emerging green sectors such as renewable energy. The Green Skills Passport model operationalises this by making credentialing accessible to youth who may lack formal education pathways.

For exam purposes, connect this to: Mission LiFE (Lifestyle for Environment), India's Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement, and the Skill India Mission. The examiner tests whether aspirants can link climate policy commitments to ground-level workforce preparation — this is precisely that linkage.