Malaysia and China offer contrasting yet complementary examples of strategic workforce development, providing valuable lessons for Asean’s low-carbon future.
Green skills: The foundation for Asean’s sustainability ambitions
Green skills, ranging from renewable energy expertise to sustainable leadership, have become central to economic growth and employment prospects in Asean.
Recognising this, member nations' governments jointly committed in 2023 to promoting green jobs and inclusive skill development.
However, translating policy ambitions into practical results varies across the region.
Malaysia is progressing but still evolving its integration of environmental priorities into education and workforce systems.
China’s coordinated approach to green talent offers useful lessons that Asean can adapt.
China’s green workforce strategy: Integration and scale
China’s green workforce approach, advanced over the past decade, positions human capital as a pillar of its sustainability agenda.
A significant achievement in this initiative is the 2022 edition of the National Occupational Classification Dictionary (NOC), which systematically categorises occupations based on their skills and functions.
This edition defines over 130 green occupations, providing clarity for employers, educators, and policymakers to align workforce development.
Building on its 2022 occupational framework, China expanded its Green Industry Catalogue in 2024, adding 22 new items across seven categories, including green services and infrastructure upgrading.
This year, its Education Ministry launched the “Double Thousand” plan, introducing 1,000 microprogrammes and 1,000 vocational training courses, targeting urgent talent needs in green development, digital economy, low-carbon transition and industrial transformation.
These coordinated efforts reflect China's shift toward systemic, future-ready green workforce development.
While China’s scale and governance differ from those of Asean countries, its focus on long-term planning, cross-sector coordination and public-private collaboration offers adaptable insights, particularly for Malaysia.
Malaysia’s progress and challenges: From aspiration to implementation
Malaysia is advancing its green skills agenda through policies like the Green Technology Master Plan, the National Energy Transition Roadmap and the Malaysia Greening Education Partnership Roadmap 2030.
These initiatives promote workforce upskilling in renewable energy, energy efficiency and sustainable manufacturing. Efforts to integrate green competencies into education and technical and vocational education and training (TVET) reforms support the national push for a low-carbon and inclusive economy.
Recent policies have reinforced this direction. Budget 2024 allocated RM2bil for sustainability-focused programmes, including TVET, green technology and workforce training.
Budget 2025 expanded support for green entrepreneurship and workforce inclusion, particularly in underserved communities.
The New Industrial Master Plan (NIMP) 2030 also positions environmental sustainability and talent development as key industrial drivers.
Yet translating these national efforts into inclusive outcomes remains uneven. Solar energy is gaining ground, but agriculture, tourism and SMEs are falling behind, limiting green skills access and widening labour market gaps.
Although platforms like Green Jobs Malaysia exist, the absence of a unified green jobs taxonomy comparable to China’s national framework hinders education-industry alignment and affects rural youth and underserved communities.
Inclusivity remains a concern as women, rural youth and underserved groups face barriers to green jobs and training.
Malaysia can strengthen access by drawing on China’s “Double Thousand” initiative, integrating public-private upskilling, modular learning and policy coherence.
Coordinated efforts are essential to build a resilient, inclusive green workforce aligned with Asean’s sustainability goals and ensure no one is left behind.
Embedding sustainability through inclusive green HR management and intellectual capital
Policy frameworks provide direction, but effective green transformation depends on organisational people management. Green human resource management (Green HRM), which integrates recruitment, training, performance management and employee engagement with sustainability goals, remains underused.
China embeds environmental responsibility into its cadre evaluation system, influencing leadership assessments and performance metrics.
Malaysia’s multinationals are following suit, linking green training and executive compensation to sustainability targets.
However, Green HRM must also be inclusive. Gender-responsive recruitment, equitable training access and leadership development for underrepresented groups help prevent the green transition from exacerbating social inequalities.
China has implemented targeted incentives, such as green job creation through rural ecological projects and offering support for women in green STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields.
For Asean’s diverse and youthful workforce, inclusive Green HRM embeds sustainability into organisational cultures, turning policy into workplace reality.
Beyond individual green skills, human capital – encompassing the collective knowledge, competencies and problem-solving abilities of the workforce – is crucial for sustainable transformation.
China’s investments in public research, vocational education and industry-academia collaboration foster a dynamic green innovation ecosystem.
Malaysia’s research centres show promise but need stronger ties to industry for real-world impact. Strengthening university-industry partnerships can accelerate knowledge transfer, ensuring sustainable innovations benefit the economy broadly.
Combined with inclusive Green HRM, strategic investment in human capital builds a green workforce that is resilient and innovative.
Looking ahead: Shared priorities for Asean's green workforce
To build Asean’s green workforce, four priorities must be addressed. First, countries should define and classify green occupations through national taxonomies. These will align education with labour demand, support employer planning and facilitate cross-border workforce mobility.
Second, Green HRM must be brought into the mainstream. Embedding sustainability into human resource practices ensures that organisational goals are implemented, not just stated.
Third, access to green jobs must be expanded via inclusive policies. Removing barriers for women, rural youth and other underrepresented groups will ensure a just transition.
Fourth, investment in innovation and knowledge networks is critical. Supporting green entrepreneurship, research and development, and cross-sector collaboration will help scale solutions and prepare workers for a rapidly evolving green economy.
Conclusion
Technology and policy are crucial, but people are the bedrock of any green economy.
Asean's success depends on preparing, supporting and empowering its workforce, ensuring sustainability becomes a reality, not just an aspiration.
Malaysia’s evolving multi-stakeholder efforts and China's coordinated approach offer complementary lessons.
The true challenge is guaranteeing every worker, from urban engineers to rural youth, a meaningful role in shaping our sustainable future.
The green transition begins with people.
Dr Yong Jing Yi is a Senior Lecturer at Taylor’s University. The views expressed here are entirely the writer’s own.
The SEARCH Scholar Series is a social responsibility programme jointly organised by the South-East Asia Research Centre for Humanities (SEARCH) and Tunku Abdul Rahman University of Management and Technology (TAR UMT).
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