Time is running out to get our construction workforce ready for net zero. Infrastructure Australia’s Chief Executive, Adam Copp explains.
Every time the discussion arises around net-zero emissions, the spotlight falls on renewable energy projects. What often gets overlooked is the construction of infrastructure that each and every one of us uses every single day – from ports and roads to rail and buildings.
The assets we rely on to get us from A to B could end up being one of our biggest roadblocks in achieving our national ambition to get to net zero emissions by 2050.
Infrastructure and buildings are directly responsible for nearly a third of the country’s emissions. These emissions are produced in the manufacturing of building materials, such as in fossil-fuel-powered steel mills or concrete plants. They are also created during construction, for example, in the transportation of materials and the use of diesel-powered machinery or generators at construction sites.
Then there are the indirect emissions – say from the vehicles that use a new road, or trains using a new rail line. This, together with direct emissions, accounts for almost half of Australia’s total emissions.
In 2023 alone, all emissions produced by the country’s infrastructure and buildings totalled 303 million tonnes. That’s the equivalent of running more than 70 coal-fired power plants or having approximately 70 million petrol cars on our roads for that year.
If we’re serious about reaching net zero, we’re going to have to take a large chunk of these emissions out of the equation. To do that, the infrastructure sector is going to need to rethink how it designs, builds and operates assets. But its ability to do that will come down to the strength, capability and confidence of its workforce.
In a bid to tackle this challenge, a coalition of industry peak bodies and government agencies from across the country, known as Infrastructure Net Zero, joined forces to dig deeper into what’s required to build the workforce we need to decarbonise Australia’s infrastructure projects.
In launching the Delivering Net Zero Infrastructure: Workforce Report recently, we have for the first time a unified, sector-wide view of the occupations and skills we need to undertake this task.
Right now, of the 200,000 workers delivering the nation’s major public infrastructure pipeline, only around half perform activities that reduce emissions.
Confidence is a major barrier.
According to a 2024 Infrastructure NSW survey, 90 per cent of government and industry respondents were aware of carbon’s impact in infrastructure. But over a third of government and a fifth of industry respondents admitted to having low confidence in their ability to reduce them. In other words, professionals such as engineers, architects, and construction managers, who are all central to delivering lower-emission projects, aren’t sure where to begin.
While learning on the job is par for the course in many fields, when it comes to decarbonising infrastructure, we’re in uncharted territory. Formal training is required.
Some commendable efforts are already underway—universities and professional bodies have rolled out training. Many were established ahead of their time and were addressing an obvious need in an environment where there was no certainty or guidance.
The challenge is that amongst these various programs, there are no common benchmarks and no consistency. This means there is no national standard defining what skills are needed to lower emissions in infrastructure projects and no clear, consistent way to teach them.
To address this, our report lays out a national game plan to help grow and upskill the essential infrastructure workforce Australia needs to get to net zero and beyond.
One of the key recommendations is for the urgent development of a nationally coordinated, cross-sector training effort backed by government, industry and education providers. Training that standardises what it means to design, build and maintain infrastructure projects with net zero in mind. Courses that give current workers a clear path to upskill and give new entrants the confidence they’ll be job-ready.
Decarbonising how and what we build is a huge, generation-defining task. There are multiple people in the supply chain whose decisions carry significant weight on whether a project can be successfully decarbonised. To support them in making the right decisions, we first need to empower them with the skills and confidence they need to do so.
