Green skills gap emerging as critical risk in natural resources sector

A growing shortage of sustainability-ready talent is threatening the Australian natural resources and energy sector’s ability to meet its climate and ESG goals, according to BDO’s inaugural Sustainability Trends Report.

The national survey of 107 senior leaders reveals that businesses are struggling to attract, develop and retain the specialised skills needed to deliver on sustainability commitments - particularly in technical and operational roles tied to decarbonisation and circular economy practices.

Despite broad recognition of the challenge, only 32 per cent of organisations expect to prioritise sustainability resourcing over the next five years. This puts workforce investment behind other focus areas like product innovation, technology infrastructure and supply chain transformation.

BDO Sustainability Partner, Kristy Porter said the findings signal a looming capability crunch.

“Sustainability ambition is growing - but capability isn’t keeping up. Many businesses are facing a widening skills gap that threatens to undermine ESG delivery at both strategic and operational levels,” she said.

“Building a workforce that understands emissions tracking, sustainable production, and ESG reporting isn’t optional—it’s foundational to future competitiveness.”

The report highlights that current workforce strategies are falling short in areas such as future-skilling, sustainability literacy, and structured career pathways.

Respondents identified future-skilling (43%), bridging the knowledge gap (41%), and inadequate training (39%) as top barriers to talent development in sustainability.

“Without urgent and deliberate workforce investment, the sector risks losing momentum in the transition from compliance to long-term ESG value creation,” said Kristy.

“Green skills are now critical infrastructure for business. We need more than intent - we need pipelines, programs and prioritisation.”



For media enquiries:

Tate Papworth 
Manager, Media 
E: Tate.Papworth@bdo.com.au 
Ph: 0433411189