International students can help meet Germany’s need for 300,000 green professionals by 2050: Studying in Germany

Over the next decade, Germany will require at least 300,000 additional skilled workers in the solar, wind, and hydrogen industries alone, according to Studying in Germany, an information portal for international students.

The European nation aims to achieve climate neutrality by 2045 and net-negative emissions after 2050. This means it will make massive investments in this transition, Studying in Germany says.

“Germany has come up with a €500 billion budget for infrastructure plans, including €100 billion allocated to the Climate and Transformation Fund (KTF),” the organisation notes.

It cites a study by the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry that warns that it could face a deficit of 560,000 workers across 250 key professions crucial to the transition.

Studying in Germany believes that prospective students can benefit both their careers and help the country tackle its climate crisis by enrolling in programmes that train them for jobs in the field.

The organisation’s analysis says that the following programmes might be among the most relevant for Germany’s future climate protection plans and provide jobs that are likely to be in demand:

• Renewable Energy Engineering

• Environmental Engineering

• Electrical Engineering

• Data Science

• Urban and Regional Planning

• Environmental Science/ Earth Science

The following top German universities also offer programmes that focus on sustainability, the organisation says:

• University of Hamburg

• University of Cologne

• Technical University of Munich (TUM)

• Dresden University of Technology (TU Dresden)

• Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (LMU)

• Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg

Additional details regarding the sectors that might be most in demand as well as details on the programmes that could best prepare prospective students for such careers are available on Studying-in-Germany’s website.