Exploring Donor Investments in Green TVET

Ahmed Iqbal and Helen Dempster
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Ahmed Iqbal: Consultant

No 381, Policy Papers from Center for Global Development

Abstract: This policy paper examines the scale and composition of donor investment in technical and vocational education and training (TVET), with a particular focus on green skills, using OECD Creditor Reporting System data from 2013–2022. By applying a broader methodology that captures TVET across 14 training-related purpose codes and identifying projects through keyword searches, the analysis provides a more comprehensive estimate of official development assistance to the sector. It finds that donors disbursed approximately US$7.5 billion to TVET over the decade, with funding highly concentrated among a small group of donors—led by Germany, the United States, Canada, Australia, and the World Bank—and directed primarily toward large emerging economies and selected low-income countries. Despite this, TVET accounts for less than 2 percent of total aid. Green TVET represents a small but growing share of this portfolio, rising from a very low base to around 2–2.5 percent in recent years, with most projects focused on renewable energy—especially solar photovoltaics. The paper highlights significant measurement challenges arising from the absence of a harmonised definition of TVET and fragmented reporting practices, which obscure the true scale of investment and limit impact assessment. It argues that agreeing a common definition and improving donor reporting systems would strengthen comparability, support evidence generation, and help unlock greater and more effective investment in skills for the green transition.

Pages: 21 pages
Date: 2026-02-24
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ppm
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cgd:ppaper:381

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