In the modern era of life-long learning and career management in the face of technological advances and industry restructuring, all citizens should have access to high quality careers information, advice and guidance. Nevertheless, it is particularly important that young people are not shut out of opportunities in the green economy as a result of receiving guidance from counsellors who have not kept up to date with developments in local and national labour markets. In all cases, there are risks involved, since the decision-maker may discover in the future that an unpredictable change in market conditions or the policy environment has resulted in the original investment becoming obsolete. In the past, some government policies at the federal and state levels (such as industrial policy based on ‘picking winners’ for public subsidies) have been rightly criticised for locking individuals or businesses into a narrow skills training or industry development trajectory that has proved unsustainable.