Climate Change Jobs

Last week, a brilliant climate tech founder showed me his pitch deck. The technology? Revolutionary. The impact? Massive. The story? Non-existent. 'But look at these numbers,' he insisted, pointing to graphs and data. 'The solution sells itself!' Here's what I told him: - No one has ever fallen in love with a spreadsheet. - No one has ever changed their behavior because of a pie chart. - No one has ever evangelized a product because of its technical specifications. The most powerful climate solutions don't win because they're the most advanced - they win because they tell stories that make people feel something. Tesla didn't sell electric cars by talking about battery chemistry. Beyond Meat didn't transform food by explaining protein extraction. Patagonia didn't change retail by detailing textile engineering. They told stories that made people imagine a different future. A future they wanted to be part of. Your climate solution isn't just fighting carbon emissions or waste or pollution. It's fighting for a story in people's minds. Yes, your solution must fit a need and work well. But in the battle for attention, the best storytellers often win. What story is your climate solution telling? 👇 #ClimateInnovation #Storytelling #CleanTech

Sustainability career experts and job seekers say landing a new job in the current economy — or making yourself more valuable to your current employer — comes down to one big thing #corporatesustainability professionals have been talking up for years: The ability to link emissions reductions and other environmental initiatives to business value creation. “Position ESG as a strategic enabler, not a compliance function,” said Pamela Gill Alabaster, who left her position this month as global head of ESG and sustainability for Tylenol maker Kenvue. The person now leading sustainability at Kenvue, for example, is part of the company’s research and development organization. Other suggestions: Be selective - “You could be following the perfect playbook, but you need to be attuned to what the organization is really looking for,” said Trish Kenlon, founder of Sustainable Career Pathways, pointing to research on six archetypes that typically shape how corporations govern ESG and sustainability.   Focus on what’s material - “Does the sustainability team pay for itself through the cost-savings initiatives the team has identified, led or operationalized?” asked J.R. Siegel, vice president of sustainability for software company Worldly. “De-risking is equally important, but it's harder to put a financial number on that work. Empower other business leaders - “Sustainability professionals just spent the past few years understanding every minute detail of the business to repurpose that data for reporting,” said author Matthew Sekol, a Microsoft “sustainability black belt” who helps advise the company’s customers. “Don't squander the opportunity for improvements and innovations that you are sitting on.   Create a ‘brand’ book - “Every time you complete a project, deliver something on time or support a business win, take note of it and make sure your leadership team knows about it,” said Ashley Fahey, former senior manager of global product sustainability at Kohler, who left the company in May. “Don’t be afraid to toot your own horn.” More career advice: https://lnkd.in/eVGN2qVJ Desta A. Raines Ellen Weinreb

After mapping over 850 members of Climate Crew's Sydney network (CC.SYD), I've confirmed a key pattern: The success of our climate transition will not be defined by a single 'hero' technology. It will be defined by the speed and quality of our connections. A brilliant solution in a silo is a failed solution. A fund with no one to deploy to is just a number. The real 'work' is done by the connectors – the people who build the 'soft infrastructure' that allows capital, ideas and talent to flow. This is why I'm launching the 'Climate Catalysts' series: to spotlight the movers and shakers who are doing this critical, connective work. For this first post, I'm sharing my 'A-Team' of leaders doing the 5 essential roles required to turn an idea into real-world impact. 1. The Strategist: This is our 'why'. We need leaders like Linda Romanovska, who operate at the highest level to write the rulebook for sustainable finance (for the EU and EFRAG) that guides the entire market. (Also learn about Victoria Whitaker and Thierry Lotrian in the carousel.) 2. The Architect: This is our 'where'. We need community builders like Mark Rowland, who design the 'soft infrastructure' (like Climate Action Week Sydney) for all the other roles to connect and collide. (Also learn about Tony Gourlay and Anita Kolni in the carousel.) 3. The Funder: This is our 'how'. We need 'smart capital' from people like Priyanka K., a 'new guard' climate tech investor who finds, funds and provides commercial advice to early-stage startups. (Also learn about Geoff Sinclair and Mac Christopherson in the carousel). 4. The Ecosystem Builder: This is our 'engine'. We need program leaders like Mick Liubinskas (Climate Salad, Startmate), the 'godfather' of the startup ecosystem who builds the entire network for climate tech. (Also learn about Elisa-Marie Dumas and Dane Murray 👨🏼🚀 in the carousel.) 5. The Corporate Champion: This is our 'gateway'. We need in-house champions like Abigail Thomas, the Head of Sustainability at SBS, who leads real-world implementation and unlocks corporate scale to 'pull' innovation into the mainstream. (Also learn about Giselle N. and Nathan Robertson-Ball in the carousel). The pattern is clear: when these 5 roles are present and connected, solutions get built. When one is missing, good ideas get stuck. Who is a key 'connector' in your network? Tag a leader who you see bridging these roles. #ClimateAction #ClimateCommunity #ClimateLeadership #ClimateCrew #ClimateTech

All the 'green skills' in the world won't make a difference without one, fundamentally human, skill. As the world looks towards COP30 in Brazil, the chat is all about targets, technology, and policy. Where can we be more ambitious? How do we get more progress, faster? And we talk a lot about 'green skills'—the technical expertise in carbon accounting, renewable energy, and biodiversity. These will help accelerate emerging tech like carbon capture and vital solutions like low carbon liquid fuels. And while that stuff is critical, it’s only half the story. In my experience, the real work of sustainability happens in the messy, human middle. It happens at the intersection of people, departmental politics, and budgets. All the best data in the world doesn't mean a thing if you can't get it over the line with the people who need to sign off on it. This brings me to what I believe is the single most important skill in delivering real progress on climate: stakeholder engagement. It's the 'street smarts' of knowing how to listen, how to bring people along, and how to find common ground, even when it’s hard. It’s about getting sh*t done, not just being technically "right." We need the technical experts, absolutely. But we desperately need the people who can connect the dots and make change happen. And we need to be teaching these skills alongside the “hard” green skills if we are going translate promises into action. #COP30 #GreenSkills #GreenJobs #ClimateJobs #LinkedInNewsAustralia #SustainabilityJobs #SustainabilitySkills

I've seen brilliant decarbonization roadmaps fail — not because the engineering was wrong, but because no one brought the right people into the room early enough. After two decades in this space, I'm convinced the transition's bottleneck isn't technology or finance. It's leadership and trust. The kind that gets a grid operator, a finance director, a regulator, and a community leader to say yes at the same time. The leaders I've watched actually move megawatts aren't the ones with the sharpest slide decks. They're the ones who spent months building relationships before they ever asked for anything — who understood that a procurement manager's bonus structure matters as much as the levelized cost of energy. Who knew that a mayor worried about local jobs needs a different conversation than a CFO worried about balance-sheet risk. In other words, who answered the question “What is in it for me to change with you?” before it is asked. Coalition-building is slow, unglamorous work. It doesn't photograph well. But it's the difference between a pilot that stays a pilot and a project that scales. With COP31 in Türkiye just months away, we'll see a lot of announcements. The ones that actually deliver will come from teams that did the invisible work first. What's one relationship you wish you'd built earlier in a project — and what would you do differently now? #ClimateLeadership #EnergyTransition #Decarbonization #COP31 #NetZero

Some people are putting way too much faith in technology to solve the climate crisis. Techno-utopianism—the belief that technology will save us—sounds appealing. Carbon capture, AI-driven solutions, renewable innovations... it’s easy to get caught up in the hype. But here’s the thing: technology alone isn’t going to cut it. 🙅🏼♀️ Sure, tech can be a powerful tool. It can help us be more efficient, scale solutions, and even tackle some of our biggest challenges. But relying on it to solve systemic issues lets companies off the hook. Worse, it allows business as usual to carry on under the guise of “innovation.” Take carbon capture, for example. It’s promising, but treating it as a silver bullet risks distracting us from reducing emissions in the first place. What we really need is a combination of: 🧩 Systemic change to how businesses operate within planetary boundaries. 🧩 Behavioral shifts that reduce overproduction and overconsumption. 🧩 Policy frameworks that hold companies accountable for real progress. Technology is a tool, not a solution. It can support change—but it can’t replace the hard, messy work of rethinking business models and resetting priorities. #Sustainability #ClimateAction #TechnoUtopianism #SystemicChange

Read this if you plan to interview for #climatechange consulting roles 🙏 I’ve been on both sides of the table and trust me, few things are more exhausting than interviewing candidates who claim to be “passionate about the planet” but haven’t looked up a single project the firm has done. We don’t expect you to be an expert. But we do expect effort 🙂 1. Read. The. Website. If you don’t know what the firm does, you’re wasting everyone’s time. Quote two recent projects. Bonus if you’ve read their annual report or thought leadership. I once had a candidate tell me how they never even looked up our company LinkedIn page, they themselves had 5k followers🥲 2. Be curious about the famous climate abbreviations. IPCC, COP, NDC, GHG, ESG - get friendly. One solid climate science book can go a long way. Try Joseph Romm’s Climate Change: What Everyone Needs to Know or Robert C. Brears’ Nature-Based Solutions to 21st Century Challenges. 3. Sharpen your case brain. This is still consulting. Do 2-3 guesstimate or profitability cases with friends. Even a climate startup needs unit economics. 4. Have a POV on climate change trends. If asked what excites you, don’t mumble “solar panels.” Know the top 3 climate innovations in your country - policy, nature-based, or deeptech. The difference between enthusiasm and expertise is specificity. 5. Transferable skills are gold. Worked in supply chains, finance, ops, research, community mobilisation? Great. Show how that maps to climate impact. One of our best hires came from law - they crushed our carbon market understanding. 6. Know your country’s carbon story. What has your national or state government done for mitigation, adaptation, or finance? Quote one scheme or mission. Be specific. 7. Quantify impact, not intention. “I care about the planet” isn’t a skill. “Improved X metric by Y% through Z intervention” is. Bring numbers. Even small ones. 8. Read the interviewer’s work (if possible). Published reports, blogs, LinkedIn posts - if it’s out there, it’s fair game. Drop a line that shows you did your homework. 9. Don’t trash corporates. Many climate consulting firms work with large companies. Nuance > noise. Say 'supporting transition' instead of 'fighting the polluters.' No one wants a moral crusade in a multi-stakeholder roundtable. 10. Ask sharp questions. “What’s your theory of change as a firm?” “How do you measure impact across diverse sectors?” Make the interviewer think. That’s the #interview win. Want a job in climate #consulting? It’s not about being the most passionate person in the room. It’s about being the most prepared.

The sustainability professional with fifteen years' experience looked perfect on paper. Every qualification, every buzzword, every box ticked. Hired through the job advert. Two months in, the organisation wanted to part ways. Technically brilliant, but couldn't collaborate. Treated every meeting like a lecture. Made the operations team feel stupid for not knowing what carbon accounting was. Meanwhile, the candidate I'd placed the month before at the same place (through a search) —former hospitality manager with no environmental background—was thriving. She asked questions. She listened. She brought people along rather than talking down to them. Sustainability work is about changing how organisations operate. You can't do that by being right at people. I've watched technically perfect candidates fail because they couldn't read a room. Because they alienated the finance team they needed to influence. Because they treated sustainability as a solo mission rather than a collaborative effort. And I've watched "unconventional" candidates succeed because they knew how to build relationships. How to translate complex concepts for non-technical audiences. How to stay optimistic when progress was slow. The attitude matters more than most hiring managers want to admit. Can this person handle setbacks without becoming cynical? Will they treat the facilities manager with the same respect as the CEO? Do they approach problems with curiosity or rigidity? Personality fit isn't about hiring people you'd want to grab a pint with. It's about understanding the actual culture they'll be working in. That startup trying to disrupt corporate sustainability needs someone comfortable with ambiguity and failure. That established consultancy needs someone who can thrive within structure and process. Getting this wrong is expensive. Not just the cost of rehiring, but the damage to team morale. The projects that stall. The relationships that sour. The CV tells you someone knows the theory. The conversation tells you whether they can actually work with other humans to implement it. Most sustainability roles aren't failing because people lack technical knowledge. They're failing because someone brilliant on carbon strategy can't get the procurement team to care. Because someone passionate about biodiversity treats every disagreement as a moral failing. You can teach someone the technical parts. You cannot teach someone to be collaborative, resilient, or self-aware. That's the difference between a good hire and a great one.

After hearing from thousands of people trying to transition into climate work, the same 4 barriers come up again and again - along with a handful of resources that can help overcome them:   🤝 "I don't have any connections in the field." - Join a climate networking community (Work on Climate, Women and Climate, College to Climate, ClimateAction.tech CIC) for networking, office hours with experts, and events - Browse OpenDoorClimate Directory to find sustainability professionals volunteering to chat with climate job seekers: https://lnkd.in/evJPgWeF   🛠 "I'm not sure how my skills translate." - Consider a climate skills-building course (Climatebase, Kith Climate, OnePointFive (opf.degree) Academy, Terra.do, Climate Drift, ) or working with a coach to figure out where your skills fit best (Walk of Life Coaching, Careers for Social Impact, The Positive Career Coach) - Checkout the #DayInTheLife series to better understand what skills actual climate professionals use in their jobs: https://lnkd.in/eXyrBeiV   👷♀️ "I don't have direct climate experience yet." - Focus on "proof point" projects - side projects at work, skills-based volunteered, short-term paid work - to build a project portfolio - Consider more formal climate fellowships or certifications (check out this comprehensive list by Sustainable Career Pathways: https://lnkd.in/exZMRxnc)   🔍 "I don't know which organizations fit my interests." - Browse climate job boards (Green Jobs Board, Green Jobs Network, ClimateTechList) to start learning some of the organizations in the space - Follow sector-specific analysis hubs (Sightline Climate, Utility Dive, etc.) to learn more about your sector landscape   One other thing I hear all the time is the strong desire for people to feel connected to others during their journey. I can't recommend enough the power of community, like the ones mentioned above, to help stay motivated and learn from others going through a similar journey.   Save this for later if you're exploring climate work, or share it with someone who is.   Have additional resources for these barriers? Add them in the comments!

Want to break into climate? I’ve had over 200 career calls with climate job seekers within the past year. Here are the 4 most commonly asked questions and my best answers: ⭐ How can I get a head start in college?  • Focus your coursework and internships on an expertise/industry pair, like marketing and sustainable fashion, business and regenerative agriculture, or data science and energy. • If you can’t decide on a niche, build versatile skills like finance, engineering, design, and sales. These skills are needed across climate-focused organizations. • Most recommended internship board: EDICT Internship Program by Elemental Excelerator 💫 How can I switch to climate from another industry? • Opportunities can be found in solution-focused organizations (e.g., Pachama, Kevala), sustainability/CSR teams (e.g., Carhartt, Adobe), and governmental offices (e.g., NYC Department of Environmental Protection (NYC DEP), US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)). • Many people try to overhaul their entire career. Instead, try changing only one variable at a time: seek a similar role in a new industry or a new role in a familiar industry (eg; marketing in fashion → marketing at a SaaS company like Recurate). • Mentorship, freelancing, and certificates can bridge the gap in industry experience. • Most recommended mentorship opportunities: Third Derivative and GrowthMentor ✨ How do I choose a niche?  • Standing out in climate requires being a near-perfect fit. Find the intersection of what you're good at, what you love, what you can be paid for, and what's needed across climate efforts. • Hop on career calls with folks across domains and industries to learn more about the day-to-day of their roles. • Most recommended starting points for market research: Climatebase, Work on Climate, CareerOneStop, and Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) 🌎 Do I need to join a program like Terra.do, Work on Climate, or OnePointFive (opf.degree)?  • These programs are helpful but not necessary. Free resources like coaching calls, videos, and podcasts can be valuable too. • Remember that “climate” isn’t really a standalone job! Consider how you can provide value to a climate-focused team and focus on building credibility in your desired solution sector (energy, agriculture, etc.). • Most recommended programs: Ellen MacArthur Foundation, Reforge, and Stanford University's certificates. -- Interested in a free careers session? • Check out the Work on Climate Expert Office Hours list and the #OpenDoorClimate list, launched by Daniel Hill. Interested in breaking into climate as a marketer? • Here's a comprehensive guide I put together: https://lnkd.in/gUqyFh_b I did my best to keep this post short. If anybody has more they’d like to add for climate job seekers, please add it to the comments. Thank you! Illustration by @tatooine_girl