MBA Careers in Sustainability

My career advice for young professionals and fresh graduates interested in the sustainability industry. After two decades in sustainability, here's what I wish someone had told me when I started. 1. Build your career at the intersection of sustainability and another field. Want to stand out? Don't just be a "sustainability person." Be the finance person who understands carbon markets. The supply chain person who knows circular economy principles. The marketing strategist who can avoid greenwashing. 2. Your degree alone won't cut it. The most successful sustainability professionals I know are always learning. You will face new frameworks, new guidelines, new regulations, and new technologies, very frequently in your career. This means you need to continously learn new things and keep updated on the latest happenings in the sustainability industry. 3. Focus on implementation, not theory. Don't focus on coming up with the perfect strategy or initiative. Start small, fail fast, gather feedback, and adjust quickly. You need to show results to build credibility and trust with internal and external stakeholders. 4. Master the art of measuring impact. In a world drowning in ESG claims and sustainability reports, those who can rigorously measure and prove impact will rise to the top. Learn impact measurement, carbon accounting, and life cycle assessments. 5. Build a personal brand around communicating sustainability solutions and stories. Don't just solve environmental problems. Share your success stories. Document your solutions. Create content about insights, innovations and breakthroughs. The sustainability space needs more sharing of best practices. What's your career advice? Share them in the comments below.

𝗦𝗼, 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗮 𝗷𝗼𝗯 𝗶𝗻 𝘀𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆? 🌱 You’re not alone - and that’s the challenge The space is heating up (in all senses), so here’s what I recommend 👇 🎧 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁 My go-to podcasts for climate & sustainability learning: → Outrage + Optimism → The Climate Question from the BBC → First Mile | Certified B Corp's Climate Heroes → Sustainability Uncovered by edie → Planet: Critical → Straight Talking Sustainability by Emma Burlow → The Sustainability Agenda by Fergal Byrne 🌍 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗱𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 Check out the companies in these networks: → Impact Hustlers (community + podcast) → Unreasonable Group → Tech Nation's Net Zero cohorts → The Chivas Venture 📬 𝗖𝗿𝗮𝗳𝘁 𝗮 𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗹 Getting hired at mission-driven orgs is competitive So you've got to make your email *personal* (no ChatGPT here!) → Why are you committing your life to this? → How does sustainability align with your personal brand and values? → How do you live sustainability yourself? → What specifically excites you about this role or company? 🧠 𝗨𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗯𝗲𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗽𝘀𝘆𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆 If you’re in marketing, product, comms or community, you need to become a pro at behavioural psychology Because sustainability isn’t just about “raising awareness” & selling stuff It’s about changing behaviour And that's really, really hard Start with: 📚 Nudge, Atomic Habits, Hooked 🎧 Nudge, The Behavioral Design Podcast, Choiceology, Hidden Brain 🧑💼 Connect with these recruiters → Mission Driven Talent → Rebel Recruiters → Above & Beyond - Climate Tech Recruitment → SR2 | Socially Responsible Recruitment | Certified B Corporation™ → Big Future 💻 Check out these job boards → Escape the City → jobsthatmatter → Tech Jobs for Good And here's a v helpful Notion page with many more resources curated by Nicole Kelner - https://lnkd.in/eEm5HuYJ 🚨 And finally… remember this: The climate crisis is an emergency There’s no such thing as “not qualified” - because we need to reinvent every single part of our economy and society Whatever your skillset - product, ops, finance, sales, data, HR, tech - it can be put to good use, because it needs to be all hands on deck 💡 PS Remember, you may not need to move company - perhaps you can have the biggest climate impact exactly where you are... ♻️ If you found this useful, give it a share. And pop any other helpful resources in the comments, including if you're hiring -------------------------------------- Follow Tessa Clarke 💚 for more straight talking on scaling startups & sustainability 🖐️ Wish your company redistributed its surplus food to local communities?  Find out how with Olio • Share More, Waste Less

Please stop chasing ESG careers without real specialization. I see too many people entering sustainability without direction. In 2026 interest alone will not build careers. Companies no longer need awareness only. They need specialists who can actually deliver. Do this instead: • Pick one sustainability vertical and commit deeply. • Learn how theory becomes real business decisions. • Track regulations like GRI ISSB CSRD closely. • Get hands on experience even behind scenes. • Share insights so expertise becomes visible. There are many sustainability verticals to explore deeply: • Climate risk and adaptation. • Sustainable finance and banking integration. • Circular economy and resource efficiency. • Sustainable supply chains and human rights. • Renewable energy and decarbonisation. • Biodiversity and nature protection. • Sustainability reporting and ESG frameworks. • Social sustainability and workforce wellbeing. • Policy governance and regulatory systems. Failure happens when people stay broad not skilled. Depth creates trust relevance and long term careers. Choose your lane and master it fully. #esg #sustainability #esgcareers #sustainabilitycareers #leadership #futureofwork #climaterisk #sustainablefinance #circulareconomy #supplychains #decarbonisation #biodiversity #esgreporting #socialsustainability #governance #policy #careergrowth #professionaldevelopment #expertise

I've had countless career conversations with sustainability professionals over the past month. Thanks to GreenBiz and LinkedIn, I've been fielding the same question over and over: "What's the future of jobs in sustainability?" And here's what I keep telling people: The jobs aren't disappearing. They're evolving. Five years ago, most sustainability roles were about reporting and compliance. Check the boxes, file the reports, keep the company out of trouble. Now? Companies need people who can:   • Translate ESG into business value   • Navigate mandatory regulations AND voluntary frameworks   • Justify ROI to leadership who's questioning budgets   • Coordinate across Finance, Legal, Operations, and Risk The technical skills still matter. But the people advancing in this field aren't just sustainability experts. They're translators. They can speak climate AND speak finance. They can understand new technology AND explain how it affects the bottom line. They know TCFD, ISSB, CSRD — but they also know how to talk to a CFO who's never heard of any of those acronyms. The future of sustainability jobs belongs to people who can bridge worlds. If you're trying to break into this field or advance in it: Don't just learn the frameworks. Learn the business language that makes sustainability matter to people who control budgets. And if you're pivoting from an area of the business that does control budgets? USE that. Your finance background, your operations experience, your technical expertise — that's not a gap to overcome. That's your competitive advantage. What are you seeing in the sustainability job market right now?

My career began in International Development, although I’ve been in corporate #sustainability for ~8 years now. Sharing my thoughts on this pivot for those considering a switch. * Much of my network has been impacted by the recent #stopwork orders. My heart is with you, friends. I hope many of you will be able to return to your careers, by some legal or legislative miracle. But, if you’re considering a switch, here are some things to consider about pivoting your passion for impact into a corporate career: 1. There’s no ✨magic door✨ —> A successful pivot into the corporate world, especially corporate sustainability, is like most other careers: ——> Your chances will be greatly improved by highlighting transferable skills and building a strong network. —> Ultimately, my pivot was made possible because someone in my network understood my skillset and vouched for me. I recorded a Voiz Academy podcast about my journey here: https://lnkd.in/gRURuwmi 2. Be clear about your transferable skills ✅ —> In corporate sustainability, we need people who have: - Technical expertise in human rights, agriculture, the environment, and global supply chains. - Project/ program management backgrounds with a focus on cost management and impact measurement. - Experience speaking pursuasively, to different audiences, often with competing priorities. - The ability to thrive in high-pressure and/ or ambiguous situations, demonstrating flexibility and innovation when faced with challenges. 3. Expand your network 🤝 —> Daniel Hill started the #opendoorclimate movement. —-> People who work in #climate, including corporate sustainability folks, have joined this movement and are offering to chat with anyone interested in making the switch. —-> Take advantage of this global resource 4. Consider upskilling and/ or career coaching 🎓 —> Although not essential, you might consider taking a course to develop your skillset. Something like: - Climate Drift has a Career Accelerator for mid-career and executive level professionals transitioning into the climate sector. —-> Next cohort starts February 24th - The Voiz Academy has both career coaching and climate upskilling options, especially for roles like Decarbonization Analyst and Sustainability Analyst. - PCDN.Global has a more broad social impact offering, and I can’t say enough good things about career coaching from Craig Zelizer. 5. Keep a close eye on global supply chain regulations. ⚖️ —> Get to know CSRD, CS3D, EUDR, and others. —-> These have been and will continue to be highly influential in the corporate space. —> As these evolve, so too will corporate sustainability. Position yourself with this context in mind. * Who else has made this pivot? What did I miss? * #SustainableAgriculture