Sustainability initiatives are becoming more popular across corporate America. Advances in technology and environmental awareness have resulted in the evolution of environmentally focused occupations, which are referred to as “climate jobs.” Globally, the transition to sustainable energy is expected to be a net job creator despite climate-induced challenges such as heat stress, potentially reducing working hours by approximately 3.8% by 2030. In 2022, clean energy job creation outpaced overall job growth, with over 4.2 million climate jobs recorded.
Green jobs present a unique blend of challenges and fulfillment, making them an attractive employment path for many. Working in climate change is more than manual labor; it’s understanding the industry and painting a picture of an actual, positive impact.
Professionals in these roles are frequently at the cutting edge of technological advancements, harnessing renewable energy or designing eco-friendly processes. The challenge comes from navigating evolving regulations and technology and the larger mission of creating a sustainable future.
Kelci Zile, managing director at EnVest, specializes in unlocking innovation via funding and deploying sustainability solutions. Additionally, she serves as the chief innovation officer of Sound Future, a nonprofit that harnesses the power of live events to test and scale climate solutions, and a venture partner at SNØCAP.
Zile started her career leading sustainability for AWS Marketplace and served on the Amazon Sustainability Ambassadors Global Board, where she co-led an Amazon-wide internal education series. As she advanced in her career and gained experience in circular economy, supply chain emissions reduction and nature-based solutions, she realized that sustainability goes beyond just climate change. She’s helping companies step away from greenwashing to take action.
“Greenwashing is the act of using marketing tactics or things as simple as green colors or your positive fluffy verbiage to trick the audience or the purchaser into thinking that the action that they’re taking or the goods that they’re purchasing or the donation they’re making is going to healing the planet or lowering emissions,” Zile explains during a phone interview. “An example is when water bottles covered in green leaves state that it’s recycled. However, the fine print reveals it’s 5% post-consumer recycled plastic, 95% brand new plastic.”
Green shifting is another tactic that companies partake in. Big businesses lacking in sustainability efforts will put the need to be sustainable on the consumer rather than themselves. A prime example is when food companies use packaging to guide the consumer to recycle the bottles. In contrast, the solution would be to create a refillable program or make a compostable bottle.
This notion that sustainability actions are on the consumer is also seen in the live events space. Sound Future started its Restoration Program to help artists and venues give back to their communities in a way that supports climate change initiatives.
“A lot of fans are made to feel bad for traveling,” Zile comments. “At the end of the day, everyone wants to enjoy these experiences. Traveling is part of it, and there are emissions associated with it. A lot of live events are trying to make the fans feel bad about that. But in reality, we’re like, ‘Let’s not do green shifting and build these restoration programs which are lowering the actual emissions of the event and make it tangible and easier, rather than pushing the shame book.’”
The fashion industry poses another area of concern. In 2022, thredUP found that nearly 27 million brand-new festival outfits were going to be purchased for that single festival season, and one-third were expected to be worn only once. The World Economic Forum identified the fashion industry as the third largest polluter, contributing over 10% of worldwide emissions annually. For comparison, air travel is roughly 3%.
Pivoting consumer mindsets is challenging when, for generations, there has been a particular way of doing things. There are green groups such as Work on Climate, MCJ Collective, and Music Sustainability to look into for volunteer positions or learn more about different areas in which you want to make a difference. Climate tech is another pillar for people looking to change careers and want to make an impact.
For people looking for traditional positions within the climate change sector, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects rapid growth for roles like wind turbine service technicians and solar photovoltaic installers. The fastest-growing green jobs include:
- Solar Photovoltaic Installers: This role involves assembling and maintaining solar energy systems.
- Wind Turbine Service Technicians: These workers maintain and repair wind turbines.
- Hazardous Materials Removal Workers: These individuals manage dangerous waste removal.
- Environmental Engineering Technicians: This role assists engineers in environmental protection efforts.
The top job sites to apply for climate change jobs are:
- Climatebase: This site offers a large selection of climate job opportunities across various sectors.
- Terra.do: It provides access to over 45,000 roles at more than 5,000 companies globally, focusing on various climate solutions.
- Climate Change Jobs: This platform features over 20,000 jobs worldwide, emphasizing roles in sustainability and climate action.
“For sustainability to take off, it needs to be better, faster and cheaper,” Zile concludes. “There’s that expression that people think of sustainability as a warm beer and cold showers, which no one wants. If we can switch it to cold beer chilled through renewable energy and long, beautiful, warm showers powered by the sun and rain entrapment, people, whether they care about saving the Earth or not, are getting behind it.”