We’re thrilled to introduce a new recurring feature in the Climatebase newsletter: The Work Ahead, focused on the career side of climate action, and written by Daniel Hill. Daniel is the founder of OpenDoorClimate, Director of Innovation at Environmental Defense Fund, and co-host of EDF’s Degrees: Real Talk About Planet-Saving Careers.

Over his 15-year career, he’s helped people and companies turn climate ambition into action, including through OpenDoorClimate, which has sparked more than 60,000 mentorship conversations between climate professionals and job seekers. In this new feature, Daniel will share practical insights on climate career topics like networking, skill-building, and gaining experience, while helping connect the dots between global sustainability trends and your own career journey. 

By Daniel Hill

“I’ve been looking for a climate job for months now and it’s been really hard. What is going on and what do I do?”

Your frustration is valid. And you’re definitely not alone.

It’s been a challenging and often confusing year for climate and sustainability work, especially in the U.S.

If you read the headlines earlier this year, you’d think corporate sustainability was in a recession. Companies were stripping “ESG” from documents, scaling back goals, and exiting voluntary alliances. U.S. federal climate policy looked stalled, climate-tech investment cooled, and global agreements felt performative. From the outside, it seemed like years of progress were unraveling overnight. 

For much of the last decade, big corporates followed a “voluntary climate leadership” playbook. They made big public commitments, joined alliances, and disclosed their emissions – partly because regulation seemed inevitable, and partly because customers and employees demanded it.

By 2024, the U.S. SEC’s climate-disclosure proposal looked like it would set new standards, and Europe’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) was moving ahead (and still alive today). Around 2020, employees were literally walking out over corporate climate inaction.

But over the past two years, the pendulum has swung back. In 2025, the SEC rule was dismissed, and the “anti-ESG” movement surged - with some states even passing laws that blacklist and divest from “ESG-friendly” firms. Suddenly, the same commitments that once made companies look like leaders made them look like a business risk. So in some cases, businesses decided the safer move was retreat.

Despite all the gloomy headlines, most companies didn’t stop their sustainability work, they just stopped talking about it. A recent study from Harvard Business Review of 75 global firms found that only 13% had scaled back sustainability efforts, while 85% held steady or accelerated them, often under the radar. Another survey of 1,400 companies found most are intentionally reducing climate communications, what analysts call “greenhushing,” while still advancing decarbonization behind the scenes.

Companies are still procuring renewable energy, reducing supply-chain emissions, and planning for resilience. The difference is how they talk about it. Climate work is being reframed, renamed, and folded into core operations. Budgets may sit under “operations” or “risk management” rather than “sustainability.”

The good news: climate action is becoming more deeply embedded in business strategy. Companies are shifting from loud, glossy sustainability reports to tactical sustainability integration. Sustainability is evolving to be less a standalone initiative and more a business norm.

The bad news: greenhushing slows collective progress. Transparency, alliances, and shared learning are vital for scaling impact. Silence also isn’t sustainable. When the pendulum swings back (and it will), companies that over-corrected will scramble to rebuild credibility.

For job seekers, this quieter phase of corporate sustainability can feel discouraging. The job titles, language, and incentives have shifted, but the opportunities haven’t disappeared.The key is aligning your profile with what companies are actually doing now, not what they used to say.

1. Learn the new language

As “ESG” and “sustainability” become politicized, companies are relabeling the same work under more business-aligned terms like risk management, resilience, and transition readiness. If you can connect climate to financial, operational, or regulatory risk, you’ll stand out. Talk about supply-chain disruptions, energy volatility, or compliance exposure, not just emissions and values. So when interviewing, swap “I care about climate” for “I help companies manage risk and build resilience in a changing economy.” It’s the same mission, just translated into business language.

2. Find the business overlap

In leaner times, the climate projects that survive are the ones that clearly deliver business value: energy efficiency, supply-chain optimization, compliance, or product innovation. In this climate, a sustainability project lives or dies by whether it reduces cost, improves resilience, or drives growth. So whenever possible, frame your experience around results. Instead of “I led a recycling initiative,” try “I helped reduce materials costs by 15% through a circular-economy approach.”

3. Target roles doing the work

Many companies are still hiring for climate-related work, they’re just not labeling it that way. Titles like “Sustainability Manager” may be rarer, but roles in operations, risk, supply chain, finance, and product development increasingly include climate responsibilities. Search for postings that mention terms like resilience, low-carbon, transition risk, resource efficiency, or energy management. Don’t skip roles just because they don’t sound overtly climate-related – the substance may still be there.

4. Build your business case experience

You don’t need to have a wealth of experience leading a global climate strategy to be competitive in today’s market for sustainability roles. You just need examples of results. Have you analyzed supplier data, reduced waste, or improved reporting? Frame those wins in terms of outcomes (“cut costs 10% while reducing emissions”) or capabilities (“built dashboard for Scope 3 tracking”). The strongest sustainability candidates show how they deliver measurable value. If you can prove you get things done – even on a small scale – you’ll stand out when the right opportunity appears.

Yes, it’s been a discouraging year. The “ESG backlash” and “sustainability retreat” feel real. But don’t confuse quiet with collapse. Most companies are still doing the work, just differently.

If you learn the new language, focus on business value, look beyond traditional sustainability titles, and build proof of your own impact, you’ll be ready for the next opportunity. 

You’re still needed. The door to climate work isn’t closed, it’s just moved to a quieter hallway…for now.

Check out some of the latest featured jobs below. If you don't see anything that speaks to you, you can always go to Climatebase to explore over 50,000 new climate jobs.

Climatebase

“The world's leading platform for climate careers. Accelerating climate solutions by building products, programs, and community to support the climate workforce.”

Aspen Global Change Institute

“For over 30 years, the Aspen Global Change Institute has helped make sense of change across Earth’s physical, natural, and human systems”

Voltus

“Connecting distributed energy resources to optimize grid flexibility and combat climate change.”

Sesame Solar Inc

“Manufacturing Clean Mobile Power Solutions for Military and Commercial Applications”

Carbon Direct

“Scaling carbon management to decarbonize the global economy.”

DG+Design

“"Empowering sustainable brands with clean energy marketing and creative expertise."”

Watershed

“Empowering enterprises to measure, reduce, and report carbon emissions for significant climate impact.”

Carbon180

“Transforming carbon from liability to asset for a prosperous, climate-conscious economy.”

Earthmover

“Powering deep science breakthroughs to tackle climate and technology challenges.”

Activate Global

“Empowering scientists to commercialize breakthrough research, tackling climate change with innovative solutions.”

Artyc

“Decarbonizing cold chain logistics with refrigerant-free, reusable cooling containers.”