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Workplace

The climate opportunity we can’t miss: Talking about careers

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LinkedIn’s 2024 Global Climate Talent Stocktake reveals a critical challenge: to meet climate goals by 2050, the global workforce must double its pool of green talent. Without action, nearly half of green job openings may go unfilled. Sue Duke, LinkedIn’s VP of Public Policy and Economic Graph, sums it up: “Every climate goal around the world, every commitment made, is at risk if we don’t have a workforce that can deliver the change we urgently need.”

This report is a wake-up call. Training people for green jobs is just a start; tackling the climate crisis requires everyone. Higher education must ask how we can equip all students to answer, “What can I do?”

The challenge is urgent. Last year was the hottest on record, and climate-related disasters such as the LA wildfires underscore the increasing frequency and severity of these threats. The IPCC warns that the time to act is now, but a vast array of solutions is already available. Our actions today will shape the future, and higher education has a critical opportunity to rise to this challenge.

Career development as a path forward
Jill Eddy and Candy Ho will be presenting on “Navigating Climate Change and Careers Together: Emerging Ideas and Approaches” at CERIC’s Cannexus25 conference, taking place virtually and in-person in Ottawa, Jan. 27-29.

In career development, I’ve witnessed firsthand how concerned students are about the state of the world. Research shows 85% of Gen Z are worried about climate change, with over half saying these concerns will influence decisions about where to live and whether to have children.

Yet climate anxiety can be channelled into meaningful action, supporting both mental health and environmental progress. Career development is vital, linking students’ education to their sense of purpose, fuelling motivation and showing pathways to personal and professional impact.

Every job can be a climate job

A changing climate affects us all. Teachers, engineers, accountants – everyone will be called upon to take on climate initiatives within their roles. Higher education must expand its approach to help all students – not just green jobseekers – understand their potential contributions.

This starts with building a baseline of climate knowledge and creating safe spaces to process climate emotions. Beyond that, students benefit from learning to apply a climate lens to their careers, advancing solutions in any role and preparing for emerging opportunities. Achieving this on a large scale ensures students are better prepared for the future. Let’s explore how institutions are addressing this challenge.

UC San Diego: Climate education for all students

UC San Diego is leading the way with a groundbreaking new requirement: all students must take a climate change course to graduate. Students can choose from 40 courses across diverse topics. Sarah Gille, an oceanographer who helped lead this initiative, notes that while discussing sea-level rise can be “a pretty demoralizing lesson,” connecting it to decisions students can make about their lives and careers transforms it into an empowering one.

“Climate anxiety can be channelled into meaningful action, supporting both mental health and environmental progress.”

This points to untapped potential within higher education. A standard climate course without career connections may leave students unsure how their studies apply to the workforce. That is the superpower of career development: it bridges this gap by growing students’ awareness of possible roles, organizations and industries. By embedding a career component into all climate courses, institutions can help students channel their knowledge into solutions and pathways that inspire them.

Simon Fraser University: Empowering students to be changemakers

At SFU Career and Volunteer Services, we created the Changemaker Program to empower students to address pressing challenges and help build a more just, sustainable future. This co-curricular program attracts students from all faculties and years of study and helps them answer the question, “What could I do with my degree?”

As part of the program, students receive career guidance and engage in changemaker-related activities such as workshops, volunteering and employer events to explore future possibilities. Our career workshops and advising incorporate approaches such as the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI); decolonization; systems thinking; and the Challenge Mindset, enhancing students’ capacity to become climate changemakers.

Through faculty partnerships, we’ve scaled our reach by delivering in-class career sessions that count toward program completion. Embedding careers into credit courses enhances equity by ensuring all students – including those facing barriers to extracurricular participation – have access to career guidance.

Climate Wayfinding: A scalable solution in Canada and the U.S.

Dr. Katharine Wilkinson, co-founder of the All We Can Save Project and named by Time as one of “15 women who will save the world,” launched Climate Wayfinding, a program developed by the organization to equip students to identify their role in climate solutions. This program offers higher education a way to confront the climate crisis at the speed and scale we need.

I recently participated in facilitator training for Climate Wayfinding, as part of an initiative to equip 73 higher-education faculty and staff from 63 campuses across Canada and the U.S, with another cohort set for spring 2025. The program helps students reflect on their values and skills, build community and explore real-world solutions to climate challenges. Through this process, they uncover their deep motivations and develop a personalized plan for meaningful climate action.

Climate Wayfinding offers a ready-to-go curriculum in a flexible toolkit, allowing facilitators to deliver the program in classrooms or co-curricular settings. For example, the University of Illinois Chicago and Warren Wilson College integrated it into credit courses. This spring, I’ll collaborate with colleagues from UBC and SFU to pilot the first Climate Wayfinding in British Columbia, while three Ontario institutions are planning upcoming offerings.

Budget challenges and collaborative solutions

In an era of budget constraints, embedding climate and career guidance into education may seem ambitious, but these examples show it is gaining momentum. Strategic collaboration – not expanded budgets – holds the key.

For instance, faculty can partner with career professionals to deliver in-class sessions on the SDGs or embed Climate Wayfinding into courses. These initiatives can enhance student employment outcomes and attract prospective students. According to Brainstorm’s 2024 Survey of Canadian post-secondary students, career preparation is the top reason students attend university, with 63% wanting a required course on career planning and job search as part of the curriculum. Additionally, sustainability commitments now outweigh location as a deciding factor for international students choosing educational institutions, according to Times Higher Education.

The time to act

Everyone has a role to play in the climate crisis. By embedding climate and careers into higher education, we can empower all students to drive transformative change through their work and beyond.

The time to act is now. Higher education must equip students with the skills and pathways to build a sustainable future – or risk falling short when it matters most.

Jill Eddy Author
Jill Eddy (HNCP) is a Career Educator and Changemaker Lead at SFU. She was one of 19 faculty and staff selected nationwide for the inaugural ‘Climate Wayfinding for Higher Ed’ facilitator training, hosted by the All We Can Save Project.
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Jill Eddy Author
Jill Eddy (HNCP) is a Career Educator and Changemaker Lead at SFU. She was one of 19 faculty and staff selected nationwide for the inaugural ‘Climate Wayfinding for Higher Ed’ facilitator training, hosted by the All We Can Save Project.
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