Profession & Purpose

    Climate and sustainability career resource list

    Below is a curated list of my favorite resources for students and early-career professionals.

    Essential websites

    For learning about climate, energy, and sustainability:


    For learning about climate and sustainability careers:

    Sustainable company lists

    Rankings:

    Sustainability indexes:

    Business membership networks:

    Climate tech company lists

    Recommended news sites & newsletters

    Recommended podcasts

    On climate, energy, and sustainability:

    On climate and sustainability careers:

    Recommended job boards

    Recommended conferences

    Students: Email the organizers and ask about student discounts/scholarships and/or volunteer opportunities.

    Typically held during the Fall semester:

    Typically held during the Spring semester:

    Recommended communities

    Local/regional groups

    Recommended books

    (organized by publication date)

    On climate, energy, and sustainability:

    • Hart, Stuart. Beyond Shareholder Primacy: Remaking Capitalism for a Sustainable Future. (Stanford Business Books, 2024).
    • Gates, Bill. How to Avoid a Climate Disaster: The Solutions We Have and the Breakthroughs We Need. (Vintage, 2022).
    • Jaffe, Amy. Energy’s Digital Future: Harnessing Innovation for American Resilience and National Security. (Columbia University Press, 2021).
    • Doerr, John and Ryan Panchadsaram. Speed & Scale: An Action Plan for Solving Our Climate Crisis Now. (Portfolio, 2021).
    • Polman, Paul and Andrew Winstong. Net Positive: How Courageous Companies Thrive by Giving More Than They Take. (Harvard Business Review Press, 2021).
    • Hawken, Paul. Regeneration: Ending the Climate Crisis in One Generation. (Penguin Books, 2021).
    • Yergin, Daniel. The New Map: Energy, Climate, and the Clash of Nations. (Penguin Books, 2021).
    • Hawken, Paul. Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming. (Penguin Books, 2017).
    • Bakke, Gretchen. The Grid: The Fraying Wires Between Americans and Our Energy Future. (Bloomsbury USA, 2017).
    • Heck, Stefan, Matt Rogers, and Paul Carroll. Resource Revolution: How to Capture the Biggest Business Opportunity in a Century. (New Harvest, 2014).
    • Tercek, Mark and Jonathan Adams. Nature’s Fortune: How Business and Society Thrive by Investing in Nature. (Basic Books, 2013).
    • Esty, Daniel and Andrew Winston. Green to Gold: How Smart Companies Use Environmental Strategy to Innovate, Create Value, and Build Competitive Advantage. (Yale University Press, 2006).
    • McDonough, William and Michael Braungart. Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things. (North Point Press, 2002).
    • Hawken, Paul, Amory Lovins, and Hunter Lovins. Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution. (Little, Brown and Co., 1999).
    • Benyus, Janine. Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature. (HarperCollins, 1997).
    • Hawken, Paul. The Ecology of Commerce: A Declaration of Sustainability. (Harper Business, 1993).

    On doing sustainable work:

    • McGaw, Nancy. Making Work Matter. (Nancy McGaw, 2024).
    • Pagitas, Chrissa. Chief Sustainability Officers At Work: How CSOs Build Successful Sustainability and ESG Strategies. (Apress, 2022).
    • Krotova, Anna and Jennifer Geary. How to be a Chief Sustainability Officer: Leading the Transition to a Sustainable Organization. (Amazon, 2024).
    • Bader, Christine. The Evolution of a Corporate Idealist: When Girl Meets Oil. (Routledge, 2018).
    • Weybrecht, Giselle. The Sustainable MBA: The Manager’s Guide to Green Business. (Wiley, 2nd edition, 2013).
    • Mohin, Tim. Changing Business from the Inside Out: A Treehugger’s Guide to Working in Corporation. (Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2012).
    • Esty, Daniel C. and Simmons, P.J. The Green to Gold Business Playbook: How to Implement Sustainability Practices for Bottom-Line Results in Every Business Function. (Wiley, 2011).
    • Schendler, Auden. Getting Green Done: Hard Truths from the Front Lines of the Sustainability Revolution. (PublicAffairs, 2009).
    • Bornstein, David. How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas. (Oxford University Press, 2004).

    On career exploration:

    • Waite, Marilyn. Sustainability at Work (Routledge, 2nd edition, 2024).
    • Houde, Shannon. Good Work: How to Build a Career that Makes a Difference in the World (Kogan Page, 2021). 
    • Hoffman, Andrew. Management as a Calling. (Stanford Business Books, 2021).
    • Burnett, Bill and Dave Evans. Designing Your Life: How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life (Knopf, 2016).
    • Galinsky, Lara, Work On Purpose (Echoing Green, 2011).
    • Albion, Mark, More Than Money: Questions Every MBA Needs to Answer: Redefining Risk and Reward for a Life of Purpose (BK Life, 2008).