Working in Sustainability and Climate

• 17 Feb 2026

I get a lot of messages from people asking how to break into climate and sustainable finance.

I know it feels tough to find opportunities for a meaningful career pivot. But please keep reaching out because it tells me everything I need to know about your resilience … and it is exactly what this space needs.

Here’s what I see from where I sit:

• We are on the cusp of the largest economic transformation in human history. And that transformation will create opportunity.
• The climate crisis isn’t going away. When its impacts become undeniable to everyone (not just those of us who can already see the writing on the wall) we will need to move twice as fast and twice as smart. Your skills will be critical.
• Billions of people still live without reliable access to basic services. Improving lives while protecting our planet is not a “nice to have”. It is the defining challenge of our time … and it requires all hands on deck.
• We still haven’t unlocked capital at scale for sustainable development. After decades of discussion, this remains one of the biggest unsolved puzzles in finance. We need fresh thinking. New models. Regenerative approaches.

This is where you come in. While you are waiting for that breakthrough opportunity, prepare strategically:

• Build expertise in the financial mechanisms that matter … blended finance, sustainability-linked instruments, green sukuk, nature-based solutions.
• Understand how capital actually moves.
• Get comfortable with both the idealism and the commercial reality of this work.
• Focus on solving real problems, not just learning the language. Stay focused on solutions.

Your moment is coming. Keep going.