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Fashion Value Chain
a day ago
- Business
- Fashion Value Chain
Future-Proof Your Career: Essential Skills for a Successful Journey in Sustainability
Sustainability is no longer just a buzzword—it's a critical focus area across industries, offering meaningful and future-ready career opportunities. With the sustainability sector expanding rapidly, professionals must equip themselves with a unique blend of technical and interpersonal skills to stay competitive and effective in this dynamic field. Enrolling in a sustainability course is a smart move, but understanding the skills required will help you make the most of it. What Does a Career in Sustainability Involve? At its core, sustainability involves maintaining or improving the quality of life for current and future generations without depleting natural resources. Careers in this field focus on ecological balance, social equity, and responsible economic practices. Sustainability roles span across industries, including: Corporate roles (ESG analysts, sustainability officers, DEI managers) (ESG analysts, sustainability officers, DEI managers) Environmental science (climate analysts, environmental engineers) (climate analysts, environmental engineers) Resource management (forestry, fisheries, water resources) (forestry, fisheries, water resources) Communication (public outreach and advocacy) (public outreach and advocacy) Energy and technology (renewable energy analysts, decarbonisation experts) These roles often require a bachelor's degree at minimum, though leadership positions may demand advanced certifications or postgraduate education. As demand rises—fueled by global climate commitments and the retirement of experienced professionals—there are increasing opportunities for new entrants to grow into impactful roles. Core Skills Required for a Sustainability Career To thrive in sustainability, professionals must combine technical knowledge with soft skills. Here's a breakdown of the key competencies: 1. Environmental Literacy and Technical Knowledge Understanding environmental systems, ecological balance, and sustainability frameworks is essential. Knowledge of tools like Life Cycle Assessments and Carbon Footprint Analysis is increasingly in demand. Many sustainability courses include these components, providing hands-on training in data interpretation and compliance frameworks. 2. Data Analysis and Digital Tools As organisations adopt data-driven approaches to sustainability, familiarity with analytics tools becomes crucial. Skills in platforms such as Excel, Python, R, or Geographic Information Systems (GIS) help in modelling environmental impacts and improving operational decisions. 3. Communication and Stakeholder Engagement Being able to translate complex sustainability issues into clear, actionable messages is vital. Whether you're talking to policymakers, executives, or community members, effective verbal and written communication makes all the difference. 4. Adaptability and Resilience Environmental work often involves challenging field conditions or evolving regulations. Your ability to adapt, stay composed, and maintain productivity under uncertain or stressful conditions is critical. 5. Problem-Solving and Innovation Sustainability issues are often complex and systemic. Employers look for candidates who can approach these challenges with creativity and structured thinking to deliver innovative, long-term solutions. 6. Leadership and Collaboration As sustainability efforts expand across departments, professionals must lead change, mentor others, and drive collaboration. Many sustainability management courses now include leadership development modules to foster these skills. Summary of Key Skills: Hard skills: Environmental literacy, data analysis, compliance knowledge Environmental literacy, data analysis, compliance knowledge Soft skills: Communication, adaptability, leadership, critical thinking How to Develop These Skills Building a successful sustainability skillset requires a balanced mix of education and practical experience. Formal Education Sustainability courses—especially those focused on management—offer structured learning around environmental policy, regulatory frameworks, and operational sustainability. Programmes often include industry-relevant case studies, group projects, and exposure to real-world scenarios. Certifications such as LEED or those from the International Society of Sustainability Professionals (ISSP) can further validate your expertise. Practical Experience Internships, volunteering, and capstone projects provide hands-on learning and help you apply theoretical knowledge. Creating sustainability initiatives at your current workplace—like waste audits or energy-saving programmes—also adds practical experience while demonstrating your proactive mindset. Networking and Mentorship Connecting with professionals in the sustainability sector accelerates your growth. Attend industry events, join LinkedIn groups, and engage with professional associations. Finding a mentor can open doors to insights, feedback, and career opportunities you might not access otherwise. Online Learning Supplement your formal education with free or low-cost courses from platforms like the SDG Academy or Project Drawdown. These cover focused topics such as climate action, the circular economy, and biodiversity. The Road Ahead A career in sustainability is both personally fulfilling and socially impactful. Whether you're focused on conserving ecosystems, influencing corporate strategy, or advocating for policy change, your efforts contribute directly to building a better future. Sustainability professionals stand out by mastering a dual skillset: deep technical understanding and the human-centric ability to lead, influence, and adapt. The journey involves continuous learning, but the reward is a resilient career with the power to make lasting change. As you plan your next steps, assess your current strengths and gaps. Which sustainability skills do you already have? Which ones do you need to develop? Whether through a dedicated sustainability management course, hands-on experience, or mentorship, your commitment to growth will define your success. In the end, sustainability careers are not just about employment—they're about empowerment. With the right skills, you'll not only future-proof your career but also help build a more sustainable world for everyone.
Forbes
15-05-2025
- Automotive
- Forbes
Polestar's Luxury Electric SUV Has Lower Lifetime Environmental Impact Than Tiny Petrol Car
Meeting climate goals will require a substantial cut in car mileage achieved through road space reallocation, parking levies, road user charging, and massively increased investment in public transit and active travel infrastructures. That caveat aside, it's also essential that the pared-back car fleet goes all-electric. Petrol-powered cars should be phased out in favor of electric vehicles (EVs), and it's now no longer true that a tiny car with an internal combustion engine (ICE) will have lower lifetime emissions, including the carbon emitted during manufacture, than a large luxury EV. EVs may not have tailpipe emissions, but the carbon emitted during their manufacture, including the sourcing of the minerals for their heavy batteries, is still substantial. However, some auto manufacturers are working hard to reduce the carbon footprint of their vehicles. Using Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs), these manufacturers publish cradle-to-gate and cradle-to-grave statistics. The cradle-to-gate measurement is an assessment of a partial product life cycle from resource extraction to the factory gate before it is transported to the consumer. Cradle-to-grave measurements add mileage of use, and the ease or otherwise of dismantling for scrap, including recycling or reusing the battery. Most EV batteries will outlast the vehicles they were installed in, and even then, they have a worthwhile second life, perhaps as grid storage, before they need to be stripped down for recycling. Confusingly, car companies don't stick to the same LCA benchmarks. For instance, while EV makers Rivian and Tesla list their vehicle's CO2 emissions in grams per mile driven over the car's lifetime, Rivian assumes their vehicles have a 155,000-mile lifespan while Tesla has typical lifetime usage of 200,000 miles, meaning Tesla has 45,000 more miles to spread their emissions over, lowering their emissions per mile. Polestar—which started life in 2005 as the brand name for a Volvo-tuning, gasoline-powered Swedish motorsports team, then transformed into an EV marque when Volvo bought the team 10 years later and is now owned by EV maker Geely of China—is arguably the world's most transparent auto maker. Since 2020, the company has published annual full-disclosure sustainability reports, publishing emissions data and the full Life Cycle Assessment for its cars. The Polestar 4 SUV Coupe generates about 20 tons of CO2 to build. Charging the car on public chargers for 200,000 miles would generate a further 10 tons of CO2. So, that's 30 tons of CO2 for 200,000 miles of driving. Running the small Kia Picanto (a city car with a pretty efficient petrol engine) for 200,000 miles generates 37 tons of CO2. And that's without the CO2 generated, the carbon debt, to build this ICE car, the stats for which Kia doesn't publish. That Polestar's large, luxurious SUV has a lower environmental footprint over its lifetime than a tiny, gasoline-sipping city car doesn't mean sales of such vehicles should be encouraged–smaller EVs made to the same eco-conscious standards would have even lower lifetime emissions, and wouldn't pose so much danger to pedestrians and cyclists—but it's essential to bust the myth that small ICE cars are better for the planet than humoungous e-SUVs. (An argument for another article is whether any oversized cars, and their larger, particulate-shedding tires, should be allowed in cities.) Geely makes the Polestar 4 in a factory in China, which has solar panels on the roof and gets the bulk of its electricity from a hydroelectric power station. Charging the Polestar 4 at home using the ever-greener grid or home solar panels would generate even less lifetime CO2. Analysis from the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) estimates that the life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions of 2024 electric sedans in the US are 66%–70% lower than gasoline vehicles, depending on the average carbon intensity of the electricity grid. For SUVs, the ICCT estimates that the emissions are 71%–74% lower than gasoline vehicles, depending on the same conditions. EVs have no tailpipe emissions. However, generating the electricity used to charge EVs may create carbon pollution. The amount varies based on how local power is generated, whether using coal or natural gas, which emit carbon pollution, versus renewable resources like wind or solar, which do not. A significant advantage of EVs compared to gasoline vehicles is their energy efficiency. EVs use about 90% of the energy from the battery and regenerative braking to propel the car. Gasoline vehicles only convert about 16–25% of the energy from gasoline into motion. The production of electric cars is expected to become more efficient, and the production of electricity cleaner, according to the European Environment Agency. Every year, the life-cycle emissions of a typical EV could be cut by at least 73% by 2050, says the agency. Nevertheless, it remains that—mainly because of the large battery—making an EV is more carbon-intensive than making an ICE car. Analysis by the Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois suggests that manufacturing EVs produces about 60% more carbon emissions than making ICE cars. However, this carbon debt can be paid back swiftly. 'Essentially it takes two to three years, and then you have accounted for the climate debt that the car came with,' says Fredrika Klarén, Polestar's head of sustainability. 'Our customers want sustainability solutions,' she adds. 'They want to know they are purchasing from a company that takes responsibility. We don't greenwash. I would love for customers to be even more picky and start using the carbon footprints we deliver to them. We want people to use our data in managing a carbon budget for themselves.'
