Turning Your LinkedIn into a (reputable!) Climate News & Education Source

Hello, everyone!

Thank you so much for subscribing to my newsletter and supporting this idea! Feelin’ the love. For my second post, I’m going to share how I’ve made LinkedIn my primary source for climate news, green innovation, and thought leadership. All those sassy facts I know about fungi, SEC regulation, and environmental startups? Yup – pulled from my LinkedIn. I also like using LinkedIn because it integrates sustainability into an existing newsfeed, enabling both casual and active consumption of climate information. As always, be sure to check your sources whilst exploring the wild west of the internet. :)

PLEASE NOTE: If you’re actually serious about building your climate literacy, make a commitment to follow through with (at least some) of the tips I provide. This is your first test of fighting climate paralysis and inertia. I’ve linked all the people and companies mentioned in this newsletter in order to make it even easier for you.

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Leveraging LinkedIn for Climate Education: A step-by-step guide

1. Initial Follows: As a starting point, I would subscribe to the following newsletter, two people, and these five leading startups:

• Tim Mohin’s weekly ESG & Climate Newsletter : Brief, informative, and topical news about the future of private sector sustainability and ESG business regulation.
• Mike Barry : He’s an environmental commentator who is very active on LinkedIn and posts/engages with both scientific and ESG business topics.
• Katie Kross : ESG career whiz and educator at Fuqua Business School. She likes and shares all the amazing sustainability jobs coming out every day. You can follow her on Twitter as well.
• ?Startups:

??? i.????Persefoni : Leading carbon accounting platform for corporations

????????????ii.????Climeworks : Technological Carbon capture (they just raised $650 MILLION!!)

???????????iii.????Ecovative : Fungi as the future of plastic/leather/textiles/packaging

?????????? iv.????World Tree : We plant the world's fastest growing tree (and we’re hiring!)

???????????v.?? ??Culdesac : Car-free & sustainable real estate development in Arizona

2. Your angle: If you’re already curious about a specific sustainability topic, research which companies are leading in that space. Every industry is being disrupted by climate change, so you will definitely find something of interest.

3.????Like, follow, comment: Engage with the content coming out of these companies (and any additional ones you add). You don’t need to deeply read each post. Just get in the habit of casually consuming information. Be generous with the follow button.

4.????Pay attention: Notice the new stuff in your LinkedIn. Observe what makes you curious and what bores you. Don’t avoid scary headlines (they often have helpful fast facts).

5.????Make a “Read Later” chat list: The best posts will link to a well-sourced article from a reputable news outlet. When a tagline catches your eye, use the ‘Send’ button and forward the post in a message to a friend. My boyfriend is the fortunate recipient of 750 articles I want to read later. Messages are much easier to find on LinkedIn than the hidden and enigmatic ‘Saved posts’ list.

6.????Actually read your “Read Later” posts: I know, I know. We’ve all saved articles and never looked at them again. But this is a GREAT form of ‘productive procrastination’. You don’t need to take notes, though you might find that you want to! There’s a lot of cool stuff out there.

7.????Rinse and Repeat: At this point, I get five interesting climate posts for every one humble brag. I’ve established a much healthier (and useful) relationship with LinkedIn. Through this, I’ve cultivated curiosity and some well-informed optimism about the future of sustainable business. I hope you are able to do the same!

The rest of this article contains links to a diverse set of professionals and companies who are making positive waves in sustainability. Take a look and see if anyone or anything catches your eye! You’ll probably notice some patterns on the type of eclectic companies I personally enjoy (#fungiforever). For some extra incentive, I've included some pics of my favorite foraged edible mushrooms (1st pic: Bolete, 2nd: Oyster)

Here are individuals I follow for climate news and thought leadership:

• Lubomila Jordanova : CEO and Co-Founder of Plan A (carbon accounting) and Greentech Alliance (Greentech VC). She’s a badass. She shares thought leadership on EU-focused climate news and her cool job. Note – the US lags in climate, so following Europeans can be helpful to stay current!
• Mike Barry : Advisor and commentator on sustainable business. He posts informative articles on both climate science and business. He also provides UK-focused updates on companies making strides. He comments/engages with interesting content which will get pulled into your feed if you follow.
• Alison Taylor : Executive Director of Ethical Systems and Adjunct professor at NYU Stern. She has strong opinions on the ethical dilemmas underlying climate and geopolitics. You might not agree with everything she says, but it’ll give you something to chew on! She also posts lots of interesting articles (not just climate).
• Chris Wedding : Founder, Entrepreneurs for Impact, Professor at both UNC and Duke. He posts all about cleantech innovation and venture capital (VC). Has a weekly newsletter and an awesome podcast where he interviews major climate VCs and entrepreneurs!
• Chante Harris : Director/VC in Climate Tech, Co-founder of the Women of Color Collective in Sustainability. She posts about opportunities in climate tech and is a strong supporter of female climate founders of color.?

Okay, now onto the companies. As you’ll notice, I follow a lot of carbon accounting, fungi, carbon capture, and sustainable packaging companies. That’s the eclectic little climate mix that keeps me interested and excited in the space. While the majority of these are startups, a couple larger companies and VCs are also in there. Feel free to also scroll to the bottom of my LinkedIn page and just click through the companies I’m following!

• Persefoni : Carbon Accounting
• Plan A : Carbon Accounting
• Watershed : Carbon Accounting
• Ellen MacArthur Foundation : Circularity
• Closed Loop Partners : Circularity VC
• South Pole : Environmental Consulting
• BSR : Environmental Consulting
• Anthesis Group : Environmental Consulting
• Allbirds : Fashion
• Impossible Foods : Food
• Weyerhaeuser : Forests, Carbon Capture
• World Tree : Forests, Carbon Capture
• Bolt Threads : Fungi!
• Ecovative Design : Fungi!
• Nature’s Fynd : Fungi!
• BIOHM : Fungi!
• Mycocycle : Fungi!
• Quorn : Fungi!, Food
• Mushlabs : Fungi!, Food
• Culdesac : Real Estate
• Tetra Pak : Sustainable Packaging
• Temperpack : Sustainable Packaging
• Apeel : Sustainable Packaging, Food
• Heirloom : Technological Carbon Capture
• Climeworks : Technological Carbon Capture
• SJF : Impact VC
• TerraCycle : Sustainable Packaging, Waste Innovation

Alright - did you keep your promise to follow-through and subscribe to a handful of companies and people? I hope so!! These firms are hiring like crazy: There is a huge need for environmentally enthusiastic folks who can help operationalize these big ideas. Especially if you don’t have a pure sustainability background, you can add a lot of business value.

Thanks for reading this far. Here is a photo of a chunky and fluffy lemur as a reward (Taken at the Duke Lemur Center). No, we were not allowed to pet it. :(

Warmly,

Johanna