Unveiling Environmental Heroes: Environmental Defense Fund’s Climate Corps 2024 Program

Published: April 16, 2024 by EDF Staff

Climate Corps®

To meet the need for climate action, Environmental Defense Fund (EDF)’s Climate Corps program is launching its 17th season. This transformative and competitive fellowship program gears up to empower a new cohort of more than 185 global graduate-level fellows to advance climate solutions at over 130 organizations.

Climate Corps nurtures the next generation of sustainability leaders who can drive meaningful change in three critical regions: United States, China, and India. These regions represent pivotal arenas in the global climate landscape, each facing unique challenges and opportunities.

Climate Corps is excited to partner with a number of new host organizations in 2024 to bolster their sustainability initiatives. New hosts include organizations across sectors in the US including: L’Oreal, Pinterest, JetBlue, Mozilla and Paramount; Blue Dart Express and CivicDataLab in India; and Suzano and JA Solar in China.

Fellows spend a summer contributing to high-impact projects that advance sustainability and cut greenhouse gas emissions in the public and private sector.  US based projects this summer will range from renewable energy policy, landscape analysis, and financing solutions (with hosts including San Diego Gas & Electric, Rewiring America and Engie), to modelling sustainability tools (Amazon), portfolio engagement and risk analysis (KKR), deep supplier engagement (Pepsi), and carbon foot printing and reduction strategies in the built environment (JLL). In the public sector, Climate Corps fellows will support 15 projects with deliverables such as equity-based sustainability metrics for the Bay Area Rapid Transit to solutions for community-based EV charging in the City of Charlotte.

In China, fellows will tackle food waste management (Walmart), and energy management (Covestro) and in India project areas include sustainable buildings (Amazon), and carbon neutrality analysis (Larsen & Toubro).

As of 2024, 77 host organizations have returned to Climate Corps for 5 or more years; a clear metric of the value that this program delivers to organizations across sectors. Many hosts have been part of the Climate Corps program for more than 10 years and have charged fellows with a variety of innovative projects.

What sets Climate Corps apart is its comprehensive approach to fostering impactful sustainability careers. EDF provides hands-on support to its fellows throughout their journey. From rigorous training to personalized mentorship by members of the 1,700+ alumni network, each fellow receives the tools and guidance needed to excel in their assignment.

When the fellowship season ends, participants look forward to a lifelong journey as part of a global network of alumni and affiliation with EDF. This global network serves as a valuable resource, offering ongoing professional development opportunities and fostering collaboration among like-minded changemakers living in 40+ countries. By harnessing the collective power of its alumni, the Climate Corps program ensures that its impact extends far beyond individual projects, creating a ripple effect of positive change across the globe.

Get involved!