Jonah works in a standards organization. Engineer by education. He is in his early forties and has worked as a sustainability professional for nearly fifteen years.
“The disadvantage of working with a theme that engages you so much is that it automatically makes you ponder a lot about everything”
“I have always been fond of big questions,” Jonah answers when being asked why he ended up working with sustainability. He was not particularly environmentally engaged from early on, but saw sustainability as an interesting merge between natural science, engineering and social science. His environmental consciousness was then gradually built up as he learnt more through his master’s degree.
Jonah describes himself as a pessimistic soul. He does not think humankind can transition fast enough to avoid civilization threatening climate consequences. “But we can have better or worse outcomes depending on what we do.” Therefore, he believes that all sustainability work has its value, his included. “I don’t have direct impact but I develop knowledge that others can use for a sustainable transition.” I ask Jonah whether it is a disadvantage that the standards he develops have a product focus. Does that take focus away from systemic change? “One can work with sustainability on many levels,” Jonah replies. “I think one has to focus on the product level as well. Even if it is not the most important.” He adds that more standards are being developed for services, which can help shift the way we think of consumption.
One of the aspects Jonah likes about his current job is that he gets to work with many different sectors and production systems. In his earlier, more research-oriented career, he focused much on the same sector. “In the end I knew what the conclusion would be before carrying out the study.” He also found the impact of his research work a little too indirect. “Now I work closer to decision makers. That makes my work more satisfying.” The sustainability impact of his work is anyhow not something that keeps Jonah awake at night. “The state of the world does not depend on me. I can’t make much a difference anyway.” Still, I get the feeling that it matters more to him than he wants to admit. He is, for example, proud to work in an organization where profit is not the purpose of growth. Instead, impact is. “The aim of my work is to enable the organization to become biggest and best, so that we can influence the sustainability work of as many companies as possible.”
Jonah has several examples of workplaces and roles for a sustainability professional that he thinks have the largest potential for impact. “Within industry it must be the type of company that solves a sustainability problem for real and aims for global sale. I don’t know enough about them, but I think such a company could be Northvolt. They are very ambitious when it comes to recycling and technologies that are less dependent on scarce materials. If they walk the talk it would make them a disruptive company.” Jonah also mentions what he calls front runners. “The influencer type is needed. People that are good at informing and that dare to be public figures.” Jonah adds that that type of person is also needed in politics. “But there are not so many sustainability professionals that enjoys that type of public role.” Communication skills are however also needed in less public roles. Jonah mentions teaching. “I think really good lecturers at universities can have a lot of impact. Think of all the students they can influence.” Jonah’s last example of impactful workplaces are NGOs. He thinks activism creates engagement. “Extinction Rebellion gets a lot of critique, but they do create much needed public debate.”
What about workplaces and roles with little sustainability impact? Jonah mentions life cycle assessment specialists working in industries which do not have a role to play in a sustainable future. Oil and gas, for example. He thinks conducting such life cycle assessments contributes to greenwashing.
Jonah strikes me as having a very ambiguous attitude towards the climate crisis and the future. On the one hand, he sees little hope, and he does not at all believe that necessary political systemic change can happen. On the other hand, he is eager to mention glimpses of hope, such as news he just heard about the price of renewable electricity decreasing faster than predicted, which would make the oil industry collapse before 2030. He tries to avoid reflecting about his own sustainability contribution, at the same time as he very consciously attempts to make sustainable choices in his everyday life. “That is the disadvantage of working with a theme that engages you so much,” Jonah says. “It automatically makes you ponder a lot about everything. I try to avoid the pondering. The state of the world does not depend on me, I know that there are limits to what I can control.”
Meaningful sustainability jobs 