Nikolai works in a governmental agency. He has a natural science education background. He has worked for more than twenty years as a sustainability professional and is in his late forties.
“I work with one piece of the puzzle but I see it as a very important part”
“At the time I got engaged in environmental questions, climate was not really on the agenda yet,” Nikolai says. Outdoor experiences had always been important to him, and he got a natural interest in biology and ecology. “I was engaged in campaigns to save cod populations and such things.” When he started university, the systemic sustainability programs had not yet been introduced. Nikolai went for a more classical natural science education. His studies did not do much to spark an interest for a further career. By coincidence, he got a position as environmental technical support in an industrial company. That is where he learnt to do life cycle assessment, which ended up being his field of expertise.
Today, he is using this expertise in developing legal requirements for a range of products. He feels that his expertise, combined with the role he has of steering the marked in a sustainable direction, has a lot of potential for impact. “The life cycle competence is so concentrated to universities and the industry,” Nikolai says. “A reason that I can contribute at my workplace is that my background is so unique there.” He underlines that he is only working with one part of a sustainable transition, and that many other tools than legal requirements are needed. “Still, legal requirements are important. I work with one piece of the puzzle but I see it as a very important part.”
One of the main reasons Nikolai wanted to work in a governmental agency was that he had the impression that he could have real impact there. Earlier in his career, impact was not his main driver. “My driver earlier was that my calculations should be correct.” During his many years in industry, he felt that he could impact the sustainability of the company value chain, but that his workplace was engaged in practices that did not resonate with his understanding of sustainability. Nikolai also has experience from working at a research institute. “Some of the research programs were engaging because the results were so sought after. But the smaller consultancy projects were not so inspiring. I never saw what my work ended up affecting.”
Being so positive towards the impact possibilities in the sector Nikolai currently works in, I am expecting him to highlight governmental agencies as the workplace he generally believes has the most potential for impact. “No, I don’t think it is possible to point out certain sectors,” he says. “The most important factor for success is that the workplace has a strong and broad sustainability support. That is something that can vary within the same company over time. A change of CEO can have a lot to say, both positively and negatively.” Nikolai also highlights the importance of resources. “In my current job I unfortunately do not have enough time to materialize all the potential impact. It would be great with more colleagues with the same background.”
I ask Nikolai whether he believes that there are roles or workplaces where sustainability professionals have weak, or even negative, sustainability impact. After some thinking he mentions trade associations. “Sometimes when I meet sustainability managers of trade associations for an industry with large environmental impact, I get the impression that their job is to slow down the sustainability transition. Their main interest is to protect their industry. That is a real hinder for systemic change.”
Nikolai finds it important to distinguish between the official role one can have through a job, and the private life. At the same time, he is convinced that it is important to practice what one preaches. Workwise, he has a dream of contributing as much as possible to a sustainable transition and sees Brussels as a potential future workplace. He thinks of himself as an optimistic but realistic person. “I don’t think we will be able to limit global warming to 1,5 or even 2 degrees. But it is extremely important that we try. If we don’t it will be even worse. And we must not stop communicating hope. People have no motivation to change without hope.”
Meaningful sustainability jobs 