Climate Jobs National Resource Center

Our Mission

The Climate Jobs National Resource Center (CJNRC) and CJNRC Action Fund work to build an affordable and equitable clean energy economy powered by good union jobs. We advance this mission by supporting a growing network of labor-led, state-based climate jobs coalitions to advance concrete climate action that delivers real benefits for working people.

Our Model

CJNRC, along with our academic partner, Cornell University’s Climate Jobs Institute, helps unions across the country—and beyond—organize, launch, and lead climate jobs coalitions with a shared purpose: confronting the dual crises of climate change and inequality with an agenda that delivers affordability, equity, and good union jobs for working families. The climate jobs model equips labor unions representing workers across all sectors of the economy to lead on climate, building durable, broad-based support for climate action.

Our origins trace back to 2012, after Hurricane Sandy devastated New York—especially working-class neighborhoods and communities of color. In response, unions representing 2.6 million workers across the state formed Climate Jobs New York, the first climate jobs coalition, to advance labor’s vision for a clean energy future that could protect against climate disasters and deliver for working families with high-quality union jobs.

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How We Work

In partnership with Cornell University’s Climate Jobs Institute, we collaborate with unions to develop state-specific, science-based climate action plans and organize state-based coalitions of unions representing workers across all the economy, from construction workers to utility, manufacturing, service, public sector workers and more.

We then equip climate jobs coalitions with strategic research and campaign support to win and implement climate action that supports family-sustaining union jobs and equitable economic opportunity.

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Our Impact

Our network has moved an agenda that delivers affordability, equity, and union jobs to communities across the country. In recent years, we have:

Expanded with the launch of new labor-led climate jobs coalitions in the U.S. and beyond.
Won and defended progress on climate jobs in statehouses across the country, lifting standards for workers, creating union jobs, slashing emissions, and advancing equity.
Organized to get clean energy projects sited, permitted, and built with union jobs.
Trained the next generation of clean energy workers through apprenticeship training programs that expand inclusive pathways to union jobs in the clean energy sector.
Shifted the narrative on climate action by bringing workers’ voices and perspectives into the mainstream.
Advanced worker-centered research and analysis of some of the most pressing clean energy and climate issues.

Academic Partner

The Climate Jobs Institute (CJI) at Cornell University’s Industrial and Labor Relations School is the applied research and education partner of Climate Jobs National Resource Center and Action Fund. CJI is guiding New York’s and the nation’s transition to a strong, equitable, and resilient clean energy economy by tackling the climate crisis; creating high-quality union jobs; confronting race and gender inequality; and building a skilled and diverse workforce.

Through cutting-edge policy studies, deep relationships with on-the-ground partners, and innovative training and education programs, CJI provides the information policymakers, labor and environmental movements, industry leaders, and others need to navigate this historic transition to a zero-carbon economy.

Visit the Climate Jobs Institute website.