Mumbai, February 2021: Climate Change is impacting our lives at an alarming pace. Five years after the Paris Agreement, we are already seeing great examples of environmental leadership with forward-thinking global and local companies, proactively taking action. The Indian Government has formulated a National Climate Mission with seven policies addressing various focus areas such as solar, efficient energy and so on.
What’s missing is a global network of action-oriented climate professionals with the skills needed to maximise the impact of these initiatives. This is why Terra.do was formed.
Terra.do is on a mission to activate 100 million highly-skilled, climate-conscious professionals by 2030. Going beyond high-quality climate literacy programmes, it aims to bridge the gaps that have kept well-trained professionals from joining and transforming climate change departments across top-tier organisations.
Terra.do’s presence in India is part of a global response to climate change. Founded by Anshuman Bapna and Co-Founders Dr Kamal Kapadia and Mayank Jain, the Company aims to turn climate-focused intentions into real-world impactful actions. Designed from day one to be 100 per cent remote, Terra.do is made up of employees, instructors, fellows and alumni from more than 25 countries.
Terra.do raised $1.5M in early-stage funding from a group of climate-conscious angel investors that include Zomato Founder & CEO – Deepinder Goyal, Zerodha Founder & CEO – Nithin Kamath, MakeMyTrip Founder & CEO – Deep Kalra, Former Flipkart Chief People Officer – Mekin Maheshwari, Yulu Founder – Amit Gupta, and Helion Venture Partners Co-founder – Ashish Gupta.
The global climate-school has seen a 100 per cent quarter over quarter growth since its launch in early 2020. In India, Terra.do aims to be an integral part of speeding up the green pathway to meet its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and help build an eco-friendlier Atmanirbhar Bharat. The key driving force here will be adding well-educated and trained professionals directly into organisations that require their skills. There is a demand for such trained professionals across climate centric organisations that Terra.do is helping organisations meet.
Terra.do’s 3-Pronged Approach to Changing the World:
1) Education Through Experts – Increased climate literacy, especially among the youth, encourages attitudinal and behavioural changes that are critical for a concentrated global response to climate change.
Education is at the core of Terra.do where professionals are trained to solve climate change. It will launch 25 new courses this year covering topics such as Climate-Smart Buildings, The New Hydrogen Economy and so on. The 12-week flagship course, “Climate Change: Learning for Action”, will start its fourth cohort on March 4, 2021. The global cohorts so far have consisted of individuals from Apple, Google and VC firm Andreessen Horowitz, to name a few.
Terra.do’s sessions are conducted by inspirational speakers like Dr Harish Hande, Ramon Magsaysay Award winner and Founder of SELCO-India, Dr Navroz K. Dubash, Professor at Centre for Policy Research, Anu Jogesh, Policy and Governance Lead for Acclimatise South Asia, among others.
Dr Kamal Kapadia, Co-Founder and Course Creator of Terra.do’s foundational course, “Climate Change: Learning for Action” wanted to create a platform to reduce the struggle in transitioning to climate jobs. The two-time Masters and PhD holder from Berkeley and Oxford shared, “We are a global start-up that addresses vast imbalances in the way climate is discussed, represented, funded and taught. We believe that everyone should play a role in bringing about change and people who live in places suffering the impact of climate change, more so as compared to those who have contributed to the problem, should have access to world-class learning with a capacity to build and benefit from new climate-friendly economies. We at Terra.do understand that in order to get to a position of a safer climate, we will require the creation of millions of new jobs — and that is dependent on training.”
2) Building A Social Network – By bringing together participants from all around the world, the courses create a robust global community of climate-aware individuals. Participants, known as ‘fellows’, tap into alumni, instructors and climate experts to expand their networks. The fellows also have access to other resources, such as job fairs and mentorship programmes.
Terra.do will be hosting its ClimateTech Job Fair, which is the world’s largest online climate career event that will match recruiters with job seekers looking for tech-focused roles. It will be held on Friday, March 5, 2021.
Anshuman Bapna, Founder of Terra.do, believes he was personally transformed when he realised the gap between awareness and action. The Stanford and IIT Bombay Grad said, “This is humanity’s most important decade to stave off the climate crisis for our planet. We need to fundamentally transform how we do energy, agriculture, transportation, finance and even the way we consume. This is a planetary-scale challenge that’ll require a 100M of us to use our skills in technology, finance, marketing, journalism and every skill imaginable. I started Terra.do as a climate learning platform for all of us to learn about the climate crisis, meet other changemakers across the world and a collaboration platform to work with them on climate solutions. Our course has helped many Terra.do fellows find climate-related opportunities – from an entrepreneur who started his hydrogen energy startup to another who now works on sustainable cities.”
3) Empowering Tangible Action – Theory alone is not enough, therefore Terra.do ensure that fellows take their knowledge and put things into practice. This is achieved through a systematic process of initiating internships, involvement in climate projects, building better access to climate jobs and spreading entrepreneurship in climate.
Alumni from early cohorts have gone on to found organizations such as Climate Changemakers, landed full-time positions in climate-aware companies such as Sidewalk Labs and are running hands-on internship programs for new fellows.
“All over India and the world, the consequences of our actions can be seen and there is an urgent need to deploy our technological progress to address the climate crisis. People from all walks of life need to band together to help solve this issue. Terra.do is that platform which is organising the world’s attempt to fix climate change via a cohesive space of experts and opportunity. From our courses, fellows have gone on to work in green jobs and some have been able to apply a climate lens into work that they are engaged in,” Co-Founder Mayank Jain said, observing how technology and economies worldwide grew, but at the cost of climate issues.
India has a big seat at the global table and this power comes with great responsibility. India’s role in solving the global crisis will be pivotal. By harnessing the skills of many talented Indians in key sectors, a ‘Made in India’ wave of climate-ready professionals can be created through Terra.do.
