Ashoka-Environmental Defense Fund Climate Corps Blogs
Fixing What’s Broken: The Startups Rethinking Climate Work in India
When you hear “green job,” what pops into your head?
A coder in a Bengaluru co-working space, perhaps, plotting the next climate-tech unicorn? Or a rooftop solar installer balancing on corrugated tin in a power-starved brick kiln in Maharashtra?
Pic: Wikimedia
In reality, India’s fastest-growing climate careers are far less glossy—and far more hands-on—than the LinkedIn posts suggest.
We often hear that India is on the brink of a “green economy revolution.” But here’s the catch: What does a climate economy that actually works for India look like? Is it led only by urban innovation hubs—or by informal workers who already recycle half the country’s waste? Will it depend on foreign capital, or on local problem-solvers working across WhatsApp groups and town halls?
What We Call a “Green Job” or “Climate Work” Needs Redefining
“When we started, there weren’t ‘climate careers’ or ‘green jobs’—just problems,” says Natasha Zarine, co-founder of EcoSattva, a Pune-based organisation that works on lake restoration and waste management.
With no blueprint to follow, her team created their own—training sanitation workers, formalising informal jobs, and working with governments to build systems that
last.
Pic: NITI Aayog
According to Natasha, EcoSattva has restored over 25 lakes, formalised jobs for 180 sanitation and waste-management workers, trained more than 350 informal waste pickers to upskill through government schemes, and helped set up job pathways in cities where few existed before.
In the Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Garima Poonia faced a different challenge. “There was no informal waste economy at all—no kabadiwalas, no ragpickers, no
ecosystem,” she explains. “So we had to build one from scratch. And we did it before we got any funding.”
Her organisation, Kachrewaale, helped set up decentralised waste segregation for islands that relied entirely on tourism and had no waste exit plan.
“It took months just to convince officials that it was possible to segregate and transport waste across islands—let alone make it sustainable,” she says.
Pic: Pexels
These roles — waste sorter, lake-restoration technician, community composter — rarely feature in glossy “green jobs” reports. Yet they are exactly the kind of work
India must scale if it hopes to meet its target of 7.29 million climate jobs by FY 2028, and 35 million by 2047.
These aren’t just green jobs — they’re systemic shifts. And they tell us something deeper: the most impactful climate work in India right now doesn’t look like what investors, policymakers, or media typically expect.
Scaling Isn’t the Only Success: What Climate Startups in India Actually Need
In the climate startup space, scale is often seen as the holy grail—how quickly an idea can grow, how many cities it can reach. But when it comes to impact on the
ground, replication and local adaptation often matter more than speed.
“What works in Pune might fail in Port Blair,” says Johann Fernandez, co-founder of ClimateXCapital, which connects early-stage climate ventures with funders. “Startups that are solving for specific geographies replicate what works—one lake, one ward, one island at a time—and that’s where the real impact shows up.”
Fernandez categorises Indian climate startups into four buckets—Scalers, Executors, Disruptors, and Outliers. But many ventures rooted in community-based problem-solving, like those focused on waste or water, don’t fit neatly into any of these categories. They are slow by design. Their strength lies in being context-specific and people-driven—solutions built with the communities they serve.
Pic: Pexels
That same localisation, however, often puts them at a disadvantage when it comes to funding.
“More than 50% of climate investors interested in India aren’t based in the country,” Johann explains. “They gravitate towards ideas that are familiar—like apps or
patented tech—because those are easier to evaluate from a distance.”
This creates a growing disconnect. Founders solving real problems—like lake restoration or decentralised waste management—struggle to raise capital because
their work doesn’t fit the ‘scalable tech’ mold. Some spend over a year securing a single round of funding, time they could have used to expand operations or hire locally.
To navigate this, many of these entrepreneurs have built their own informal ecosystems: WhatsApp groups of over 700 founders, investors, and advisors now
function as DIY support systems—where term sheets are reviewed, funders are referred, and project troubleshooting happens in real-time.
Still, this workaround doesn’t solve the core issue: how climate value is defined.
“Not everything worth doing will look like a unicorn startup,” Johann says.
“Sometimes, the most important work is done quietly, on the ground, in places where no one else is looking.”
These ventures may not grow exponentially, but they deepen resilience where it matters most. They create jobs, restore ecosystems, and fix everyday systems —without waiting for the perfect pitch deck or a policy push.
But even on-the-ground innovation can’t go far without supportive policies and political will.
Pic: Flickr
What We’re Missing: The Politics and Policy of Climate Work
Natasha believes that long-term progress in waste and water work needs Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs)—independent agencies created for specific public projects.
These bodies operate outside of routine government departments, which means they’re less likely to get caught in political cycles or stalled every time leadership changes.
“Whatever we build today, progress resets every election,” she says.
Garima highlights a related issue—policy backsliding. When India relaxed its Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) rules, companies were allowed to burn plastic waste in cement factories instead of recycling it. That one shift erased the island livelihoods her team had worked hard to create.
“We had built a system to segregate and ship recyclables to the mainland. That job got replaced by a cement kiln. It’s legal now. But it’s not justice,” she says.
Pic: Pexels
This isn’t just a policy failure—it’s a vision failure. Whose interests are we protecting in the name of climate action? If the climate economy is meant to support both people and the planet, then who we design it for—and with—becomes the most important question.
Even the more visible sectors face challenges. The solar industry alone will need 1.2 million trained workers in the coming years, but most engineering graduates
still lack hands-on training.
Sector councils are working to create new qualification packs for renewable energy, biogas, and EV charging—but the talent pipeline remains thin.
A Climate Economy That Works for More Than Just the Numbers
Right now, India’s climate narrative is dominated by large infrastructure projects—green hydrogen, solar parks, EV manufacturing hubs. These are important, but they’re only one part of the story.
Pic: Wikimedia
The other part lies in the less visible systems: solar microgrids powering off-grid villages, community cooling strategies in heatwave-prone towns, restoration
jobs in lakes and wetlands.
These efforts are the backbone of resilience. They reduce emissions, create local jobs, and restore dignity to work that’s long been ignored.
“Tech can help. But only if we fix the fundamentals first,” Natasha reminds us.
So, What Would It Take?
India’s climate transition is already underway—but not always where we’re looking. These efforts may not resemble traditional startups or headline-making tech,
but they offer something just as valuable: proof that locally rooted, people-led solutions work. They’ve created jobs, restored ecosystems, and sparked meaningful collaboration—often without waiting for perfect policies or big investors.
So, what can we learn from them?
- Broaden what we consider climate work—to include the waste sorter, the composter, the restorer.
- Design funding models that support replication, not just rapid growth.
- Create space for system builders—people who think long-term, across policy, labour, and community.
- Ensure our climate economy is guided not just by carbon targets, but by the real needs of people and places.
That means stable waste systems. Reliable power. Clean water. Jobs with dignity.
These aren’t side issues—they’re the foundation of a strong, lasting climate economy.
If we build on what’s already working, support those doing the groundwork, and invest in ideas rooted in real contexts, India’s climate transition can be not just fast, but fair, inclusive, and built to last.
Article by Zoya Hussain
