64 sustainability certifications to advance your career in 2025

Editor’s note: This is part of a series on closing the sustainability skills gap that includes more than 400 training opportunities in areas such as global reporting and disclosure, climate and net-zero strategy, procurement and supply chain, ESG and sustainable finance, and free upskilling.

Sustainability professionals are seeing a pivotal shift in how our work is structured. The 2024 State of the Sustainability Profession report provided many valuable insights into how the nature of our work is evolving, but the theme that stood out to me the most was standardization. As our field has matured, expectations for corporate priorities have become more formalized; there are more frameworks for how to complete our work, and our roles have grown increasingly specialized. Meanwhile, the number of professional certifications has surged. It should come as no surprise, then, that today’s article features nearly twice the number of certifications listed in the original 2021 piece. 

Professional certifications play an important role in communicating competency to peers and potential employers, and achieving a reputable certification can enhance both your confidence and competitiveness in the job market. This updated list includes 64 professional certifications across 10 sustainability subcategories. Whether you’re looking to deepen your expertise or stand out as a candidate, something here will support your goals. 

This list is focused on professional certifications for practitioners and doesn’t include certifications for products (such as Forest Stewardship Council or Cradle to Cradle) or for companies (such as B Corps). It also doesn’t cover non-credentialed training, graduate programs or university-based certificates.

As with any curated list, I may have missed some. If your favorite certification isn’t included here, I invite you to share it with me and your fellow readers on LinkedIn. 

Sustainability and climate professional certifications

These certifications provide an opportunity to demonstrate that you’re a sustainability professional capable of performing broad strategy and implementation work across multiple functions, industries and regions. 

• Association of Climate Change Officers (ACCO): Certified Climate Change — Professional (CC-P) Candidate and Certified Climate Change Professional (CC-P)
• Association of Energy Engineers (AEE): Certified Sustainable Development Professional
• Center for Sustainability and Excellence (CSE): Certified Sustainability ESG Practitioner
• International Society of Sustainability Professionals (ISSP): Sustainability Excellence Associate (SEA) and Sustainability Excellence Professional (SEP)
• National Registry of Environmental Professionals (NREP): Certified Sustainability and Resilience Professional

There are additional non-certification-based options listed in this article on sustainability strategy training. 

Renewable energy, energy efficiency and decarbonization certifications 

These certifications are related to reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the energy your organization uses through emissions management, renewable energy procurement, energy efficiency or other decarbonization tactics. 

• American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE): Certified Decarbonization Professional
• Association of Energy Engineers (AEE): Certified Energy Manager, Renewable Energy Professional Certification, and Certified Energy Procurement Professional
• Greenhouse Gas Management Institute: Diploma in Carbon Management
• Renewable Energy Institute (REI): Accredited Master in Renewable Energy Award
• Sustainability Academy: Certificate on Carbon Reduction and Net-Zero Strategies
• Voiz Academy: Certified Decarbonization Analyst and Certified Climate Consultant

There are additional training options listed in these articles on measuring and managing GHG emissions and climate and net-zero strategy. You can also learn how to drive the adoption of renewable energy from this article with 40-plus courses on renewable energy transitions, technology and financing. 

Sustainability reporting and disclosure certifications

The below certifications provide an opportunity to demonstrate your knowledge of how to us one or more of the leading global reporting and disclosure standards. 

• CSRD Institute: CSRD Professional Certificate
• European Federation of Financial Analyst Societies (EFFAS): Certified ESG Analyst (ESRS compliant)
• Global Reporting Initiative (GRI): GRI Certified Sustainability Professional
• IFRS Foundation: Fundamentals of Sustainability Accounting (FSA) Credential

For additional resources, check out my reporting miniseries with 11 courses to help you determine which sustainability reporting and disclosure tools to use and 51 courses to sort through the details of sustainability disclosure standards. 

Supply chain and procurement certifications

These certifications allow you to demonstrate that you have the knowledge, tools and strategic approach needed to develop and reach meaningful greenhouse gas reduction or resilience goals in partnership with suppliers. 

• Association for Supply Chain Management (ASCM): Supply Chain Resilience Certificate
• International Supply Chain Education Alliance (ISCEA): Certified Sustainable Supply Chain Professional
• Sustainable Purchasing Leadership Council (SPLC): Climate Foundations for Procurement Certificate

You can also learn how to drive supply chain and procurement sustainability with these 14 training resources. 

ESG and sustainable finance, governance and risk certifications

These certifications are related in that they’re all within the realm of finance, governance and risk management, but each one caters to a specialized audience such as financial professionals, board members or risk managers.

• Chartered Banker Institute (CBI): Certificate in Green and Sustainable Finance
• Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Institute: Certificate in ESG Investing and Climate Risk, Valuation and Investing Certificate
• Competent Boards: Sustainability Governance Certificate and Global Competent Boards Designation and Certification
• Corporate Finance Institute (CFI): ESG Certificate 
• Corporate Governance Institute: Best Practice in ESG and Risk Management Certificate
• European Federation of Financial Analyst Societies (EFFAS): Certified ESG Analyst
• Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP): Sustainability and Climate Risk Certificate

For even more training opportunities, read this article with 28 courses to boost your ESG, sustainable finance skills. 

Circular economy, product and packaging certifications

These certifications share a common goal: design things with sustainability in mind. The circular economy certifications cover decision-making at every point along a product’s journey with the goal of keeping materials circulating at their highest value for as long as possible. The life-cycle assessment, product stewardship and biomimicry certifications support better decision-making specifically at the point of design. 

• American Center for Life Cycle Assessment (ACLCA): Life Cycle Assessment Certified Professional, Certified Life Cycle Assessment Reviewer and Certified Life Cycle Executive
• Circular Economy Alliance (CEA): Circular Economy Manager Advanced Certification
• Circular Economy Institute (CEI): Circular Economy Specialist Certification
• Learn Biomimicry: Biomimicry Practitioner Certificate
• Packaging School: Certificate in Sustainable Packaging
• Product Stewardship Society: Certified Professional Product Steward

There are additional non-certification-based options listed in this article with 14 training resources for designing circularity into business models and products. 

Buildings, infrastructure and landscape certifications

Each of the below certifications is related to sustainability for the places in which we live, work and travel. Some focus on sustainable building design, construction or operations, some on sustainable landscapes, and still others on sustainable infrastructure. 

• Association of Energy Engineers (AEE): Green Building Engineer (GBE) Certification
• Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM): BREEAM Advisory Professional
• Center for Active Design: Fitwel Ambassador Accreditation
• Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB): GRESB Accredited Professional
• Green Building Initiative: Green Globes Emerging Professional and Green Globes Professional 
• Green Roofs for Healthy Cities: Green Roof Professional Accreditation 
• Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure: Envision Sustainability Professional
• International Living Future Institute (IFLI): Living Future Accreditation
• International WELL Building Institute: WELL Accredited Professional 
• Phius: Phius Certified Consultant for passive buildings
• Sustainable SITES Initiative: SITES Accredited Professional
• Social Equity Assessment Method (SEAM): SEAM Accredited Professional
• Total Resource Use and Efficiency (TRUE) Rating System: TRUE Advisor Certification for zero-waste facilities
• U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC): Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) LEED Green Associate and LEED Accredited Professional with specialty

You can read the 2023 certifications article for more details about the differences among these standards.

Water management certifications

Effective water management has become a critical issue for many organizations around the globe. These certifications allow you to demonstrate your ability to develop and implement strategies for meaningful water efficiency and stewardship.

• Association of Energy Engineers (AEE): Certified Water Efficiency Professional 
• Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS): AWS Professional Credential
• SCS Global Services: Water Stewardship and Resiliency Certification

Nature and biodiversity certifications

As organizations increasingly recognize the importance of preserving biodiversity and integrating nature-based solutions into their strategies, these certifications provide professionals with the knowledge and skills to lead impactful conservation initiatives.

• International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN): Professional Certificate on the IUCN Global Standard for Nature-based Solutions, Professional Certificate on Finance for Nature

Travel and hospitality certifications

These certifications offer strategies for more sustainable tourism, travel and events. The certificate in sustainable business travel would likely be particularly helpful if your organization is pursuing Scope 3 reductions goals.   

• Global Sustainable Tourism Council: Certificate in Sustainable Tourism and Certificate in Sustainable Business Travel
• Events Industry Council: Sustainable Event Professional Certificate

[You’re leading change in an unpredictable environment. Get the strategies you need from the world’s top sustainability leaders at GreenBiz 25, Feb. 10-12, Phoenix.]