Deadline:
August 01, 2025
Location(s)
France Online
The fellowship concludes with an in-person week in Paris, from June 15–19, 2026.
Overview
Details
The Yale Emerging Climate Leaders Fellowship offers an opportunity for 16 young climate and clean energy practitioners from across the Global South to broaden their technical skills, deepen their professional networks, and exchange views with top global clean energy and climate change leaders.
Climate Fellows are drawn from a wide variety of professions, ranging from public servants to entrepreneurs, energy company professionals, financiers, journalists, educators, researchers, civil society representatives, legal advisers, and legislators.
This five-month, three-part initiative is based out of Yale’s International Leadership Center with partnerships throughout the university. Fellows engage with prominent Yale faculty and a network of top practitioners to explore key issues in the global clean energy and climate change agenda.
Admission is highly competitive. Each cohort of fellows is geographically balanced and represents a wide range of professions, talents, experience, cultures, people, and perspectives.
Our Mission
The mission of the Emerging Climate Leaders Fellowship is to create a community of committed clean energy and climate change leaders from emerging and developing countries, enriched by engagement with top Yale faculty and researchers, and leading global authorities in the clean energy transition from the International Energy Agency and beyond.
Program Details
Yale Orientation Week | February 16-20, 2026
This five-month fellowship begins with a one-week, in-person orientation program at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, from February 16-20, 2026.
Fellows will engage in a series of interactive sessions with prominent Yale faculty and practitioners to set the terms of the global climate change debate.
Fellows will explore the wide range of climate change initiatives housed at Yale and delve into cutting-edge scholarship on a broad range of clean energy and climate issues.
Among the centers and institutions which may be featured in the orientation program are the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, the Yale Center for Natural Carbon Capture, the Yale Open Lab, the Yale Center for Business and the Environment, the Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy, and the Yale Office of Sustainability, which manages the University’s net zero goal.
Remote Learning Journeys | March-June 2026
From March through June 2026, Climate Fellows will organize and carry out a series of interactive remote sessions with top international experts on the full range of policy issues associated with climate change and the clean energy transition. Sessions are spirited journeys allowing for development of communities of practice in specialties and extensive mentoring opportunities.
Possible topics include:
- strengthening global climate change governance, including the UN process
- exploring decarbonization pathways, including the IEA Net Zero 2050 scenario
- accelerating renewable electricity growth and addressing challenges of system integration
- strengthening innovation and uptake of promising clean energy technologies
- promoting energy efficiency and behavioral change
- investigating the challenges of a people-centered clean energy transition
- developing and deepening financial vehicles to advance the clean energy transition
- exploring market-based climate policy tools, including carbon pricing
- exploring regulatory policy tools to support uptake of clean energy solutions
- improving climate change communication
- closing energy access gaps with clean energy technologies
- developing cost effective negative emissions technologies, including direct air capture
- exploring the role of nature-based climate solutions
- broadening and deepening corporate and investor initiatives on climate change
- tackling energy security issues, including the role of fossil fuels in the energy transition
- exploring supply chain and related geopolitical challenges of the clean energy transition
- analyzing challenges of reducing methane emissions in emerging and developing countries
Paris Closing Week | June 15-19, 2026
The fellowship concludes with an in-person week in Paris, from June 15–19, 2026.
Fellows will meet with top international climate change analysts; share perspectives gleaned throughout the program; and consolidate professional and personal contacts developed through peer learning and exchanges of views.
Fellows will have networking opportunities with staff members from the International Energy Agency and the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), French central government and municipal officials, and representatives of civil society organizations, think tanks, academia, and the private sector.
Fellows will also present policy recommendations on specific clean energy and climate-related challenges to a global advisory board, publish those findings, and maintain contacts through an alumni network.
Opportunity is About
Eligibility
Candidates should be from:
Description of Ideal Candidate
Who are the Climate Fellows?
Sixteen young practitioners selected each year from multiple career tracks from across Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America/Caribbean. Fellows share a common passion to become future leaders in the clean energy/climate change space, as they exchange findings and experiences with other like-minded professionals from across the Global South.
Yale Climate Fellows model diversity in terms of gender, country of origin, and professional background.
Yale Climate Fellows are drawn from a wide variety of professions, ranging from public servants to entrepreneurs, energy company professionals, financiers, journalists, educators, researchers, civil society representatives, legal advisers, and legislators.
Application Requirements
- Applicants should be between five and 10 years into their professional careers, with demonstrated accomplishments at a regional, national, or international level. While there is no minimum or maximum age requirement, we are looking for young leaders who are still on the rise in their careers.
- Applicants must be representatives of the Global South. We look forward to welcoming a diverse representation from developing Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America/Caribbean.
- Applicants must be fluent in English. An excellent command of the English language is essential to successfully participating in the program.
- Climate Fellows must be available to fully participate in all parts of the program, including in-person for two weeks of the program: the Yale Orientation week (February 16-20, 2026), and the Paris closing week (June 15-19, 2026). Fellows must also be available to participate in the five remote learning journeys and to work on a collaborative group project between March and June 2026.
Selection Criteria
- An established record of achievement in a profession linked to clean energy and climate change. We seek to identify a diverse group of Fellows from across multiple stakeholder groups, ranging from government officials, to entrepreneurs, energy company/utility professionals, bankers/financiers, journalists, educators/researchers, civil society representatives, legal advisors and legislators.
- A commitment to making a positive impact at the local, national, or international level.
- Demonstrated promise of a future career in leadership at both the national and potentially global level.
- An eagerness to expand and deepen professional networks and to benefit from exposure to top global leaders in the clean energy and climate change space.
Dates
Deadline: August 01, 2025
Cost/funding for participants
There is no application fee or other cost to apply or participate. All fellows’ costs for Yale Orientation week and Paris closing week will be covered by the program (round-trip airfare, hotels, transfers and per-diem).
Un-save Opportunity
Internships, scholarships, student conferences and competitions.
