Defining benefits of a state climate corps

A national service program can meaningfully contribute to the climate crisis, but not many who work directly on climate change know much about national service, its history, and the value it brings to communities. As such, it is crucial to define and connect the benefits of a climate corps — particularly a statewide initiative — to other needs and goals that may be of priority. This is especially important if you intend to seek resources and support. Identifying these benefits (and, as noted in the previous article, iterating them along with a more concrete description) is also important to staying focused on a well-structured climate corps.

Fortunately, a number of organizations and initiatives have developed content that outlines a range of values. You may also have general purpose content from your programs, commission communications, and other sources that can be readily adapted to help make the case for a climate corps.

As noted in the last article on a description, the effort to make a strong case for the benefits of a climate corps initiative may be more challenging than that involved in a single program. You may need to step back from the particular (i.e., planting x trees a year) and discuss more general benefits (i.e., ecosystem restoration or community engagement). Concurrently, as you progress further in the development process, it becomes increasingly important to provide concrete benefits, as supporters will seek more specific information about the advantages as you advance in your efforts. The figure below highlights some of the environmental, social, and economic benefits of climate action.

Inclusive Climate Action Dimensions and Benefits Source: Climate Links

Throughout the last couple of years, we have seen a bit of a push and pull between the direct climate benefits (i.e., greenhouse gas reductions) and other benefits (i.e., workforce, equity, etc.) within various initiatives. On one hand, it is important to define how a climate corps is focused on and relevant to climate change. However, it is also important to recognize that a national service program may not be the most effective way to address very specific climate risks and/or its impact may be marginal against the scale of the crisis. For example, it is unlikely that a climate corps, even the most robust ones established to date, can deliver more greenhouse gas savings annually than a defined energy conservation measure. Conversely, a unique contribution of a climate corps is its ability to connect people to the climate crisis. The members themselves are given a chance to become leaders and change agents, and community members may interact with climate corps members through volunteer events, direct service activities, or educational programming. This intangible yet essential catalyst benefit is absolutely vital to our collective response. No amount of lightbulb giveaways or solar installations can replace the human touch side of a national service program. For example, the California Climate Action Corps is very explicitly leaning into the power of their members as organizers and enablers of community climate change, using the service activities as a vehicle for this rather than as the primary emphasis.

Two areas to consider carefully when developing your climate corps benefits are jobs or workforce development benefits and equity or climate justice benefits. Many of the highest level benefits statements for a climate corps emphasize jobs and equity. While ideally true, and absolutely critical for addressing climate change, how a climate corps is structured may or may not realize these benefits.

With respect to jobs, some climate corps roles may not feed as directly into careers, while an overemphasis on workforce development may sacrifice important national service values. As one climate corps coordinator previously stated, “workforce development is a hook, but service is a different flavor of workforce development.” As an example, while the community organizing function of the California Climate Action Corps is commendable, it is unclear how this aligns with any specific workforce needs (as opposed to a home weatherization effort, for example). At the same time, national service is not and should not be a replacement for workforce development. Ultimately, it is essential to maintain a clear focus on the service element that prioritizes addressing the community needs and helping others, which may not align directly with a workforce pathway effort. This is not to imply that it cannot be done and should be disregarded, but it takes care and planning to realize these benefits, so it is important to recognize this when initially developing benefits statements.

The same balancing act applies to equity and climate justice benefits. The impacts of the climate crisis are disproportionately affecting certain communities, often those historically marginalized. At the same time, the benefits and opportunities of national service have often been less accessible to lower-income (and again historically marginalized) populations due to the low stipends and support offered. Additionally, the opportunity to host an AmeriCorps member is often less accessible to smaller organizations in under-resourced communities due to their lower capacity to support a member and the additional administrative challenges that AmeriCorps requirements bring. Thus, adequate support is needed for members and the host organizations in under-resourced communities.

Most of the emerging language around climate corps, particularly at the national level, emphasizes focusing service on communities of concern, fostering a more diverse corps, and providing living wages for participants. These are inherently higher resource goals that may be harder to realize within the existing national service landscape. Therefore, it is important when defining values upfront to consider what it might mean to center equity in your program values as that may inherently require a greater resource commitment. The figure below highlights some of the actions to consider for environmental justice.

Environmental Justice Actions Source: Delta Stewardship Council

It is important to emphasize that we are not advocating that equity be set aside, as we feel it is vitally important to serve those communities most affected and ideally open doors to service to those who are from those communities or those who have not traditionally been able to serve. However, to make this a primary benefit of your state climate corps initiative is a commitment you want to be able to realize in the long-run.

As you consider the benefits of your initiative, here are some of the main categories we have seen addressed. You can use the ideas above and this list to begin to document the most salient benefits in your state initiative.

• Climate — While much of the narrative above focused on additional benefits other than climate benefits, it is crucial to recognize and emphasize the genuine value a climate corps can have as a climate solution. From home weatherization, to living shorelines, to urban greening, there are many existing national service programs reducing greenhouse gasses and helping communities prepare for the impacts of climate change. As you begin to define the range of programming your climate corps may encompass, you can start to identify both specific and more general climate benefits that are likely to be realized.
• Leadership — No one program or initiative is going to solve climate change immediately. This is a decades-long effort. To be successful, we need to cultivate a generation of leaders who understand climate change, are committed to addressing it, and are equipped to act in their communities and beyond. Simultaneously, consistent polling shows a strong desire among young people to take action against climate change and make a difference. Various service activities may attract different populations and suggest diverse leadership benefits (i.e., community outreach versus ecosystem restoration). Cataloging leadership opportunities by program activity is helpful to define the overall leadership benefits as well as some more specific ones that might be made available through this initiative.
• Equity — In order to serve where it is most needed and increase opportunities for those who may face barriers to service (yet are from the very communities where service is needed), it is critical to integrate equity considerations into climate corps programs. As urgency rises, it’s also a practical matter to factor equity into programming as climate resources are increasingly tied to equity in one form or another. Notably, AmeriCorps is in the process of aligning with the federal Justice 40 initiative. From earlier articles, you may be able to identify where the highest need communities reside, and from the landscaping article you may have developed a sense of gaps in service or barriers to service. From this you can start to define how equity will fit into your climate corps initiative, how to align with state frameworks, policies, and messaging, and how it to describe equity considerations for your stakeholders, allies, and leaders.
• Workforce — As with equity, the specific workforce linkages of your program may need more effort to define and describe. But it requires the strongest links you can create. Whether there is a defined pre-apprenticeship track (i.e., the National Association of Landscape Professionals pre-apprenticeship program) or more general support for clean energy workforce awareness (i.e., Washington State’s recently passed Climate Corps Network), the more you can draw linkages and build connections, the more relevant your initiative will be to a wider audience of participants and supporters.
• Capacity — Something that often gets overlooked or downplayed with national service is the capacity it brings to particular issues and communities. Most of this country is often behind on climate change efforts, and there is no shortage of work to do from traditional direct service to community engagement to planning and program support. Identifying how service programs can be a lever for local action beyond their immediate service work by extending the arms, ears, and eyes of local climate efforts can be an important element of building support for an overall effort. While a specific service outcome may be appealing to some, we have seen that characterizing a climate corps as a force multiplier for community efforts resonates more than any specific outcome.
• Visibility — Tied to capacity is the potentially significant benefit of the visibility of a climate corps. There is abundant evidence that people are scared and confused by climate change and in many cases feel powerless. Having service members in the community taking action with energy and enthusiasm may facilitate community members to re-engage, feel more optimistic, and ideally take up this work on their own.
• Bridging — A less obvious benefit is the incredible potential in a statewide climate corps to serve as a bridge between state and local climate needs and actions. Most state agencies are stretched thin and have limited capacity to get out into communities. Having national service members working to implement targeted state climate goals can be immensely beneficial. At the same time, the members of a climate corps, embedded within communities, serve as a conduit between state and local efforts by providing a powerful feedback loop to state or regional efforts about needs, successes, and challenges.