Yale Emerging Climate Leaders Fellowship 2027: The Complete Guide to This Prestigious International Clean Energy and Climate Change Fellowship for Global South Professionals

Yale University’s Jackson School of Global Affairs has officially opened applications for the 2027 cohort of the Emerging Climate Leaders Fellowship, an exclusive and highly competitive international fellowship designed to cultivate a global community of clean energy and climate change leaders from emerging and developing countries. Anchored by Yale’s International Leadership Center and led by a former senior official of the International Energy Agency, this five-month fellowship combines world-class academic engagement, international networking, remote policy learning, and in-person convenings in both New Haven, Connecticut and Paris, France.

This article provides a complete and detailed overview of the Yale Emerging Climate Leaders Fellowship 2027 — its mission, structure, programme details, leadership, eligibility criteria, selection process, and how to apply.

The Mission of the Emerging Climate Leaders Fellowship

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. This community is enriched through direct engagement with top Yale faculty and researchers, as well as leading global authorities in the clean energy transition, including experts from the International Energy Agency (IEA) and beyond.

The fellowship recognizes that the individuals best positioned to drive meaningful climate action in the Global South are professionals who are already embedded within their countries’ energy, policy, business, and civil society sectors — and who, with the right exposure, mentorship, and global network, can accelerate their impact as future leaders in the clean energy and climate space.

Who Are the Yale Climate Fellows?

Each year, sixteen young practitioners are selected from across Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America and the Caribbean to form a new cohort of Yale Climate Fellows. These fellows are drawn from multiple career tracks and share a common passion for becoming future leaders in the clean energy and climate change space, exchanging findings and experiences with other like-minded professionals from across the Global South.

Yale Climate Fellows are intentionally selected to model diversity across several dimensions:

• Gender
• Country of origin
• Professional background

The professional backgrounds represented within each cohort are intentionally broad and multidisciplinary, including:

• Public servants and government officials
• Entrepreneurs
• Energy company and utility professionals
• Financiers and bankers
• Journalists
• Educators and researchers
• Civil society representatives
• Legal advisers
• Legislators

This diversity of professional perspective is central to the fellowship’s design, as it allows fellows to engage with the clean energy transition from multiple angles — policy, finance, technology, communication, and grassroots advocacy — while learning from one another’s distinct vantage points.

Faculty, Partners, and Program Leadership

Fellows in the programme engage directly with prominent Yale faculty as well as a broad network of top global practitioners working on the most pressing issues in the clean energy and climate change agenda.

Program Leadership

The fellowship is overseen by Paul Simons, a Jackson Senior Fellow and retired United States ambassador who has been actively engaged in global energy and climate change policymaking for more than two decades. Since 2020, Paul Simons has been teaching and mentoring Yale students on the clean energy transition, while also actively participating in the COP26 and COP27 international climate negotiation processes.

From 2015 to 2020, he served as Deputy Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer of the International Energy Agency (IEA) — the world’s leading authority for energy and climate change analysis and policy development — where he led outreach activities with emerging economies and coordinated engagement with the G-20.

The fellowship is further supported by a group of seasoned professionals from the Jackson School’s International Leadership Center (ILC). Director Emma Sky and her ILC team provide essential policy guidance and administrative support throughout the duration of the Yale Emerging Climate Leaders Fellowship.

Program Structure: A Five-Month Global Journey

The Yale Emerging Climate Leaders Fellowship is structured around three core components spanning five months, beginning with an in-person orientation at Yale, continuing through a period of remote learning, and concluding with an in-person closing week in Paris.

Phase 1: Yale Orientation Week (February 1-5, 2027)

The fellowship begins with a one-week, in-person orientation programme at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, running from February 1 to February 5, 2027.

During orientation week, fellows will:

• Engage in a series of interactive sessions with prominent Yale faculty and practitioners to help set the terms of the global climate change debate
• Explore the wide range of climate change initiatives and research housed across Yale University
• Delve into cutting-edge scholarship spanning a broad range of clean energy and climate issues

Among the centers and institutions that may be featured during the orientation programme 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
• The Yale Office of Sustainability, which manages the University’s net zero goal

Phase 2: Remote Learning Journeys (March-June 2027)

From March through June 2027, Climate Fellows will organize and participate in a series of interactive remote learning sessions with leading international experts, covering the full range of policy issues associated with climate change and the clean energy transition. These sessions function as spirited “learning journeys” that allow fellows to develop communities of practice around shared specialties, while benefiting from extensive mentoring opportunities. Sessions typically take place on Wednesdays at 9:00 AM Eastern Time.

Possible topics covered during the remote learning journeys include:

1. Strengthening global climate change governance, including the United Nations process
2. Exploring decarbonization pathways, including the IEA Net Zero 2050 scenario
3. Accelerating renewable electricity growth and addressing the challenges of system integration
4. Strengthening innovation and uptake of promising clean energy technologies
5. Promoting energy efficiency and behavioral change
6. Investigating the challenges of a people-centered clean energy transition
7. Developing and deepening financial vehicles to advance the clean energy transition
8. Exploring market-based climate policy tools, including carbon pricing
9. Exploring regulatory policy tools to support the uptake of clean energy solutions
10. Improving climate change communication
11. Closing energy access gaps with clean energy technologies
12. Developing cost-effective negative emissions technologies, including direct air capture
13. Exploring the role of nature-based climate solutions
14. Broadening and deepening corporate and investor initiatives on climate change
15. Tackling energy security issues, including the role of fossil fuels in the energy transition
16. Exploring supply chain and related geopolitical challenges of the clean energy transition
17. Analyzing the challenges of reducing methane emissions in emerging and developing countries

In addition to these remote sessions, fellows will work collaboratively on a group project between March and June 2027.

Phase 3: Paris Closing Week (June 14-18, 2027)

The fellowship concludes with an in-person closing week in Paris, France, running from June 14 to June 18, 2027.

During this final week, fellows will:

• Meet with top international climate change analysts and policymakers
• Share perspectives gleaned throughout the entirety of the programme
• Consolidate professional and personal contacts developed through peer learning and exchanges of views

Fellows will also have valuable networking opportunities with:

• Staff members from the International Energy Agency (IEA)
• Representatives from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
• French central government and municipal officials
• Representatives of civil society organizations, think tanks, academia, and the private sector

As the culminating activity of the fellowship, fellows will present policy recommendations addressing specific clean energy and climate-related challenges to a global advisory board. These findings will then be published, and fellows will be invited to maintain ongoing contacts through the programme’s alumni network following the conclusion of the fellowship.

Find more program details HERE.

Eligibility and Application Requirements

Admission to the Yale Emerging Climate Leaders Fellowship is highly competitive. Each cohort is intentionally geographically balanced and represents a wide range of professions, talents, experience, cultures, and perspectives. To be eligible to apply, candidates must meet the following requirements:

1. Be between five and ten years into their professional career, with demonstrated accomplishments at a regional, national, or international level. There is no minimum or maximum age requirement, but the programme is seeking leaders who are still on the rise in their careers
2. Be representatives of the Global South, specifically from Africa, Asia, the Middle East, or Latin America and the Caribbean
3. Be fluent in English, as an excellent command of the English language is essential to successfully participating in the programme
4. Be available to fully participate in all parts of the programme, including in-person attendance for two full weeks: the Yale Orientation Week (February 1-5, 2027) and the Paris Closing Week (June 14-18, 2027)
5. Be available to participate in six remote learning journeys, held on Wednesdays at 9:00 AM Eastern Time
6. Be available to work on a collaborative group project between March and June 2027

Learn More

Selection Criteria

Beyond the baseline eligibility requirements, the Yale Emerging Climate Leaders Fellowship selection committee evaluates applicants against the following criteria:

• An established record of achievement in a profession linked to clean energy and climate change
• Representation across a diverse group of stakeholder categories, including government officials, entrepreneurs, energy company and utility professionals, bankers and financiers, journalists, educators and researchers, civil society representatives, legal advisors, and legislators
• A demonstrated commitment to making a positive impact at the local, national, or international level
• Demonstrated promise of a future leadership career at both the national and potentially global level
• An eagerness to expand and deepen professional networks, and to benefit meaningfully from exposure to top global leaders in the clean energy and climate change space

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Application Process Overview

The application process for the Yale Emerging Climate Leaders Fellowship is conducted entirely online. There are no paper forms to complete or mail in.

Key details of the application process include:

• As of June 2026, an electronic application fee is required to complete submission of the application
• Applicants may work on their application at any time prior to the deadline and submit it whenever they are ready
• After creating an account and accessing the online application portal, applicants can upload required materials and request their letters of recommendation directly through the system

Required Application Materials

Applicants must submit the following as part of their complete application:

1. A résumé or curriculum vitae, with a maximum length of three pages
2. A brief video statement
3. A personal statement, with a maximum length of 600 words
4. One letter of recommendation

Apply through the link here: Online Application

Travel and Lodging Coverage

For fellows ultimately selected to the programme, travel and lodging costs for both the Yale Orientation Week and the Paris Closing Week will be fully covered by the programme. This includes:

• Round-trip airfare
• Hotel accommodation
• Transfers
• Most meals during both in-person weeks

Application Deadline

Applications for the 2027 cohort of the Yale Emerging Climate Leaders Fellowship close on Thursday, 30 July 2026, at 11:00 AM Eastern Time. This deadline is strict, and no extensions will be granted under any circumstances.

Applicants are strongly advised to submit their application at least 24 hours before the deadline to avoid any last-minute technical issues or delays.

Prospective applicants are encouraged to review the programme’s Frequently Asked Questions page for additional guidance before submitting their application.

Equal Opportunity Statement

Yale University maintains a formal equal opportunity and nondiscrimination policy that applies to the Emerging Climate Leaders Fellowship. Full details of this policy are publicly available on Yale’s official website.

Why This Fellowship Matters

The clean energy transition is one of the defining global challenges of this era, and the countries of the Global South — across Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America and the Caribbean — are simultaneously among those most affected by climate change and most critical to shaping an equitable and effective global response. Yet professionals from these regions have historically had less access to the elite academic institutions, international policy networks, and high-level convenings where global climate strategy is often shaped.

The Yale Emerging Climate Leaders Fellowship directly addresses this gap by bringing accomplished mid-career professionals from the Global South into direct, sustained engagement with Yale faculty, IEA experts, OECD representatives, and a global advisory board — while also fully funding the travel costs associated with the programme’s in-person components. The result is a uniquely positioned cohort of leaders equipped not only with deepened technical and policy knowledge, but with a global professional network and an international platform from which to advance climate action in their home countries and regions.

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Conclusion

The Yale Emerging Climate Leaders Fellowship 2027 offers an exceptional and rare opportunity for accomplished mid-career professionals from Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America and the Caribbean to deepen their expertise in clean energy and climate change policy while joining a prestigious global network anchored by Yale University, the International Energy Agency, and leading institutions across the climate and energy space. With a thoughtfully structured five-month programme spanning an in-person orientation at Yale, months of remote expert-led learning, and a culminating closing week in Paris, the fellowship offers far more than academic enrichment — it offers a genuine platform for career-defining leadership development and international influence.

With only sixteen fellows selected per year and admission described as highly competitive, prospective applicants should take the application process seriously and begin preparing their materials — including a strong personal statement, a compelling video statement, a concise CV, and a thoughtful letter of recommendation — well ahead of the firm deadline of Thursday, 30 July 2026 at 11:00 AM Eastern Time. For mid-career professionals from the Global South who are passionate about climate leadership and eager to expand their global network and impact, the Yale Emerging Climate Leaders Fellowship represents a truly transformative opportunity. Apply early, as no extensions will be granted, and take the next step toward shaping the future of the global clean energy transition.

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