Who Do We Work With?
The complexity of the challenge we face requires a kaleidoscope of perspectives and approaches, and radical collaboration across and between them.
Can leading companies work together to achieve net zero carbon by 2040 or earlier?
Global Optimism co-founded The Climate Pledge with Amazon in 2019. Today it's a group of ambitious companies, numbering well over 450 (and growing!). Together, this diverse group of signatories are working together to fill the market with practical climate solutions. The Climate Pledge companies are significant household brands and sector defining corporations from almost every industry. Their ambition to reach net zero carbon by 2040 or earlier is the fuel for their growth and innovation.
If your company is ready to accept the challenge of meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement ten years early, find out more about joining the Pledge.
Can we move the climate narrative from apathy to action?
Groundswell is a collaborative project, established by the Bezos Earth Fund, Global Optimism, and the Systems Change Lab in 2023 to support a diverse and distributed chorus of voices whose stories of achievements and further possibilities can inspire us all in this time of crisis.
Climate impacts are biting hard. We are experiencing great losses: of lives and livelihoods, of cultures and entire ecosystems. The resulting pain and anxiety is often paralysing, and can blind us to other important realities that are also true today.
Groundswell is borne from a collective belief that by spotlighting examples of positive transformations that are already unfolding, often more rapidly than we realise, we can nurture a shared mindset: that with grit and determination, we can still protect 1.5C.
COP28 came to a close with a ‘historic and unprecedented’ deal - the UAE Consensus - to transition away from fossil fuels. There is now much work to be done, particularly as we cast our horizon to the next major climate milestone - COP30 in Brazil in 2025 - which will be the first real test to see if this process has led to enough of a dent in global emissions. Groundswell - in collaboration with myriad partners - is working on strengthening the needed solidarity amongst real economy leaders to help drive unstoppable momentum and nurture geopolitical stability over the next two years.
To be part of this effort, or to find out more, please contact us.
Imagine if we backed the 50 best solutions to the toughest global environmental challenges in a decade.
The Earthshot Prize, launched by Prince William and The Royal Foundation, is the most prestigious environmental prize, designed to incentivise the changes needed in this decisive decade. Every year for the next ten years, The Earthshot Prize will award £1million each to five ground-breaking solutions to the world’s greatest environmental challenges. Global Optimism supports and advises The Earthshot Prize in a number of ways. Christiana Figueres is Chair of the Board of The Earthshot Prize Council responsible for selecting the annual Winners, and Tom Rivett-Carnac serves as a member of the Expert Advisory Panel.
What if slowing down to explore mindfulness and personal transformation could help accelerate positive change?
It is paradoxical, but critical, that at this time of mounting stress, we intentionally create the space to listen deeply to each other, reflect calmly, and open the possibility of renewing our mode of engagement and collaboration.
Rooted in ancient zen wisdom, our global Climate Leaders Retreats programme - delivered in partnership with the Plum Village monastics - helps participants nurture personal resilience and cultivate the mindset, insight, openness and understanding needed to address the climate crisis.
The retreats are designed for people from all backgrounds working on climate and biodiversity - from corporate leaders and policy makers to journalists and activists. If you would like to nominate someone as a potential participant, please complete this form, or, for more information please contact us.
The Plum Village monastics also offer online courses in ‘Zen and the Art of Saving the Planet’ for those in the community who are not able to attend one of the retreats in person.
What if we could mobilise influential leaders at every level to tackle climate change?
Future Stewards and TED have partnered together to create TED Countdown, elevating climate solutions to a commonly understood story amongst influential leaders who, in turn, are changing companies, governments and financial flows to embrace this pursuit.
Imagine if 1 billion people were engaging in climate action.
Count Us In is a growing movement of citizens changing their behaviours and the stories of their communities. Count Us In brings together a radical collaborative of over 100 organisations (and counting!) aiming to activate a billion citizens this decade, taking meaningful steps to protect what they love from the impacts of climate change, and together adding up to a seismic shift.
How can we shift social culture to a common understanding of the Net Zero + Nature Positive future?
We're working with Netflix Sustainability Advisory Board – aka Climate Avengers – to encourage the company and their staff, and more importantly, to find pathways to inspire thousands of creators to shape the stories that capture our imaginations.
We know that the stories we absorb and the signals of social culture are extremely powerful agents of change in societies around the world.
Can we accelerate the global transition to net zero emissions through private finance mobilisation?
Governments have an essential role to play in setting policies to foster a smooth transition to net zero emissions across the global economy, eliminating reliance on fossil fuels within the next couple decades and halting other sources of emissions such as deforestation. At the same time, the finance sector - which controls hundreds of trillions of dollars in assets globally - also must undertake a fundamental shift away from high carbon assets and into low- and zero-carbon opportunities. Asset Owners have a unique role in this context. As pension funds, insurance companies, sovereign wealth funds and philanthropies, they have long-term investment horizons and liabilities. They not only are acutely vulnerable to the systemic disruptions that climate change has begun to unleash on ecosystems, societies, and economies, but also are well positioned to help catalyse decarbonisation of the global economy and invest in climate resilience. We're proud to serve as strategic advisors to the Net Zero Asset Owner Alliance, with around $10tn in assets under management.
