Paul Hawken and his team of community activists, researchers and writers are creating the sequel to Drawdown entitled Regeneration: Ending the Climate Crisis in One Generation.
By providing a roadmap for collective action, the book addresses the grave warnings issued by the IPCC and the Alliance of World Scientists signed by members from 156 countries. They call for successive 50% reductions in global emissions in each of the next two decades if our planet is to avoid exceeding 1.5˚C rise in global temperatures. The scientists urgently want to “avoid untold suffering due to the climate crisis.”
The world is rapidly awakening to the gravity of the situation. Certain informed individuals, communities, companies, cities, colleges, and countries are asking how they can help. Currently, there is no document, book, or website that instructs individuals and organizations how to accomplish the goal in a precise, grounded, science-based format.
Ending the climate crisis in one generation means sequestering CO2 from the atmosphere as much as possible while decreasing emissions of greenhouse gases as soon as possible. To accomplish this, public awareness and urgency are critical to achieve a worldwide collective and committed effort.
Still much of the public in general, despite the urgent warnings by climate scientists, remains uninvolved. Providing both the framework to understand the issue and the direction in which to take action, Regeneration seeks to activate our leaders, negotiators, CEO’s, politicians, NGOs, and all citizens to come together and create a practical, doable, science-based outline for a precise course of action. This book and accompanying video, website, and app will provide such a course.
The Global Cooling Prize is rallying a global coalition of leaders to solve the critical climate threat that comes from growing demand for residential air conditioning. By harnessing the power of innovation, we can provide cooling solutions that enhance people’s lives without contributing to runaway climate change.
How? This groundbreaking competition is designed to incentivize development of a residential cooling solution that will have at least five times less climate impact than standard Residential Room Air Conditioners units in the market today. This technology could prevent up to 100 gigatons of CO2-equivalent emissions by 2050, and put the world on a pathway to mitigate up to 0.5˚C of global warming by 2100, all while enhancing living standards for people in developing countries around the globe.
The Good Food Institute (GFI) is reimagining meat production and working to accelerate alternative protein innovation. They’re building a world where alternative proteins are no longer an alternative. They exist to make the global food system better for the planet, people, and animals.
Globally, meat consumption is the highest it’s ever been. According to the UN, global meat production is projected to double by 2050. With plant-based meat, cultivated meat, and fermentation, we can mitigate the environmental impact of our food system, decrease the risk of zoonotic disease, and ultimately feed more people with fewer resources.
GFI is developing the roadmap for a sustainable, secure, and just protein supply. They identify the most effective solutions, mobilize resources and talent, and empower partners across the food system to make alternative proteins accessible, affordable, and delicious.
Learning Accelerator
Buildings account for nearly 40% of greenhouse gas emissions. Building Decarbonization (BD) involves the design of buildings so that they contribute zero or near zero carbon emissions.
Widespread adoption of decarbonized buildings requires a rethinking of how we design, operate, and retrofit buildings. Much of the technology needed for BD exists today but few building professionals are familiar with these options, how to apply them cost effectively, the role that public policy will play in this market transformation, and how they can be involved to influence and implement such policies.
Approximately 800 colleges and universities in the U.S. teach architectural design, engineering and construction management (AEC) with courses focused specifically on building sustainability, but there is very little focus on BD.
We aim to accelerate the teaching of BD throughout the U.S. AEC classes by creating the first U.S. online Building Decarbonization Learning Accelerator (BDLA) with curated materials that will help college faculty and students teach and learn BD.
Changing the course content at universities is a high leverage, low cost way to accelerate BD by quickly creating a pipeline of talented young professionals that will graduate understanding how to implement solutions.
The Constructive Dialogue Institute was founded in response to the rising division and distrust threatening to tear America apart. As our political parties increasingly align with core aspects of our identities, Americans now see ourselves as belonging to distinct tribes, locked in a zero-sum battle for the fate of our nation's future. Americans are living in alternative realities, where there is no longer agreement on basic facts. These trends pose an enormous threat to our institutions and democracy.
Our fracturing civic culture is a foundational issue that underlies all of the major issues of our time. In order to solve 21st-century challenges, we need a healthy political system that can meet the needs of the public. This requires an informed and engaged citizenry that can understand the mechanics of our democracy, critically evaluate information, discuss complex and divisive issues, and cooperate to achieve shared goals.
The Constructive Dialogue Institute is on an ambitious journey to repair our civic culture by spreading the practices of curiosity, critical thinking, and constructive dialogue, across our nation’s education systems and workplaces. We develop research-based educational tools, resources, and frameworks to equip schools, universities, and workplaces with a shared language and practical set of skills to build inclusive cultures and engage constructively across differences.
Civil Rights Under Law
Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law works to secure equal justice for all targeting discrimination faced by African Americans and other racial and ethnic minorities. The Lawyers’ Committee is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, formed in 1963 at the request of President John F. Kennedy to enlist the support and leadership of lawyers across the country in the work needed to combat racial discrimination and inequality – work that continues to be vital today.
Their Election Protection coalition works to ensure that all voters have an equal opportunity to vote and have that vote count. Made up of more than 100 local, state and national partners, Election Protection uses a wide range of tools and activities to protect, advance and defend the right to vote. Election Protection provides Americans from coast to coast with comprehensive information and assistance at all stages of voting – from registration, to absentee and early voting, to casting a vote at the polls, to overcoming obstacles to their participation.
VoteAmerica is a nonpartisan organization founded by a small team of elections and technology experts. They provide millions of low and no-propensity American voters with tools to help register to vote, vote by mail, etc. in order to ensure higher voter turnout.
When We All Vote is a non-profit, nonpartisan organization that is on a mission to increase participation in every election and close the race and age voting gap by changing the culture around voting, harnessing grassroots energy, and through strategic partnerships to reach every American.
Launched in 2018 by co-chairs Michelle Obama, Tom Hanks, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Janelle Monae, Chris Paul, Faith Hill and Tim McGraw, When We All Vote is changing the culture around voting using a data-driven and multifaceted approach to increase participation in elections.
Vote Early Day is a nonpartisan collaboration among media companies, nonprofits, technology platforms, election administrators, influencers, and other businesses to help all eligible voters learn about their early voting options and celebrate the act of voting early. This collaborative, open-source model will ensure that millions more Americans take advantage of their options to vote early.
When Americans vote early, they ensure that last-minute problems will not prevent them from casting their ballots – and help shorten voting lines on Election Day for everyone. But voting early rules – both for in-person and by-mail options – vary widely all over the country, causing confusion and preventing voters from casting their ballots. We’re here to make voting early easier.
League of Women Voters envisions a democracy where every person has the desire, the right, the knowledge and the confidence to participate. They believe in the power of women to create a more perfect democracy.
The League of Women Voters of the United States encourages informed and active participation in government, works to increase understanding of major public policy issues, and influences public policy through education and advocacy.
Our mission is to inspire, educate, and equip underserved teens with the skills needed to thrive in college, their careers, and adulthood. We envision a world where there are higher college graduation rates, higher lifetime earnings, fewer avoidable health crises, larger net worths, higher life satisfaction scores, and more. Simply put, we want to create a future where people are happier, healthier, and more successful.
Where can teens learn the executive functioning, life, and social emotional skills needed to thrive in today's world? The sad reality is that too many teens lack opportunities to learn these critical life skills. And unfortunately, these opportunity gaps are widening.
The Ambition app is a tool for everyday thriving, empowering teens to take personal development into their own hands. On the Ambition app, teens earn rewards for completing short skill development courses that help them become more college-ready, career-ready, and adult-ready. Each 7-day course takes 15 minutes per day to complete. Lessons are interactive and consist of videos, quizzes, and skill-building activities.