“Leaders must act. Time is not on our side.”

– General Ban Ki-moon, 2014

In 2015, 195 nations signed a landmark agreement committing to concrete measures to limit global warming. The Paris Climate Agreement pledges leaders at the local, regional, and national level to work collaboratively to reduce emissions and limit the rise in average global temperatures to 2 degrees Celcius above pre-industrial levels. This is no easy task. Organizations, foundations, and governments around the world are hard at work thinking up sustainable approaches to solving complex climate and energy problems.

For the last several years, clients have worked with Redstone to launch multi-national climate initiatives; develop organizations and advocacy campaigns in renewable energy and transportation; and, craft integrated strategies that balance political and economic realities with the need for climate action.

Central to our work on climate has been our long-term partnership with the ClimateWorks Foundation and its funders and partners. We have helped design campaign strategies by prioritizing policy goals and tactics and coordinating funders. We have also developed organizational strategies some of the partners executing those strategies, including the International Council on Clean Transportation.

Our support for global climate action has evolved in two ways. While climate change may be a global problem, local communities have a crucial role to play. In the Silicon Valley city of Menlo Park, a grassroots group of community leaders set an ambitious goal to reach full climate neutrality by 2025. Redstone helped the founders of Menlo Spark, a new nonprofit initiative that collaborates with the city government, businesses and residents to support community-driven efforts to achieve climate neutrality, to develop its strategy and help launch its efforts.

We have also sought to integrate climate advocacy with other tools, like impact investing. The firm recently helped the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and the ClimateWorks Foundation identify sectors where mission investments can work with grants, government investment and policy, and private capital to transition the globe to a low-carbon economy. We drew from extensive research, interviews with industry experts, a thorough analysis of abatement cost curves, and an assessment of capital gaps.

We invite leaders and innovators to join us in our work to achieve carbon neutrality and do our part to preserve a livable climate for future generations.