All In

The case for a global campaign for the environment

“We Have Two Years to Save the World”

2023 broke all records for CO2 emissions and global temperature, and last week, April 10, 2024, the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Simon Stiell said we only have two years to make a difference.

Speaking at the Chatham House think-tank on April 10, 2024, he said “we still have a chance to make greenhouse gas emissions tumble, with a new generation of national climate plans. But we need those stronger plans now.” On Twitter / X he was even more blunt:

We have two years to save the world.

Starting now, we need:

?? A quantum leap in climate finance

?? Bold new national climate plans by all nations that protect people, boost jobs and drive inclusive economic growth

Simon Stiell is neither the first nor the only person to say this. Every scientist, policy expert, activist, and just about every citizen on the planet knows this: we need leadership and the funding to make a net-zero transition and climate resilience possible. We need it now.

And yet:

• we are mired in the slow churn of UNFCC Conferences of the Parties (COPs) with its laborious process of negotiation and compromise;
• we are faced with the never-ending spin and distortion from those who benefit from keeping the status quo; and
• our only avenue is to shout louder through social media and the many organizations that represent our concern and press for stronger, decisive leadership.

We need a better strategy.

If we are going to make a difference within the next two years, we need to think and act differently. In short, we need a campaign that we can all work together on; one that is radically pragmatic (i.e. easy to do yet world-changing), and that will kick start the change we need and empower all of us to be part of the solution.

In other words, we need a movement-based campaign that will secure the mandate for a complex global climate movement. It sounds as daunting as stopping climate change. Can it be done?

The answer is an emphatic yes! It can be done – it just depends on whether we have the collective will to work as a global climate movement, and not just as a collection of individual organizations, networks, and individuals.

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The Campaign: “All In for the Climate”

The campaign is simple: the execution is elaborate yet elegant. It will take all of us working together to make it work.? But that’s precisely what the climate movement needs right now.

The campaign: All In for the Climate

The short title: ALL IN

The core message: “We’re all in for the climate: Every government, every company, everyone.”

The words “all in” have a dual meaning. First, that we all share a common commitment to the climate. Second, that we need to be all-in. If you have ever played poker, you know there comes a time when a player looks at their dwindling stack of chips, realizes that this hand is their last chance to stay in the game, and declares, “I’m all in!” Given the ever-increasing stakes and urgency for action in the climate battle, now is the time when we all need to say, “I’m all in for the climate.”

The purpose: 1) to build a social mandate, locally and globally, to promote and support climate leadership and action; and 2) to secure commitments from all governments and companies.

Key elements: within the overall global campaign to secure 100% commitment to climate leadership, there will be several key steps supported by hundreds of focused campaigns, including:

• Public engagement by organizations that support the campaign, echo the message, and can encourage their members, constituents, consumers, or communty to show their support. This builds the social mandate
• Targeted campaigns to encourage governments and companies that have not committed to climate leadership and a net-zero target to get on board. This helps focus climate protest and activism where it is needed.
• Monitoring and celebrating leadership to provide positive support and profile excellence in government and corporate climate leadership.

How it works: The core message is “adapted and adopted” widely, allowing for infinite expressions of commitment and calls for leadership:

• A global campaign, hosted and supported by major organizations, climate networks, institutions and funders, emphasizes the need for the total commitment to climate leadership by 2025 (and COP30 in particular). This can include both climate organizations and major networks for climate leaders (including UNFCCC and business associations).
• Local and sector campaigns, hosted by lead organizations for countries, regions, economic sectors, trades, culture, faith etc., can adapt the campaign to focus on the climate concerns and commitments of their constituency.
• Ideas, artwork, and resources that can be shared to facilitate widespread participation.
• Monitoring and research by organizations that can play a lead role in tracking the global commitment to climate leadership.

The big difference: This is a movement-based campaign. It is not owned by any one organization, rather it is designed to be hosted by many, with campaign designs and material shared around the world. it’s not one campaign, it is an infinite number of campaigns connected by a common message, “We’re all in for the climate.” The point is, we are all working to support climate leadership.

The approach may be new, but it is also based on precedents. If you are looking for parallels that helped spark international movements Earth Day , Earth Hour , and the Warming Stripes are examples where organizations have helped raise environmental awareness and commitment through shared resources and local activities and campaigns around the world. Another example, and one I helped set up, is Jane’s Walk , an international a movement of free, citizen-led walking conversations inspired by the writer, urbanist and activist, Jane Jacobs.

“All In” could be run by a single organization, but it makes more sense as a shared objective of many organizations, perhaps supported by a lean project team.

Leadership is a shared commitment.

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Going Deeper

Let’s break this down a bit. How can a campaign with simple ask help generate the momentum we need to achieve our overall goal?

Our common goal: A future that is net-zero, resilient, and better.

For all the complexity and challenges of solving climate change, there are three predominant aspects to a common goal: achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 if not sooner, building climate resilience in our ecosystems, economies and communities, and integrating social justice, equity, and quality of life as co-benefits of climate action. In short, a future that is net-zero, resilient, and better.

We can represent this goal and the three components with a basic design:

This design is available under a Creative Commons 0 license. You can download the art files here .

?The immediate task: securing universal commitment to climate leadership.

In the words of Lao Tzu, “the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” In truth, the journey actually begins with the commitment to make the journey, and that is what this campaign is about. We need every company and everyone to commit to climate leadership in support of a future that is net-zero, resilient, and better.

Universal commitment is the very first step to effective and decisive action. Commitment leads to collaboration, transition planning, and investment in a smooth, yet rapid, transition to a net-zero, resilient, and better future.

Building an unstoppable movement: connecting and empowering the climate movement.

We are already a strong movement. We are scientists, activists, experts, networkers, citizens, and leaders. But if we speak with fractured voices, how can we expect to succeed? ?How can we expect to see the global plans and financial resources Simon Stiell says is essential to saving the world if we do not find a way to speak with one voice. ?

This is the idea behind movement-based marketing (MBM). With MBM, a range of parties can join together to promote a common message. They all participate according to their skills, priorities, and resources. They share campaign resources, they can adapt the message to local situations, and they support each other in common cause. Movement campaigns work best where there is a common objective that benefits and empowers all parties. Which is where we are with climate change: we have less than two years to secure global commitments to leadership and investment.

We are at a critical moment where we need government and corporate leadership – and a movement-wide campaign can make all the difference in empowering and supporting governments and companies to make the necessary commitments and investments to address climate change.

Empowering Climate Leadership

If we look at who is involved in securing a global commitment to climate leadership, we’ll find there is already amazing progress and amazing organizations that are promoting climate leadership. We already have a strong foundation of both leaders and support networks.

Let’s break it down by states, regions, municipalities, and companies, with the help of the Net-Zero Tracker website (as of April 12, 2024).

Nation State Governments

• 148 out of 198 countries have a net-zero target.
• Countries that signed onto the 2015 Paris Agreement agreed to hold “the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels” and pursue efforts “to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.” Each country submits a five year climate plan, called a Nationally Determined Contribution, available on the UNFCCC website .
• The UNFCC also runs the Race to Zero campaign aimed at rallying non-state actors – including companies, cities, regions, financial, educational, and healthcare institutions – to take rigorous and immediate action to halve global emissions by 2030 and deliver a healthier, fairer, net zero world.

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Subnational Governments

• 161 out of 709 regions have a net-zero target
• The Under2 Coalition is the largest network of subnational governments committed to reaching net zero emissions by 2050 - or earlier.

Municipal Governments

• 270 out of 1,186 cities have a net-zero target
• Cities Race to Zero is the Race to Zero campaign organized by C40 Cities , where cities are uniting to demonstrate their support for inclusive climate action in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement.

Companies

• 1,093 out of 1,978 companies monitored by Net Zero Tracker.
• The UNFCCC Race to Zero site lists several organizations and campaigns in support of their overall campaign.

Add to this list the tremendous wealth of regional and sector-based networks and the expertise and resources available to support networking, collaboration, and transition planning, and we have an amazing amount of capacity to deliver climate solutions. This is an excellent foundation for success.

What we are missing, to return to Simon Stiell’s challenge to the world, is complete commitment to effective action, and the commitment to finance the transition. There are still a lot of climate laggards, and there are still far too many deniers.? And that should be the focus of a public campaign: to raise the level of commitment to 100%, and to make the deniers irrelevant.

Specifically, by COP30 at the end of 2025, we need every government, company, and organization to be committed to the transition to net-zero. No exceptions:

• Every country must have a net-zero target and climate action plan. No exceptions.
• Every subnational and municipal government must have a net-zero target and climate action plan. No exceptions, but streamlined for smaller municipalities.
• Every major company should have a net-zero target and climate action plan. Every smaller business should have a climate commitment and plan consistent with their ability to influence supply chains.

Ideally, COP30 should provide the global stage for assessing progress, celebrating leadership, and establishing pathways for a smooth and rapid transition to a net-zero, resilient, and better future. To that end, NGOs should play a key role in planning the COP agenda and designing the assessment processes for excellence in climate action.

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A Social Campaign: “All In for the Climate”

What we need – from now to COP30 – is a global, movement-wide campaign to get every government, every company, and every one of us to commit to a goal of a future that is net-zero, resilient, and better.

Make it Happen!

This is a social campaign at heart – it is the people of the world telling our leaders that we are committed to the climate, and we expect every government and every company to be equally committed to a future that is net-zero, resilient, and better.

Of course, this is just an idea. There are likely many other great ideas out there, but we don’t have the luxury of time. So let’s look at what it would take to scale up from a concept to a global-to-local campaign, and accept that the final product may be different that this original proposal.

Buzz

The first step is to talk about it. Even if the actual campaign idea doesn’t take root, perhaps we can stimulate other ideas and a discussion about ways to build an undeniable social mandate and an unstoppable climate movement.

• Share this article
• Post on social media. Feel free to use the All In graphic (above).

By Design

There’s probably a handful of organizations and funders that can collaborate on a global climate campaign. You know who you are. Talk among yourselves. Make it happen.

If you do, here’s some of the pieces to consider:

• Major climate groups and other NGOs can collaborate, adapt and adopt, and promote the campaign, consistent with their existing priorities, strategies and campaigns for decarbonization, resilience, and climate justice
• The COP29 and COP30 planning committees can integrate the campaign into their agendas and themes.
• Consider escalating the role of NGOs, climate networks, and climate experts in mapping transition pathways, monitoring progress, and celebrating success
• Integrate the campaign with the Race to Zero campaign and its partner organizations. Provide the social mandate and visibility to support existing networking and support organizations.
• Encourage governments and companies that have already made a commitment to net-zero, resilience, and social equity to use the campaign to promote their commitment.
• Promote and facilitate local campaigns to pressure the climate laggards to join in.

Organically

• Start sharing and talking about the need for every government and company to commit to climate leadership.
• If you are a designer, artist, or have other talents, be creative. Share your design ideas online for posters, placards, t-shirts. social media, etc.
• If you are engaging your community, use the messaging and design, or develop your own version. Aim to have your entire membership or community showing their support for the climate. This will help with setting up future engagement and support projects.
• Consider organizing a community network if there are other groups that have similar interests. The best community plans integrate climate action into community goals.? For starters, here’s another site I worked on with community resources
• If you are targeting a specific company, government, or sector, use the all-in goal to show there is no exceptions, and no room for laggards.? Everyone needs to be a climate leader.

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For more information

The Climate Arrows Website https://climatearrows.net

Climate Arrows is where I delve into ideas for a global climate movement and movement-based campaigns, and much more. It is a work in progress and constructive ideas are welcome. Here are some pages of interest:

All In https://climatearrows.net/all-in/

• The Climate Arrows https://climatearrows.net/the-arrows/
• The Plan (An Unstoppable Movement) https://climatearrows.net/the-plan/
• Blog Post – Minor, Major and Catastrophic Change: Communicating Climate Change to People and Politicians https://climatearrows.net/minor-major-and-catastrophic-change/
• Blog Post – Movement-Based Social Marketing https://climatearrows.net/movement-based-social-marketing/
• Blog Post – A World that Cares https://climatearrows.net/a-world-that-cares/

You can also follow me on social media:

• X @climateactionca
• Bluesky @ climatearrows.bsky.social

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