New mines, export terminals, and coal rail lines were being proposed to unlock vast new coal reserves, while fracking companies rushed to open up gasfields and build new gas export hubs. Companies were riding roughshod over communities and projects were being steamrolled through the ‘approval process’, often without proper scrutiny.
Based on systems thinking and methodical research, we aimed to connect, support and build the capacity of a fragmented community movement to help level the playing field and keep fossil fuels in the ground.
What we learned
We recognised that supporting communities to oppose fossil fuel projects on the ground was essential, but not enough. To protect the environment at scale, we also needed to change the rules of the game, to strengthen corporate accountability, improve safeguards, and shift the flow of finance away from harmful projects. We also realised that we needed to invest in supporting communities through the inevitable transition and building clean energy to repower our economy at scale.
How we evolved
Our work to win environmental protections in Australia took us into the board rooms of London, Tokyo and New York and we realised that investment decisions in Australia are shaped by the norms of the global financial system. So we set out to change them. Our founder, John Hepburn, was the inaugural recipient of the Climate Breakthrough Award, creating an unprecedented opportunity to take our work to the global stage. He brought together the most creative activists we knew, with senior leaders from across the finance sector for a series of confidential workshops that was the genesis of our global finance program. You can hear about it in this changemakers podcast.
