Amid escalating global challenges, new sustainability campaign showcases the social and climate initiatives shaping a better future

• As the world falls short in tackling our climate and social crises, a new Forum for the Future campaign—in partnership with The Earthshot Prize, Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors and Trane Technologies—is reigniting hope by demonstrating that transformational change is not only possible, but already happening 

• Comes on the back of a COP29 wrought with debate over its final climate finance agreement and questions on the efficacy of the COP process itself  

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27 November 2024: A new campaign launched today by Forum for the Future will over the next 12 months showcase 30 examples of individuals and/or organisations that are fundamentally reimagining how we live and work—with game-changing potential to create a future in which both people and the planet thrive. 

The Future of Sustainability: Reimagining the Way the World Works comes on the back of COP29 at which a new $1.3tr climate finance package was agreed. This will see developing countries receive $300bn a year in climate finance by 2035 from industrialised countries—with funds supporting shifts to low-carbon economies and adaptation to extreme weather. Many argue the amount falls well short of what’s needed, while COP itself is facing questions of efficacy and whether it remains ‘fit-for-purpose’.  

It is against this backdrop that the campaign’s first six of 30 examples of change in action—or ‘Bright Spots’—have been revealed, with the rest to follow throughout 2025 and in the run up to COP30. Among the six ‘Bright Spots’ bringing a much-needed focus on solutions are: 

• Comunidad y Biodiversidad (COBI): a non-profit working with small-scale fisheries in 161 communities in Mexico to co-design place-based approaches for healthy oceans and livelihoods. COBI's citizen-science model is not only empowering local fishers but strengthening their resilience while also engaging historically underrepresented groups in key decision-making. 

• Safi Organics: one of the fastest-growing organic fertilser manufacturing companies in Kenya. Safi Organics’ fertiliser is made using locally available biomass waste, such as rice husk, and leverages state-of-the-art technology to ultimately increase the yields of more than 20,000 smallholder farmers while drastically reducing their input costs. 

• ‘Our Zero Selby’: running in Selby in the UK, Our Zero Selby is a community-led project putting people at the heart of the transition to net-zero. Community-driven ideas span five themes—buildings, nature, waste, food and travel—and aim to reduce carbon emissions while saving money, creating jobs and improving health and wellbeing.  

Launched in partnership with The Earthshot Prize and Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, and with support from Trane Technologies, the campaign is reigniting hope by focusing on the successes and innovations already playing out on the frontlines of sustainability—as well as what can be learned from them. The campaign also looks to shift discourse from the need for transformational change to how it can be done.  

Commenting on the campaign, Forum for the Future’s Chief Executive, Dr Sally Uren, said: “For too long, social and climate initiatives, while well-intentioned, have fallen short of driving what’s urgently needed: transformational changes in how we live and work. While delivering on some areas, COP29 has raised many questions; for me, we’re simply not going far enough or fast enough—whether that’s on climate finance or new technology pledges. It’s against this uncertain backdrop that The Future of Sustainability is showcasing the success stories from which we can learn how transformational change is really created.” 

Drawing on almost 30 years of experience exploring the future of sustainability, Forum for the Future has selected each ‘Bright Spot’ on the basis it is an initiative or organisation demonstrating one or more of six characteristics consistent with transformational change:  

• Shifting the goals of our social and economic systems.  

• Tackling the root cause(s) of sustainability challenges and the past imbalances that have helped create them.  

• Cultivating new ways of collaborating that embrace different perspectives on shared challenges, and that allow experimentation with new ways of doing things—from new business and governance models to new products and services. 

• Repatterning the power dynamics that for too long have held progress back. 

• Showing potential to make a difference at scale, and potentially in other geographies, within 5-10 years. 

• Enabling people to develop the skills and expertise as well as the agency needed to transform how things are done. 

“At Forum for the Future, we believe creating a better future starts with believing it can be done—that's why we’re putting reimagination centre stage,” Dr Uren continued. “We’re proud to be showcasing 30 individuals or organisations already shaking things up. Collectively, these ‘Bright Spots’ are giving us a glimpse of alternative futures and showing us that transformational change is not only possible, but already here.” 

Chris Large, Director of Prize and Portfolio at The Earthshot Prize, said: “Innovators hold the keys to tackling our environmental challenges. Whether they are start-up founders, city officials, NGOs, indigenous leaders, or policymakers, we are continually amazed and inspired by these ingenious changemakers. It is incumbent on all of us to urgently find them, follow them, fund them and partner with them to protect and repair our planet.”  

‘Bright Spots’ will be revealed every month through to November 2025. New analysis of their implications for transitions in how we produce and consume both food and energy, and in why and how businesses operate, is set for Spring and Autumn.   

Olga Tarasov, Vice President, Inquiry & Insights at Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, said: “The time has come for all of us to act faster, bigger, better, bolder. To do so, we must leverage the collective power of insights and ideas to become not just forward looking but futures focused. We have a responsibility to ensure that envisioning and creating positive, sustainable futures is not a luxury but a necessity. We need to envision transformative paths that center perspectives of the Global Majority; perspectives rooted in centuries of communal wisdom and tradition. The ‘Brights Spots’ enable us to do that—they will help us radically re-imagine and put resources behind not what will be but what could and should be.”  

"Companies around the world, across every sector, must drive innovation to accelerate decarbonisation through scalable, emissions-reducing solutions that will help enable a better future for all,” said Scott Tew, vice president of Sustainability, Trane Technologies. “Propelled by our purpose to boldly challenge what’s possible for a sustainable world, we are proud to lead our industry in setting the pace for progress in addressing these global challenges as we continuously advance a net-zero tomorrow." 

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