Protecting the Planet is a priority for the Global Shapers Community. Thanks to the generous support of Rosamund Zander and The Climate Reality Project, members of the Global Shaper Community will experience a transformative Climate Journey. Global Shapers will take advantage of the Climate Reality Leadership Corps Training, hub project ideation support and funding for project implementation, to become influential change-makers in their communities and expert advisors to fellow Global Shapers. Our partnership with Climate Reality will continue to empower climate leaders within the Global Shaper Community while delivering trainings and projects needed by the world.
Ongoing Activities Open for Participation
Climate Expert Network
The Climate Expert Network is composed of current and alumni Global Shapers that have started their own hub climate projects, lived experiences addressing the climate crisis, and/or have professional backgrounds in the climate sphere. The Climate Expert Network advances climate work in the Global Shaper Community by mentoring hubs with climate projects, presenting at workshops, creating and editing written materials (toolkits, proposals etc.), and reviewing proposals for climate project grants. There is no set time commitment for the Climate Expert Network and the varying opportunities for engagement allow members to adjust involvement based on their capacity.
Declare a Climate Emergency Hub Project
The Climate Reality Project Europe and the Global Shapers Community invite Global Shapers Hubs worldwide to take local climate action and encourage local authorities (e.g. municipality decision-makers) to declare a "climate emergency," acknowledging the urgency and necessity of taking climate action at every level of society and committing to taking action at a local level. The project template is divided into 3 stages: Listen, Connect, Act, based on Climate Reality Europe’s “Climate Emergency Communities Guidelines.”
Future Activities
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2024 Climate Reality Project Incubator
The Climate Reality Project Incubator will accept up to 30 hubs in 2023 and up to 15 hubs in 2024 from around the globe to participate in a 3-month interactive program to take them from climate project ideas to fully formed plans with clear steps for execution. Hubs that meet the proposal requirements will receive up to $3,000 USD from the World Economic Forum to implement their projects. Learn more any apply here!
2024 Climate Project Grant Challenge
Climate Project Grant Challenges will provide financial support from the World Economic Forum and project support from Global Shapers Community and Climate Reality staff for quarterly check-ins and 2 full cohort meet-ups for hub-led projects that advance community-based solutions to climate change. Hubs will have the opportunity to submit proposals to implement new or expand on existing climate projects.
2024 Global Shaper Annual Summits
The Global Shaper Annual Summits will bring young change-makers together from around the world to accelerate progress and impact in tackling global challenges and improving the state of the world. Each event will feature a robust climate track at which Climate Reality will support workshops. We will consolidate and intensify the work of existing climate initiatives, while also identifying areas where new initiatives are needed and building the coalitions required to drive forward these new initiatives.
Climate Reality Leadership Corps Trainings
Shapers are encouraged to apply to and participate in future Climate Reality Leadership Corps Trainings. These trainings offer Shapers the opportunity to learn about the climate and justice crises shaping our world and how they can make a difference. We also provide Shaper-specific programming to encourage Shapers to take climate action in their hubs and communities. If selected to attend an in-person training, travel and accommodation for Shapers will be sponsored by the World Economic Forum.
Previous Activities
Global Shapers Annual Summit - Climate Track
The Climate Reality team supported the design of the climate and environment impact area track at the Global Shapers Annual Summit in Geneva in early September 2022. Climate Reality hosted 3 interactive sessions at the Summit for Shapers with varying levels of experience combatting the climate crisis. These sessions brought together 25 Shapers who worked on climate projects to share best practices and challenges, Shapers interested in starting a hub climate project to learn about and create a plan for declaring a climate emergency in their local community, and supported in the development of Shapers' solution-oriented skills through a gamified workshop that challenged them to use specific resources to create climate action plans to local climate issues.
Climate Project Grant Challenges
Organized by Climate Reality and the World Economic Forum, the two Climate Project Grant Challenges in 2022 aimed to support hub-led projects to be implemented throughout 2022 and 2023 that advance community-based solutions to climate change. Winning hubs in 2022 applied for $5,000 USD, $10,000 , or $12,000 in grant funding, distributed by the World Economic Forum, and continue to receive project support from Global Shapers Community and Climate Reality teams to implement a new or expand on an existing climate project. Proposals were assessed on needs-based innovation, project impact, community-based partnerships, and financial viability.
Climate Reality Project Incubator
From April to June 2022, over 100 Global Shapers from 20 countries around the world participated in The Climate Reality Project Incubator – a grant program of the World Economic Forum. Representing 30 hub teams, these Shapers joined each week to design impactful projects that combat the climate crisis, identify inclusive partnerships, and lay plans for implementation. 25 hub teams received up to $3,000 USD to implement their projects by September 2023.
Youth Climate Action Challenge
The Youth Climate Action Challenge (YCAC) was launched by the Global Shapers Community in collaboration with Climate Reality and supported by several members of the Global Shapers Community. This challenge was a global call for youth-led innovative solutions that protect people and planet from the devastating consequences of climate change. The YCAC received 100 solutions from community-based projects, non-profits, social enterprises, entrepreneurs, partnerships, and start-ups focusing on one of five focus areas: climate justice, civic engagement, green cities, circular economy, and nature. The top nine solutions engaged in a six-month program from March 2022- August 2022, facilitated by Global Shapers and Climate Reality, where they learned from industry experts how to scale and advance their impact to better protect and support the global fight against the climate crisis.
Climate Reality Leadership Corps Trainings
Since 2017 we've trained over 1000 Global Shapers as Climate Reality Leaders!