2024 Was a Big Year at Climate Reality

Looking back on the year that was, we at Climate Reality are steadfast in our belief that we can and will solve the climate crisis.

Once again, we’ve been amazed at the passion and persistence of our supporters.

From our trainings to the hard work of our Climate Reality Leaders and chapter members, we’ve seen firsthand what can be accomplished when determination and passion collide.

Trainings

This year, we held in-person Climate Reality Leadership Corps trainings in New York City and Rome, as well as a US virtual training online. As we end 2024, our network of trained Climate Reality Leaders now number over 51,000 and spans 193 countries.

We started our training year in April in New York City. It was our biggest event of 2024.

The training focused on the critical financial reforms needed for a just and fair shift from fossil fuels to clean energy, the pursuit of climate justice, the strategies for building resilient communities through clean energy and green jobs, and the misinformation from the fossil fuel industry that threatens climate action.

We also took advantage of the timing of our New York training, which occurred days before the spring meetings of the World Bank, by driving attendees to join a global petition and sign an attention-grabbing banner calling for an end to funding for fossil fuels, which we then brought to a rally outside the bank’s headquarters in Washington, DC.

In Rome in late June, we welcomed another cohort of climate advocates ready to take the next step in their activist journey. Taking place on the heels of a major EU election and in a shifting political landscape, the training welcomed a diverse range of attendees, including climate activists, business leaders, government officials, civil society representatives, and individuals committed to fostering a sustainable future.

Attendees at our Rome training wrote more than 650 letters to their Members of Parliament in Brussels urging stronger climate commitments, and our Europe branch even received replies from Ireland, Spain, and Germany about the letters.

Hundreds of Rome attendees also joined a visibility action outside the headquarters of Eni – Italy’s largest oil and gas company. They were there to protest its fossil fuel production expansion plans. Newly trained Leaders also have been able to engage with Climate Reality’s Europe branch and partner organizations in ongoing anti-greenwashing campaigns, including joining Legambiente to oppose a proposed fossil fuel plant in Southern Italy.

Finally, in October, we held a virtual Leadership Corps training for participants from across the United States.

Like all of our trainings, the event offered participants the unique opportunity to hear directly from Climate Reality’s founder and chairman, former US Vice President Al Gore, and get a front-row seat to his signature slideshow to learn about our changing climate and the solutions in our hands today. Participants also heard from an electrifying all-star lineup of scientists, grassroots and climate justice leaders, and policy experts, exploring how they can work together to ignite real, transformative change.

With 55 trainings under our belt – and more to come in 2025 – we are continually amazed by the dedication and hard work of our Climate Reality Leaders.

Chapters and Climate Reality Leaders in Action

In the US, Climate Reality’s 100 chapters have been pushing their states for climate policies that can serve as models for the nation.

Our chapters have become a vital force for progress, supporting Climate Reality’s national campaigns, fighting for environmental justice, and helping bring clean energy to major cities and rural towns alike.

We’ve helped mobilize Climate Reality chapters and our broader network to spread the word about how incentives and tax breaks in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) can benefit their communities by lowering the cost of transitioning away from fossil fuels to appliances and more powered by electricity.  

In the past year, chapter volunteers also have successfully opposed proposed petrochemical plants that would have polluted communities in Pennsylvania and Massachusetts.

The Pennsylvania victory owes much to the incredible efforts of our volunteer Susquehanna Valley chapter members, who teamed up with local residents and organizations to form Save Our Susquehanna (SOS). Spearheaded by chapter chair Dr. Sandy Field, the chapter and the coalition behind SOS were instrumental in mobilizing neighbors to oppose the billion-dollar Encina plant.

In February, the City of Chicago made headlines by launching a lawsuit against six of the world’s biggest oil and gas companies, along with the American Petroleum Institute. The lawsuit accuses these fossil fuel giants of conspiring to mislead the public about the dangers of their products and their contributions to climate change.

Behind the scenes, leadership from the Climate Reality Chicago Metro Area chapter volunteers played a crucial role in laying the groundwork for this lawsuit.

And around the globe, Climate Reality’s 11 branches are advocating for policies at international, national, and subnational levels that will help usher in the transition to clean energy.

In 2024, Climate Reality global branches helped advance landmark climate legislation in South Africa and made it easier for businesses in the Philippines to switch to clean energy. 

Climate Reality Latin America and partner organizations helped the five Colombian states with the highest emissions develop long-term decarbonization plans and begin mobilizing funding to support those initiatives. Climate Reality Brazil helped build support for a law that introduces climate education into the curriculum of state schools in Ceará, making it the first Brazilian state to implement such a measure. 

We also sent a letter to World Bank governors from all Climate Reality branches before the spring meetings with key demands to help address the magnitude of the climate crisis.

At COP 29, Climate Reality’s branches in the Philippines and Africa presented climate finance initiatives to demonstrate a need to improve accountability and mobilize additional finance to support climate-vulnerable countries in the Global South.

As part of this work, we convened nearly 200 Climate Reality Leaders, government officials, and advocates for a special event in Baku at COP 29 – Raising Climate Ambition – to discuss the importance of renewed global climate leadership and increasing ambition. The event featured a conversation with former US Vice President Gore, Global Witness CEO Mike Davis, Power Shift Africa Director Mohamed Adow, and Colombia Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development Susana Muhamad.

These actions show that our global branches and growing number of US-based chapters are creating real change in their communities when it matters most.

What You Can Do

As we approach the 10-year anniversary of the historic Paris Agreement in 2025, it’s clear the world is not on track to meet global climate goals.

That’s why, in 2025, we are embarking on the Climate Ambition Tour. The tour will feature Leadership Corps training events in Paris and much more ahead of COP 30 in Rio to push for greater ambitions to move more quickly away from the fossil fuels driving the climate crisis toward the clean energy that we know can power the future.

Our goals are ambitious. Yet the urgency of this moment calls for nothing short of maximum effort and a full commitment to what we know to be effective.

But we can’t do this alone.

All of this incredible work is only possible because of supporters like you.

As a nonprofit organization, Climate Reality depends on support from donors large and small to deliver on our mission – to catalyze a global solution to the climate crisis by making urgent action a necessity across every sector of society.

Are you ready to make a donation today?

Click here to learn more about how you can support our work in 2025 and beyond.