The Climate Reality Project
PredecessorThe Alliance for Climate Protection
The Climate Project
FormationNovember 2006 (2006-11)
TypeINGO Non-profit
PurposeEnvironmental education, advocacy
HeadquartersWashington, D.C.
Location
  • Worldwide
President and Chief Executive Officer
Phyllis Cuttino[1]
Chairman and Founder
Al Gore
WebsiteClimateRealityProject.org

The Climate Reality Project is a non-profit organization involved in education and advocacy related to climate change. The Climate Reality Project came into being in July 2011 as the consolidation of two environmental groups, the Alliance for Climate Protection and The Climate Project, both of which were founded by Al Gore. Among its activities, The Climate Reality Project hosts an annual event called 24 Hours of Reality.

Overview

Al Gore during one of his slideshows about the climate crisis, 2006

The Climate Reality Project is focused on climate change education and advocating for climate solutions available today. The organization is a consolidation of two environmental organizations, the Alliance for Climate Protection and the Climate Project, both founded in 2006 by former U.S. Vice President Al Gore.

Gore currently serves as chairman of the board of directors.[2]

As of 2021, the organization said it operated 10 branches worldwide and was active in 170 countries.[3]

History

Alliance for Climate Protection

The Alliance for Climate Protection was founded in 2006 by Al Gore to encourage civic action against climate change.[4] The organization was founded in Palo Alto, California, and later moved to Menlo Park, California, before relocating to Washington, D.C., in 2009.[5][6] Originally established as a 501(c)(3), the organization later included an affiliated 501(c)(4), the Climate Protection Action Fund,[7] which developed advocacy campaigns focused on climate change solutions through grassroots organizing and lobbying.[8]

The organization was partially funded by proceeds donated from Gore's documentary An Inconvenient Truth, as well as profits from the book of the same name. Gore also donated his salary from his work for the venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Byers and prize money from his 2007 Nobel Peace prize for a total of more than $2.7 million. The distributor of An Inconvenient Truth, Paramount Classics, also donated 5 percent of the film's box office earnings to the Alliance. The Alliance was also funded by profits from Live Earth concerts in 2007.[9]

The Alliance encouraged federal policies that limited greenhouse gas emissions and supported low-carbon power sources.[10] Former campaigns from the Alliance include the bipartisan "We" campaign, launched in 2008.[11][12] The campaign, which included an advertisement called "We Can Solve It" featuring Nancy Pelosi and Newt Gingrich jointly calling for a response to climate change, was created to prompt public action against climate change on a national and international level.[11] The "We" campaign included partnerships with the Girl Scouts of the United States of America, the United Steelworkers of America and the National Audubon Society.[5][6] The same year, the Alliance launched the "Repower America" campaign to support Gore's directive to shift American homes to 100 percent clean energy within 10 years. This campaign supported climate change legislation in the United States[6][11] and, according to The Washington Post in 2008, was one of the farthest reaching public advocacy initiatives in recent history.[9]

Also in 2008, the Alliance created the Reality Coalition in partnership with the National Wildlife Federation, the League of Conservation Voters, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Sierra Club. The Reality Coalition used television, print and online advertisements as well as grassroots events to challenge the idea of coal pollution mitigation.[13][14]

The Climate Project

The Climate Project, founded in 2006 and based in Nashville, Tennessee, was also supported by Gore's profits from the documentary An Inconvenient Truth.[6] The Climate Project was an educational, worldwide grassroots organization that trained selected members of the public to give public talks, similar to Gore's presentation in the film. The talks focused on the harmful effects of climate change and ways to address climate change at the grassroots level. By 2009, the project had more than 3,000 participants worldwide. These participants, trained by Gore, delivered 70,000 presentations to 7.3 million people.[15]

Recent history

In March 2010, the Alliance for Climate Protection and The Climate Project combined to create a single organization.[10] The new organization was known as the Alliance for Climate Protection[10] until it was renamed The Climate Reality Project in July 2011.[16] The organization brought together the aims of its two predecessors to focus on education initiatives related to climate change[16] as well as continuing to develop a grassroots network to address climate change.

Activities

24 Hours of Reality campaign

The Climate Reality Project hosts an annual event called 24 Hours of Reality, a 24-hour live broadcast about the climate crisis and its solutions with a one-hour segment in every time zone.[17][18][19] Each broadcast features celebrities, musicians, elected officials, and thought leaders from around the world.[20] In 2017, the broadcast had a potential reach of 400 million people.[17]

Themes for each annual broadcast are:

  • 2011: 24 Hours of Reality[21]
  • 2012: 24 Hours of Reality: The Dirty Weather Report[22]
  • 2013: 24 Hours of Reality: The Cost of Carbon[23]
  • 2014: 24 Hours of Reality: 24 Reasons for Hope[24]
  • 2015: 24 Hours of Reality and Live Earth: The World is Watching[25][26]
  • 2016: 24 Hours of Reality: The Road Forward[27]
  • 2017: 24 Hours of Reality: Be the Voice of Reality[20]
  • 2018: 24 Hours of Reality: Protect Our Planet, Protect Ourselves[28]
  • 2019: 24 Hours of Reality: Truth to Action[29]
  • 2020: 24 Hours of Reality: Countdown to the Future[30]

The first event, in 2011,[21][31] was a 24-hour event that was broadcast live over the Internet and featured 24 presenters across 24 time zones presenting in 13 different languages.[2] The presentations, which stressed a link between climate change and oil and coal producers,[32] started in Mexico City and traveled west before culminating in New York City with a presentation by The Climate Reality Project's chairman Al Gore.[2] The event included celebrity hosts and panel members such as Renee Zellweger, Fran Drescher and Virgin Group's Sir Richard Branson.[33] The webcast received 8 million views, 5 million of which were unique viewers,[34][35] and was awarded a "Silver Lion" at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity event in 2012.[36] Accompanying this event, The Climate Reality Project also released several short videos covering topics related to climate change. The videos included Doubt, Climate 101 and Grassroots.[37]

A second webcast called 24 Hours of Reality: The Dirty Weather Report was broadcast beginning on November 14, 2012.[34] This broadcast followed a format similar to the inaugural event and featured speeches and presentations from more than 100 activists, business leaders and scientists in 24 locations.[38] The 2012 webcast focused on the impact coal, oil and gas pollution have on weather patterns.[34] The webcast attracted 14 million unique viewers and a viewership of more than 16 million, which set a Ustream record for the most online viewers in a 24-hour period.[35] The event also generated 135 million tweets from Twitter users, compared with 120 million tweets in 2011,[38] and received ten Telly Awards in 2013 including two silver Telly awards in the News/News Feature and Social Responsibility categories[39] and seven bronze Telly awards.[40]

Climate Reality Leadership Corps

The Climate Reality Project also addresses climate change through a network of approximately 31,000 Climate Reality Leaders,[41] which the organization calls the Climate Reality Leadership Corps.[42] As of 2019, The Climate Reality Leadership Corps has conducted 43 training events to prepare Climate Reality Leaders to communicate and conduct effective advocacy events within their local communities. Climate Reality Leaders come from 154 countries.[43] Members of the Climate Reality Leadership Corps lead educational events and encourage activity to address climate change in their local communities.[44]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "THE CLIMATE REALITY PROJECT WELCOMES NEW PRESIDENT AND CEO PHYLLIS CUTTINO". The Climate Reality Project. Retrieved 17 October 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 Warief Djajanto Basorie (14 September 2011). "Jakarta hosts 24 hours of climate reality". The Jakarta Post. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
  3. ↑ "Our Mission". climaterealityproject.org. The Climate Reality Project. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  4. ↑ "Gore Says Climate Change Not a Political Issue". Dalje. 12 October 2007. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
  5. 1 2 Kristina Peterson (2 April 2008). "Gore's Menlo Park group launches ad campaign". The Oakland Tribune. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Kate Sheppard (28 May 2009). "Gore's green groups kick into campaign mode to push climate legislation". Grist. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
  7. ↑ Matthew C. Nisbet (Summer 2011). Climate Shift (Report). American University School of Communication. Retrieved 20 June 2013.
  8. ↑ Rick Cohen (28 June 2011). "Obama and the Environment: In Need of a Climate Shift?". Non Profit Quarterly. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
  9. 1 2 Juliet Eilperin (31 March 2008). "Gore Launches Ambitious Advocacy Campaign on Climate". Washington Post. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
  10. 1 2 3 Ben Geman (5 March 2010). "Gore-backed climate groups form single organization". The Hill. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
  11. 1 2 3 Bryan Walsh (1 September 2008). "'We' Climate Campaign: Glossy, But Will It Work?". Time. Archived from the original on September 2, 2008. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
  12. ↑ Guy Dixon (27 March 2008). "Alliance for Climate Protection begins $300m awareness campaign". BusinessGreen. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
  13. ↑ Rachel Weiner (4 December 2008). "Gore's "Reality Coalition" Fighting "Clean Coal"". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 15 July 2013.
  14. ↑ Eleftheria Parpis (10 December 2008). "Clean Coal? Time for a Reality Check". Adweek. Retrieved 15 July 2013.
  15. ↑ Adianto P. Simamora (18 December 2009). "Al Gore, activists urge action at Copenhagen climate talks". The Jakarta Post. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
  16. 1 2 David Roberts (12 July 2011). "Gore launches new Climate Reality Project, tells Grist all about it". Grist. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
  17. 1 2 Eillie Anzilotti (12 December 2017). "Al Gore's 24-Hour Climate Broadcast Wants To Reignite Your Hope". Fast Company. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
  18. ↑ Christopher F. Schuetze (19 November 2012). "Activists Use Webcast to Try to Ignite Climate Change Passions". New York Times. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
  19. ↑ Brian Mastroianni (12 November 2015). "Star-studded 24-hour worldwide broadcast on climate change airs Friday". CBS News. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
  20. 1 2 "Filipino climate champions join Al Gore in '24 Hours of Reality Broadcast'". Rappler. 5 December 2017. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
  21. 1 2 John M. Broder (11 July 2011). "Al Gore's Reality Show". The New York Times. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
  22. ↑ Peter Hannam (15 November 2012). "Gore launches world's Dirty Weather Report". The New Age. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
  23. ↑ Voxxi (4 November 2013). "Mana Joins Al Gore In The Climate Reality Project". HuffPost. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
  24. ↑ Brian Merchant (25 September 2014). "24 Hours With Al Gore at His Climate Change Variety Show". Motherboard. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
  25. ↑ Chris Jordan (12 November 2015). "Bon Jovi to play Al Gore's climate change telethon". app. (Part of the USA Today Network). Retrieved 11 November 2018.
  26. ↑ Andrea Bertoli (26 October 2015). "24 Hours of Reality with the Climate Reality Project". Green Living Ideas. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
  27. ↑ Al Gore (5 December 2016). "Al Gore: The Road Forward on Climate". Scientific American. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
  28. ↑ "Get involved in 24 hours of reality". Climate Reality Project. November 26, 2018.
  29. ↑ "24 Hours of Reality: About". 24 Hours of Reality. November 21, 2019.
  30. ↑ "24 Hours of Reality". October 11, 2020.
  31. ↑ TJ Burgonio (31 October 2011). "Filipino climate change activist tells world: We can do something". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
  32. ↑ Matthew C. Nisbet (12 July 2011). "Al Gore Seeks to Re-Energize His Base with The Climate Reality Project". Big Think. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
  33. ↑ "24 Hours Of Reality: Al Gore's Climate Reality Project Hosts Worldwide Event (Video)". The Huffington Post. 14 September 2011. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
  34. 1 2 3 "'24 Hours Of Reality: The Dirty Weather Report' Launched By Al Gore's Climate Reality Project". The Huffington Post. 14 September 2011. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
  35. 1 2 "Gore Climate Change Broadcast Breaks Online Viewership Record". AccuWeather. 5 December 2012. Retrieved 12 August 2013.
  36. ↑ "Branded Content & Entertainment Lions" (PDF). canneslions.com. Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. Retrieved 26 July 2013.
  37. ↑ Brian Merchant (16 September 2011). "Must-See Climate Reality Videos: 'Doubt', 'Climate 101', and 'Grassroots'". TreeHugger. Retrieved 26 July 2013.
  38. 1 2 Christopher F. Schuetze (19 November 2012). "Activists Use Webcast to Try to Ignite Climate Change Passions". International Herald Tribune. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
  39. ↑ "2013 Online Video Silver Winners". tellyawards.com. The Telly Awards. Retrieved 12 August 2013.
  40. ↑ "2013 Online Video Bronze Winners". tellyawards.com. The Telly Awards. Retrieved 12 August 2013.
  41. ↑ "Al Gore to Host Climate Reality Project's 1st ever Global Climate Activist Training". Climate Reality. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
  42. ↑ "Climate Reality Leadership Corps". climaterealityproject.org. The Climate Reality Project. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
  43. ↑ "Al Gore and Climate Reality Project Host First-ever Climate Leadership Workshop in Tokyo". Climate Reality. 20 August 2019. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
  44. ↑ "NJ Sierra Club South Highlands Group to host a presentation at Hunterdon Medical Center". Hunterdon County Democrat. 9 March 2012. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
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