What Jane Goodall taught us about climate optimism—and why now is the time to act. Her legacy echoes through this edition’s climate headlines, from ocean protections to state-level wins and forest-saving activism.

IN MEMORY OF JANE GOODALL: On September 24, at the Bloomberg Global Forum, members of our team had the great privilege to hear Jane Goodall speak about biodiversity. Though soft-spoken, she inspired her audience with the power of her lifelong commitment. Just one week later, we lost one of the world’s great climate advocates and activists. 

To the very end, at age 91, Goodall was traveling 300 days a year—talking, filming, podcasting, storytelling, and writing about the critical need to restore balance between humankind and our environment. She was a tireless friend of the planet.

While best known for her landmark chimpanzee studies, Goodall came to grips with climate change over her decades in Africa, where temperatures are rising even faster than in the rest of the world. She saw glaciers melt on Mount Kilimanjaro. She saw deforestation threaten the survival of chimpanzees and the other African great apes, who are at risk of losing up to 95 percent of their habitat by 2050.       

Goodall was a champion of renewable energy, regenerative agriculture, and plant-based foods. She understood the vital importance of international cooperation to combat global warming, and of the need “to bridge the gap between science, policy, and public action.” Above all, Goodall was an emissary of hope. In her April message for Earth Day 2025, she shared her three reasons for climate optimism:

• First, her confidence in the young. In 1991, Goodall founded Roots & Shoots, a global community action movement—now in 75 countries—to empower young people to “get over this feeling of hopelessness” in confronting the climate crisis. 

• Second, her faith in the resilience of nature. Ten years or more after an area is deforested, she noted, there remains “a magic life” in seeds left from lost trees: “New trees will spring up, helped with a little planting of the right trees in the right place at the right time.” 

• Third, her belief in “amazing human intellect” and innovative technologies, notably in clean energy, “that enable us to live in greater harmony with nature.”

Goodall’s hope was coupled with a pressing sense of climate urgency. In the last of her 25 books, “The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying Times,” she wrote: 

“Hope is often misunderstood. People tend to think that it is simply passive wishful thinking….This is indeed the opposite of real hope, which requires action and engagement.” 

That is Jane Goodall’s legacy, one we can all emulate—to act, to engage, to inspire.

OKRs in the News

🚗 1.0 – Electrify Transportation

• EVaporated Ambitions: As EV sales lag and U.S. consumer interest stalls in the wake of lost tax incentives, General Motors is walking back its all-electric pledge. The auto giant is shelving EV factory plans and lobbying to weaken fuel economy rules. Retreating from past promises, CEO Mary Barra now says the shift to electric will take “decades,” with GM pouring billions into gas-powered trucks and SUVs instead (Wall Street Journal).

🐄 3.0 – Fix Food

• Toxic Takes: Despite loud backlash from MAHA-aligned activists, mainstream science still finds glyphosate—the main ingredient in the common weedkiller Roundup—safe when used as directed, with global regulators citing low health risks and high agricultural efficiency. Critics warn that a ban could backfire by forcing farmers to turn to more toxic alternatives—or to slash yields just when global food demand amid climate stress is surging (New York Times).

• Diet Cure for Climate: Transitioning to healthier, mostly plant-based diets could prevent 15 million deaths annually and cut agricultural emissions by 15 percent, according to a sweeping update from the EAT-Lancet Commission. Without major food system reform, researchers warn, critical goals for climate, biodiversity, and food security will fail to be met (Associated Press).

Podcast Drop🎙️

How did the Girl Scouts change the course of deforestation in Indonesia?🌴 Ten years ago, Indonesia’s forests were being decimated due to a big spike in palm oil production—until two Scouts decided to get involved.

In Speed & Scale’s latest podcast, hosts Anjali Grover and Ryan Panchadsaram uncover the story behind Indonesia’s dramatic reduction in deforestation. From grassroots activism to corporate boardrooms, the episode explores how pressuring companies, swaying governments, and empowering local communities can protect our forests.

🎧 Listen now: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0h2YeUZpHZahFX4QztggUa

🌳 4.0 – Protect Nature

• Treaty Makes Waves: The long-awaited High Seas Treaty has officially crossed the ratification threshold to become international law, unlocking new powers to protect marine life in nearly half of the planet’s oceans. With a goal of safeguarding 30 percent of the high seas by 2030, the treaty arrives just as The Metals Company, the world’s first commercial seabed miner, is poised to start operations, putting conservation and commercial interests on a collision course (New York Times).

• Logging the Delay: Citing IT system concerns, the EU has delayed for another year the implementation of a landmark deforestation law that targets such imports as palm oil, soy, and beef. The move comes in the face of mounting criticism from environmental groups and pressure from trade partners Brazil, Indonesia, and the U.S. (Reuters).

🧱 5.0 – Clean Up Industry

• Forging a Greener Future: The Indian conglomerate Tata Steel has signed a non-binding pact with the Dutch government to shift to low-carbon-emission steel production and cut emissions at its IJmuiden plant by over 40 percent. Total investment is projected as high as $7.6 billion, with up to $2.3 billion from the government to help improve the environment for local residents and reduce health risks (Bloomberg and Economic Times). 

• Style’s Dirty Secret: While leather and wool account for just 4 percent of the apparel industry, a new report finds that they generate 75 percent of the industry’s methane emissions—a gas with 86 times more warming potency than carbon dioxide over a 20-year period. Targeting methane as fashion’s climate blind spot, the study urges brands to adopt recycled fibers (Wall Street Journal).

🧹 6.0 – Remove Carbon

• Pulled Plug: The U.S. Department of Energy plans to cancel up to $1.2 billion in grants for direct air capture hubs in Texas and Louisiana that were selected through the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and have ongoing private sector commitments. The cancellations would impede initiatives designed to remove over one million tons of CO₂ annually (Heatmap). 

• Texas Capture Test: While federal funding is being pulled from some DAC hubs, Occidental’s Stratos project in West Texas remains on track to open soon as the world’s largest commercial direct air capture facility, targeting 500,000 tons of CO2 removal per year. As the industry works to meet multi-gigaton removal targets in line with global climate goals, the project marks a critical test of whether liquid-based DAC systems can scale cost-effectively (Interesting Engineering).

• Salty Sequestration: Ebb Carbon’s new pilot project in Washington aims to remove up to 250 tons of CO₂ annually by making seawater more alkaline. As one of the first real-world tests of ocean-based carbon removal, Project Macoma offers early validation for a scalable climate solution backed by peer-reviewed data and such corporate buyers as Microsoft (GeekWire).

OKR Highlight

CALIFORNIA LOVE: We’re seeing dramatic progress and grounds for encouragement at the state level in the U.S. California, long the nation’s climate leader, recently passed half a dozen bills that could point a pragmatic way forward. 

The keystone bill reauthorized California’s cap and trade program (now rebranded as “cap and invest”), the landmark 2012 policy that creates a binding, declining cap on emissions and a quarterly trading allowance mechanism. Now extended through 2045, the program will direct some revenue toward enhanced consumer affordability protections for energy bills. In another reform, companies will be limited in their use of offsets. New legislation also establishes a program to finance new transmission lines with a portion of the cap-and-invest earnings.

Another bill allows California’s grid operator to work with utilities in other states to improve energy efficiency, enhance power reliability, and accelerate emissions cuts. An independent Western energy market, launched by regulators in five states, is now in the active planning stage.

🏛️ 7.0 – Win Politics And Policy

• Border Line Action: U.S. lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are working on a new carbon tariff to levy fees on high-pollution imports, an idea gaining steam globally and projected to cover 65 percent of the world’s public trade within the next five years. Supporters say the tariff could protect U.S. companies from unfair competition, boost clean industry, and help keep climate goals within reach (ESG Dive).

• NDC Gap Widens: New emissions pledges submitted during Climate Week show that current national plans remain insufficient to meet the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C target, with only 47 of 197 countries updating their commitments in the runup to COP30. Experts warn that the world is unlikely to recover from an “overshoot” of the Paris threshold without rapid implementation of emissions cuts and large-scale carbon removal (Inside Climate News).

• Dimmed Futures: The Trump administration revoked the $7 billion Solar for All program, halting rooftop solar access for nearly one million low-income households, including many in conservative states that face steep utility rate hikes. In Georgia, where electricity bills have surged 33 percent since 2023, the sudden cuts sparked outrage, legal action, and renewed debate over who benefits from clean energy investments (New York Times).

🏃 8.0 – Turn Movements Into Action

• Heat’s Health Effect: Extreme heat is now the leading weather-related cause of death in the U.S., with long-term exposure accelerating organ damage, impairing brain function, and even aging the body at the DNA level. Experts warn that the federal government’s rollback of climate health funding and local bans on heat protection are worsening risks in the face of rising temperatures (Inside Climate News).

• California Sets the Bar: Starting in 2026, more than 4,000 companies, including most of the S&P 500, will be subject to California’s sweeping new climate disclosure laws on emissions and financial climate risks. The rules, SB 253 and SB 261, go beyond federal proposals and mark the most ambitious corporate climate transparency mandate in the U.S. to date (ESG Today).

⚡ 9.0 – Innovate!

• Upcycle the Farm: UC Davis researchers have launched an online Byproduct Database that tracks agricultural waste from crops to help entrepreneurs and producers repurpose the food scraps into valuable products. The tool aims to unlock new revenue streams and cut food system waste by identifying available byproducts and how they might be used in the food, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals industries (UC Davis).

• Buildings That Adapt: Stanford’s Rishee Jain envisions buildings and cities that adapt in real time to climate and human needs, from dynamic energy use to reflective “cool roofs” to lower indoor heat in vulnerable communities. On Stanford Engineering’s The Future of Everything podcast, Jain emphasizes that infrastructure shapes behavior, health, and equity, especially in the face of rising global heat (Stanford). 

• A Noble MOF-ment: The 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry went to Richard Robson, Susumu Kitagawa, and Omar Yaghi for their groundbreaking work on metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). These materials are now essential for scalable carbon capture, water harvesting, and industrial decarbonization. With over 100,000 MOF variants already developed and industrial deployment underway, the innovations are turning molecular design into real-world climate solutions (Carbon Herald).

💰 10.0 – Invest!

• Politics Over Power: Targeting mostly Democratic-leaning areas, the U.S. Energy Department has canceled more than 300 clean energy and grid modernization projects across 16 states, worth a total of nearly $8 billion. Critics say the move undermines emissions reductions, energy resilience, and U.S. manufacturing, while experts warn that it politicizes climate progress and threatens legally mandated programs (CNBC).

• SWFs Fill Climate Gap: With major donors worldwide pulling back, Persian Gulf and Southeast Asian sovereign wealth funds are stepping up as climate financiers with over $20 billion in commitments to green projects. Tied to national goals, these investments are reshaping global energy markets and boosting the geo-economic influence of their home countries (IISS).

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