Unlocking Climate Action

Building a
Transition
Digital Ecosystem
for
a Sustainable Future

Building aTransition
Digital Ecosystem
for a Sustainable
Future

We are a group of tech non-profits working together to create a digital ecosystem for climate action. Our goal is to provide reliable, easy-to-use data, models, and tools. This ecosystem will help make climate action faster, easier, and more affordable, allowing us to achieve change at the needed speed and scale.
Scroll down Scroll down
0.
The problem
The urgent need for data, models, and applications to drive climate action at scale remains unmet.

This gap necessitates a “transition digital ecosystem,” an interconnected network of organizations dedicated to creating, validating, and maintaining digital tools to optimize systems, enable economic shifts, and ensure accountability.

For success, these tools must be durable, affordable, interoperable, and widely trusted by researchers, policymakers, corporations, financial institutions, and civil society.

These challenges hinder essential climate actions, from investment to accountability.

Without a robust transition digital ecosystem, governments cannot execute data-driven policies, corporations lack integration systems, and civil organizations are restricted in enforcing accountability, stalling critical climate progress.

01 Today’s digital ecosystem is limited by inaccessible or unreliable data, biased and incomplete models, and costly, user-unfriendly applications.

02 Data often reside in isolated, outdated systems or behind paywalls, are vulnerable to manipulation, and lack trust.

03 Models are incomplete or biased, with interoperability issues and outdated foundations.

04 Applications are frequently expensive, complex, insecure, and struggle with scaling.

0.
What’s needed
Better climate decisions rely on the right data, models, applications, and effective channels to reach decision-makers.

While quality data doesn’t guarantee good decisions, poor or missing data leads to misinformed actions that can lock in damaging outcomes for years. 

A thriving digital ecosystem for climate action might emerge organically, but there’s no evidence that current incentives are sufficient to drive this transition quickly enough.

We cannot risk that it won’t—or that it won’t happen fast enough. Time is critical; each delay shrinks the window for impactful climate action.

We believe an active push is necessary to accelerate these systems at the scale and speed required.

To address this need, we are building and scaling a collaborative network of leading climate tech nonprofits.

Our vision is a thriving, high-integrity digital ecosystem that supports climate action by producing, distributing, and deploying essential data, models, and tools.

This ecosystem will address today’s shortcomings, adapt to changing needs, and sustain itself—serving groups working to drive meaningful change on climate.

0.
Planning for tomorrow, building today
Driving Digital Solutions for Climate Impact

We joined forces to tackle shared challenges more effectively.

Now, we're expanding our circle to include NGOs, investors, funders, government officials, and tech companies of all sizes. In the coming year, we’ll focus on two goals: creating a prototype climate action platform and building a joint strategy to overcome barriers, allowing this platform—and other elements of the transition digital ecosystem—to grow and make a greater impact.

Creating a Roadmap for the Transition Digital Ecosystem

Outcome

We have begun developing a shared strategy for the field to help to achieve a thriving digital ecosystem supporting the climate transition . In engagements on the sidelines of London Climate Action Week, New York Climate Week, COP29, and Sat Summit, we’ve begun convening leading groups to develop and stress test ideas. Over the next year, we will build on these exchanges to develop a roadmap that will outline the limitations of the current digital landscape regarding climate action, define collective goals, and provide actionable steps for progress.

Developing a Climate Action Prototype for Brazil and COP30

Outcome

In time for COP30 in Brazil, we will develop a next-generation prototype of a digital platform designed to support diverse actors in climate action, from benchmarking portfolios to driving accountability. Utilizing data and tools from platforms like Climate Policy Radar, Transition Zero, and Clay, the prototype will initially focus on Brazil and COP30 and will be scalable to broader applications. The platform will support multifaceted climate analytics and action in Brazil, with capabilities and content including policy and governance, Earth systems, and transition modeling.

0.
Our Collaboration
Driving Digital Solutions for Climate Impact

This initiative unites Climate Policy Radar, TransitionZero, Clay, and Radiant Earth, all non-profits bringing expertise in climate, data, AI, and transition modeling. Our collective experience and strong ties in the climate and tech communities position us to advance rapidly and effectively, leveraging economies of scale and scope.

Organizes, analyzes and democratizes data on climate law and policy documents, leveraging AI and NLP to build open databases and applications.

Provides open data, software and analysis for energy transition planning decisions.

Scales up geospatial AI for climate and nature by building demonstration models, tooling, and platforms, channeling resources, building community, and showcasing value and impact.

Supports accessible data initiatives for global environmental cooperation.

0.
What we're saying
AI can drive climate action: ICEF roadmap offers 100+ recommendations for effective climate solutions.
CPR’s Michal Nachmany served as a Principal Co-Author on this report
"When we do AI for Earth with Clay, the model itself is complex, but using it is not."
Bruno Sanchez, Clay’s Executive Director on the Minds Behind Maps podcast
By 2030, Earth observation insights could yield over $700 billion and cut 2 gigatonnes of greenhouse gases annually.
Radiant Earth’s Jed Sundwall Co-authored This Report
0.
In the news
Early Progress and Insights

We are a group of independent nonprofits, each working to solve distinct but complementary challenges to enable climate action. Transition Digital is our effort to join forces to enable a trustworthy and durable digital ecosystem that drives real measurable impact on climate. Learn about our work to drive results.

Application
Radiant Earth has launched Source Cooperative and the Cloud-Native Geospatial Foundation, two initiatives to increase the sharing of Earth science data.
Opinion
Transition Zero’s Solar Asset Mapper helped the New York Times assess progress on solar in China.
Application
Climate Policy Radar’s Al-driven policy analysis crucial for effective climate action.