ClimateVoices

"Trade associations are amongst the largest and most effective business advocacy channels. The challenge is that this advocacy can be defensive or forward-leaning."

"Climate advocacy needs to become a habit, and there’s nothing like moving the needle in community. "

"Corporate leaders have come to see much of sustainability as stealth PR and there is a reluctance to admit to failures and challenges. But in fact, being clear about these is now the best way to build trust, given that there is such a gotcha mindset and focus on hypocrisy and greenwashing."

"Yes, I do believe it is possible to be an employee activist while working full time in the climate sector. I love that my day job allows me to directly see the impact that my role has in the rapid transition to a clean economy for all."

"Especially with policy, there’s safety and strength in numbers."

"Appealing to that innate human desire and leading by example – every small action and step counts – is something all employees can start doing right away."

"Be bold! It's time to step up — and speak up. All of us — those inside companies and those outside — spend too much time celebrating incremental change in an era where audacious step-change is needed. "

"Many companies talk a big game on climate – but their lobbying dollars and trade association memberships actually slow climate policy down. "

"Attune to your colleagues, peers and leaders, show up as open and supportive, and convene people around all kinds of amazing opportunities to dig in and dream together what is possible. "

"We share a common vision with ClimateVoice that the employees are a critical leverage point to holding businesses accountable to their current commitments and applying pressure to go beyond them. "

"Depending on companies to do the moral thing or on voluntary industry initiatives has not worked. Assumptions that more renewable energy will displace fossil fuels or that more corporate climate reporting will deliver action have not borne out."

"Change must come from the bottom and the top, and there's a real opportunity for employees to push leadership to do more on climate."

"There is a process and journey involved in being seen as an employee leader and understanding the key issues to be addressed to drive meaningful change. "

"Evidence tells us that there is but a narrow window of opportunity that exists at this point for preserving our 'fragile moment’."

"Our F Minus approach with trade associations will be to demand that they also cut ties with fossil fuel lobbyists."

"The business model of the fossil fuel industry is destroying the future and the planet."

"Engaging in climate activism at work is essential. And I can tell you from experience – it works. "

"It is clear to me that the vast mismatch between the spending efforts of renewable energy trade associations and fossil fuel trade associations gives opponents of climate action a significant advantage in the policy process."

"We know that the Chamber has been hypocritical in its support for minority communities."

"Employees can have a tremendous impact when they come together and get their employers, or entire industries, to change. "

"Employees know their companies well – and most want to be proud of where they work. They need to communicate that that pride depends on their companies behaving forthrightly."

"Companies need to follow through on their environmental commitments."

"The fossil fuel industry plays a significant role in delaying climate justice."

"A key opportunity for real change lies in our collective willingness to confront and overcome the power of the status quo and a ‘business as usual’ approach."

"Allowing a trade group to represent your company in a position that is counter to its commitment to climate action is a form of hypocrisy, and companies are increasingly being called out on it."

"InfluenceMap ascertains that the IRA's passage was facilitated by the direct intervention of large U.S. companies like Walmart, despite the U.S. Chamber and other groups' opposition."

"Find your community, organize, vote, protest, and target the political pressure points closest to you. "

"The U.S. Chamber’s odious stance on climate change is just unacceptable. Employees need to push their companies to play hardball. If the Chamber can’t get to a reasonable position on climate change, then forward-looking companies need to resign from it en masse."

"Employees can be massively influential in asking their employers to integrate their cash-related emissions into corporate sustainability strategies and take actions to green their finances. "

"We don’t have time for more half-measures. We need companies to match their actions with their rhetoric – to really go “all in” on climate."

"Corporations need to make sure their procurement agreements match their net zero pledges."

"For CEOs, what’s needed above all else is willpower... I would also urge more CEOs to be part of a new narrative around climate, where business sets out the opportunities and helps de-risk the ambitious policies we need from our political leaders."

"The idea that this is a problem where we don't know the answers misstates the problem. We do know what to do, but we lack the political will to do it."

"I think employees play a crucial role... in not tolerating any more of the doublespeak of their employers."

"What we need is the political will, and we need people to use their ClimateVoice."

"What we actually need is a tangible visible change, and that comes from government leaders and corporate sector leaders."

"The people most impatient about the rate of change are almost always younger folks. It's only fair that they demand better results on the climate crisis."

"Using your voice is the most powerful thing you can do, in whatever circles you’re in."

"Probably the biggest barrier to getting this all done is the lack of political will around deploying climate solutions at the speed and scale required."

"People need to understand that things can change and it’s possible to pressure corporations and politicians to change their behavior."

"Legislation is written by the people who can afford to show up."

"The time for looking at these problems in silos is in the past. We can either solve both crises or neither."

"The surest way to lose a war is to fail to recognize you're in one."

"There is a big role companies can play. Both companies and the public sector are critical for stepping up to the climate justice agenda."

"Priority #1 still has to be 1.5°C."