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COPx is a global movement built by us, for us. No spin. Just people organizing, acting, and refusing to wait.
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Dear Giuseppe,
Thank you for being a COPx organizer. What does that mean? What have you agreed to do?
COPx: A Global Movement for Climate Action
COPx is created by you, so it means whatever you decide it to mean. In my various talks and writing, I suggest that people find their DOT: Do One Thing. Every day, I look in the mirror and ask, what’s the one thing I can do today to help create a climate safe future?
It can be as simple as picking up that plastic bottle that someone threw on the sidewalk and ensuring that it gets recycled. Why is this a climate act: Keeping plastic from degrading in the sun keeps methane out of our atmosphere, and microplastic out of our brains. See the article here.
Individual Action, Times 8 Billion
One of my favorite DOTs is committing to talk with one new person about solutions to the climate crisis, for example, how well our solar-powered heat pump works to keep the ranch house cool in the summer, warm in the winter, as it cut our propane costs, and then about what they can do to make a difference. Want ideas? See the website and newsletter Cool Down. They regularly publish great ideas that you can implement.
Policy Isn't Fast Enough
As the weather gets weirder, floods more frequent, fires fiercer, droughts more devastating and heat domes deadly, anything that any of us can do is ever more critical. As I prepare for COP 30 – the UN’s annual exercise in frustration, I reflect: COP 30…that means 30 years of talk, yet no action. This recognition is precisely why we created COPx. You might enjoy my recent article on the looming mess in Belem: Will Sex Motels Save the UNs Climate Conference?
No, you can’t make this stuff up. But it is increasingly clear that the governments of the world will not create the future we deserve, and owe to our children.
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Who will create that finer future? We will. You will, I will. Together with now more than a thousand of us who have become COPx organizers, we will.
As I wrote in the article above, it is unfortunately clear that the UN’s COP will fail. I’m going to hazard a guess that you’re not planning to attend. This is true of almost everyone on earth. What was promised to be the “People’s COP” will not be—the “people” cannot afford to get to the north of Brazil or pay outrageous rates for substandard accommodations. And if they did, they’d be excluded from the “negotiations.”
The COPx Response - a Decentralized, People's COP
But here’s what you can do: as the UN's COP is running - November 11 – 21, take a selfie each day with your fingers crossed for x, and fingers crossed for the planet, and post it to your social media sites saying that you are a COPx organizer and that you invite your readers to become one too, join you in implementing the solutions in your own community.
COPx United States
Below is the story of two young people who got their school district to post no-idling signs. This keeps their lungs healthier.
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"My brother and I decided to do a no-idling sign project because we like to educate and help others become aware of the effects of letting cars idle in our environment. Idling is affecting the air we breathe and it is important for people to understand what they are causing through idling. Spreading awareness and educating others is one of the most effective ways to make change.
We put together a presentation. At first, we were very nervous to present in front of classmates, eco clubs and leadership teams. We also put together a handout for anyone interested to learn more about the important topic of not idling. In the end the project made us feel powerful because we knew we were standing up for our future and for the environment. Teaching and educating others about sustainability has always made us feel appreciative of what we care for and what we believe in. The environment is so important and we really need to begin fighting for change for all living things and the planet.
I plan to continue working on this project through an Energy & Sustainability internship I received and will begin educating schools in my district of the consequences idling has on our health and planet. Every project is going to have its challenges, but you always have to stay true to what you want to achieve and what you are passionate about."
Alina Belser-Brinck 9th grade, with Nicolas Belser-Brinck 7th grade, Here is the sign that Alina and Nicolas got their school district to post at schools: |
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COPx PNW
Far from the Colorado Rockies, the Clam Garden Network (CGN) works to bring together Indigenous leaders, researchers, community members, and resource managers in British Columbia, Washington State, and Alaska. CGN restores, protects, and sustains clam gardens, ancestral intertidal rock-walled terraces that have provided food, cultural resilience, and marine biodiversity for millennia.
By blending traditional ecological knowledge with modern science, CGN supports food sovereignty, strengthens Indigenous governance, and fosters intergenerational knowledge sharing, ensuring these living cultural landscapes endure for generations to come. Shell fish sequester carbon, pulling it from the increasingly carbon saturated seawater, and creating their homes. The Clam Garden Network, and the next two groups, participated in the first COPx webinar brought to us by Environment Next. |
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COPx Marshall Islands
Even further to the west in the in Majuro, Marshall Islands, Waan Aelõñ in Majel (WAM) revives traditional Marshallese canoe culture while empowering local youth. For nearly 30 years, WAM has offered hands-on training in canoe building, sailing, navigation, and woodworking, blending ancestral knowledge with practical life and vocational skills.
Through this approach, WAM strengthens cultural identity, community connection, and youth opportunity, while also contributing to regional innovation in low-carbon sea transport and climate resilience. |
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Waan Aelõñ in Majel (WAM) is a grassroots nonprofit based, Marshall Islands, dedicated to reviving traditional Marshallese canoe culture while empowering local youth. For nearly 30 years, WAM has offered hands-on training in canoe building, sailing, navigation, and woodworking, blending ancestral knowledge with practical life and vocational skills. Through this approach, WAM strengthens cultural identity, community connection, and youth opportunity, while also contributing to regional innovation in low-carbon sea transport and climate resilience. |
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COPx Barbados
And in sunny Barbados, Rum & Sargassum is turning two major waste streams, sargassum seaweed and rum distillery wastewater, into clean, renewable energy. Each year, massive waves of sargassum disrupt tourism, damage coastal ecosystems, and release methane as they decompose. At the same time, the rum industry produces high-strength wastewater that is costly to treat. By combining these materials in anaerobic digesters, Rum & Sargassum produces biomethane (bio-CNG), a renewable natural gas to power vehicles, cookstoves, and generators. This removes hazardous material from coastlines, creates a locally sourced alternative to fossil fuels, and demonstrates the potential for small island nations to innovate climate solutions rooted in local resources.
COPx Europe
From January to August 2025, Sara Roversi, the founder and President of the Future Food Institute and a COPx organizer, trained over 1,000 youth to be Climate Shapers. In the next newsletter we will feature how she uses immersive and transformative experiences in Integral Ecological Regeneration. For more, see the Future Food Institute site.
These are just a few examples of what people and companies are doing to tackle the climate crisis in their own communities.
Connect in Person: COPx at Climate Week NYC
If you want to hear more such inspiring stories, join us in New York on 23 September. As part of NY Climate Week, COPx is partnering with Newday Causeway to host an evening celebrating the work of community-based organizations tackling the climate crisis. Register here.
Per always, COPx is you. Please tell us what YOU have done to create a climate safe future. We’ll be honored to celebrate it in our next newsletter. Til then: DOT: Do one thing. |
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Hunter Lovins
COPx Steward
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Join Open Impact
We invite you to join the COPx Community on the Open Impact Platform. You can use this invitation link to sign up for an account on Open Impact.
- When you use the invitation link, you will see a button in the upper right to 'Sign Up’.
- Once you’ve created your account, you will automatically be signed in.
- To update your profile, click on the image in the upper right and go to 'Settings' where you can add a profile picture, banner image, and some information about yourself.
- You can visit the COPx Community group to engage with others. To visit the Group: click on 'My Groups' at the top center of the page.
- In the COPx Community group you can join conversations in the ‘Discussions' tab or post in the ‘Feed' tab.
- In the top menu bar you can click on 'My Resources' to view media and resources curated by COPx.
- Feel free to explore our colleague organizations in Open Impact. Groups from more than 70 countries are represented here
Here is a short tutorial to help you set up your personal account.
After you’ve signed in the first time using the invitation link, you can sign into your account here going forward: impact.openfuturecoalition.org
If you have any questions you can refer to the Community Members Guide or contact comm...@copx.global if needed.
Or write to me. We’re all learning in this Beta community, so your comments will be very helpful as we build a platform for the world. |
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