When climate science and solutions are more accessible, thought leaders and change-makers from around the world can help boost economic, health, and educational equity while simultaneously addressing climate change.
Launched in January 2021, this new initiative seeks to address both extreme poverty and climate change in low- and middle-income countries by collaboratively identifying, promoting, and advancing solutions designed to catalyze positive, equitable change. Though research in two interconnected, overlapping areas of concern—reducing poverty and addressing climate impacts—should go hand-in-hand, current work often exists in silos. Drawdown Lift works to break down disciplinary walls and find solutions that can address climate change and extreme poverty, and enhance human well-being around the world.
Project Drawdown’s work continues to highlight climate solutions that directly benefit human well-being—including health and education, improved cookstoves, Indigenous peoples’ forest tenure, sustainable agricultural intensification for smallholders, and more. Drawdown Lift spotlights drawdown solutions that identify poverty alleviation and human well-being co-benefits—the approaches that play double-duty for climate and other challenges often faced by low- and middle-income countries. This initiative engages academic researchers and practitioners interested in evidence-based, high-impact poverty alleviation, and human well-being practices worldwide.
Drawdown Lift focuses on three key strategies:
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synthesizing knowledge about—and looking for connections within—existing climate and poverty solutions
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connecting with key leaders and broad audiences about our findings and “win-win” solutions they reveal
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encouraging decision-makers to deploy these “win-win” solutions in their global development work
Also core to Drawdown Lift: the practice of amplifying youth voices and the power of communities historically excluded from collaborative research and environmental work. We have welcomed stakeholders with important expertise and knowledge about our planet’s most impacted communities to join the Lift Advisory Council and share our collective work far and wide. If you are interested in learning more about Drawdown Lift’s work, please contact us.