Announcing the Subak launch
A letter from our Chair, Gi Fernando MBE
Subak officially launches this week. I want to start by saying thank you to every person who has helped us get here. None of this would have been possible if it weren’t for the countless people who have shaped this organisation.
The Subak story started when Baroness Bryony Worthington read Roland Kupers’ book ‘A Climate Policy Revolution’. Bryony was drawn to a co-operative water management system developed for Indonesian rice fields in the 9th Century named Subak. The system allowed for the sharing of critical resources (in this case, water) to ensure the survival and growth of the community. Bryony envisaged a system in which nonprofits work collaboratively, using advanced digital tools, to achieve their common goal. It’s just like the 9th century system, but in our Subak, data is the new water.
After a lot of brainstorming sessions and hard work, we now have something that has the ability to change the current path of climate change, while also creating long-term system level change. Our founding members (aptly named “Cohort Zero”) have already been doing amazing things around the world. Subak seeded £250k and our founding members have already raised over £8.5m in funding, while delivering significant data-driven achievements. Climate Policy Radar is mapping the global climate policy landscape, and Ember have built the first open-source dataset of global power generation to end the use of coal, and Open Climate Fix won a Google.Org Impact Challenge to support its work in solar nowcasting. Our data work is already translating into remarkable impact: New AutoMotive played a significant part in the Government decision to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars in the UK from 2030; TransitionZero’s Turning the Supertanker report assessing China’s ambition to get to Net Zero by 2060 was hailed by Al Gore as ‘groundbreaking’. This is just the beginning, and I can only imagine the amazing things that future cohorts will accomplish.
The next steps for Subak are all about growth. We know we have a great platform capable of making long-lasting change for the planet. Now it’s all about finding the best Members and Fellows to join us.
It goes without saying that the state of the planet is weakening. Time-bound goals have motivated many countries around the world to take climate action seriously, but all too often valuable insights remain siloed within organisations. If we plan on making a real difference we have to put our minds together, learn from our mistakes and expedite the success of those doing the work. Subak has created a system to do all of this and more. So come and join us.
Gi Fernando
Executive Chairman