BSR is a global nonprofit organization that works with its network of more than 250 member companies and other partners to build a just and sustainable world.
Future Stewards
A coalition of partners working together to build a regenerative future - where we meet the needs of all, within the means of the planet.
Future Stewards is partnering with TED on Countdown: a global collaboration to turn the tide on climate change.
A Summit of 1,000 global leaders will be held in Bergen, Norway – from October 6-9, 2020 – comprising a cross-section of nations, businesses, cities and citizens. The following day – 10.10.2020 – this event will connect with hundreds more cities, neighbourhoods, schools and workplaces, coordinated by the worldwide TEDx community and globally amplified by YouTube and other partners.
In the months leading up to the Summit, we’ll convene with climate experts, policymakers, visionary business leaders, and thousands of local organisers, to explore and accelerate solutions to help humanity drive the world’s emissions down to zero.
Our story
Future Stewards came together in 2016 after the breakthrough Paris Climate Agreement as a collaboration to help leaders step up to the challenges of our changing world.
We work with people taking bold action on complex problems including climate change.
Despite incredible progress over the last few decades in many aspects of life, humanity’s current trajectory will not serve in a world of 9+billion people, where we all need to thrive within the means of our planet.
Our partnership brings together the deep experience of the architects of the Paris Climate Agreement (Global Optimism), a coalition working with business to take action on climate change (We Mean Business), and a social enterprise supporting leaders to drive transformation in their organizations and communities (Leaders’ Quest).
We equip people with the awareness and tools required to tackle systemic problems. Through collaborative projects with business, society and government, we help them shift from a mindset of scarcity to one of abundant possibility. Our aim is to build a network of visionary change-makers to achieve the ambitious goals of the Paris Agreement – and build a regenerative future.
Partners
We Mean Business coalition partners
The Climate Group is an international nonprofit that specializes in bold, catalytic and high-impact climate and energy initiatives with the world’s leading businesses and regional governments.
CDP is a nonprofit running the leading global platform for environmental disclosure, focusing investors, companies and cities on taking urgent action to build a sustainable economy.
The Prince of Wales’s Corporate Leaders’ Group is a select group of European business leaders working to advocate solutions on climate change to policy makers and business peers.
Ceres is a sustainability nonprofit organization working with the most influential investors and companies to build leadership and drive solutions throughout the economy.
The World Business Council for Sustainable Development is a global, CEO-led organization of over 200 leading businesses working to accelerate the transition to a sustainable world.
The B Team is a nonprofit initiative formed by a global group of business leaders to catalyze a better way of doing business, for the wellbeing of people and the planet .
People
Future Stewards was established in 2016 by five founders. We regularly partner with other leaders and their organizations to deliver ambitious cross-sector projects.
A Costa Rican citizen, Christiana was the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change from 2010-2016.
She brought together national and sub-national governments, corporations and activists, financial institutions and NGOs to jointly deliver the Paris Agreement on climate change. 195 sovereign nations agreed on a collaborative path forward to limit future global warming to well below 2C.
For this achievement she has been credited with forging a new brand of collaborative diplomacy.
Christiana is currently the Convenor of Mission 2020, Vice-Chair of the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy, World Bank Climate Leader, ACCIONA Board Member, WRI Board Member, Fellow of Conservation International, and Advisory Board member of Formula E, Unilever and ENI.
Previously, Nigel was executive director of CDP (formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project). He also has 18 years’ experience in the manufacturing sector, most recently as a member of the MBO team that took TMD Friction private and built it into the number one global brake pad manufacturer.
Nigel is a commissioner on the Energy Transitions Commission and a member of the Daimler Integrity and Responsibility Board. He’s also a Director of the London Pension Fund Authority – appointed by Mayor Sadiq Khan to ensure implementation of his commitment to decarbonize the portfolio.
He is a member of the Grantham Institute on Climate and Environment advisory board at LSE and Imperial College and sits on the boards of the Science Based Targets initiative and Schumacher College.
Lindsay spent the first 15 years of her career building entrepreneurial companies. In 2001, she founded LQ as her ‘last start-up’.
She has since worked to connect leaders from all disciplines and sectors, to explore solutions to some of the big issues in the world today. Currently, much of her time is spent working with corporate CEOs and their leadership teams on the role of business, company values and culture change.
Lindsay is passionate about bridging divides between perspectives and opposing voices. In 2004 she founded the Leaders’ Quest Foundation to build leadership capacity in grassroots communities.
She has worked extensively in the Middle East, including five years as Chair of the International Steering Committee of OneVoice, working to amplify the voices of Israelis and Palestinians committed to peaceful coexistence.
Lindsay lives in New York with her husband David; they have three sons, all now based in the US. Her book, Invisible Giants: changing the world one step at a time, was published in 2013.
Previously Tom was Senior Advisor to the Christiana Figueres when she was Executive Secretary at the UN Climate Convention. He focused on the political strategy to achieve the landmark Paris Agreement in December 2015.
Before this he was President and CEO of CDP North America, which uses financial markets to drive greater disclosure of climate change related risks and opportunities in the operations of listed companies.
Previously, Tom held roles at Dyson and spent two years as a Buddhist monk. He has held or continues to hold advisory positions at the Clinton Global Initiative, NY Stock Exchange, and the Global Impact Investment Network.
Tom holds a BSc (Hons) in Environmental Economics from the University of Bath and an MSc in Systems Science from Plymouth University. He is married with two children and lives in London.
Previously, Bill was a research lab director at Hewlett Packard for fifteen years, where he pioneered new technologies in mobile and pervasive computing. On leaving HP, he co-founded a specialist innovation consultancy creating new digital products for international clients and launching two start-ups.
Since then he has undertaken a wide range of technology strategy, research and innovation consulting for international clients in both the public and commercial sectors.
Bill is an expert in futures techniques. He has edited a collection of the latest scenario-based methods from the work of the Oxford Futures Forum – Scenarios for Success. He is one of the originators of the Three Horizons approach to futures.
Bill is a Visiting Professor at the Digital Cultures Research Centre at the University of the West of England, where he researches ways to understand value and cultural innovation. He is the author of Three Horizons: the patterning of hope and Economies of Life: patterns of health and wealth.
What we do
We draw upon the complementary skills and experience of our partners - to drive bold action in response to problems for people and the planet.
At a time of widespread fear and disagreement about how to tackle some of these challenges, we’re focused on building hope. We show people what’s possible with practical examples, scaling what works, and building networks that engage business, society and governments.
Current projects include Countdown– a major global collaboration to tackle the climate crisis, in partnership with TED and others.