This report was curated by Drawdown Labs, a program of Project Drawdown, which aims to help employees apply their skills and expertise to the climate crisis while holding companies accountable for climate action. Drawdown is when atmospheric greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations stop climbing and start to steadily decline. A drawdown-aligned company leverages all aspects of its business – social, political, financial, and employee power – to reduce emissions beyond its own operations to work towards this effect, and employees have an important role in bringing about this paradigm shift. Project Drawdown has therefore curated tangible, collaborative climate-specific actions for employees to direct their companies toward global drawdown quickly and equitably. These recommendations make up the drawdown-aligned business framework (highlighted p.9).

The report provides tangible, collaborative recommendations for employees to lean on to harness their influence in an organisation to spark climate action. These include:

• Forming groups with like-minded colleagues – Whether through “green teams,” employee resource groups, or under the-radar organising, employees can pull from a variety of teams and skills, promote active participation, and set priorities and goals.
• Conducting power mapping with colleagues – Employees should identify networks inside (and outside) their company that can be tapped for change.
• Joining action-oriented groups – Employees should join organisations like Climate Changemakers and Terra.do to share resources and build community.
• Learning the latest about global climate solutions – Employees should explore ways to work climate into their own job responsibilities.

The report also reflects on how the private sector arrived at its current definition of climate leadership, i.e., net zero, and emphasises the need to move towards a more effective, long-term climate goal. Net zero refers to the target of balancing the amount of GHG emissions produced and the amount removed from the atmosphere, through methods including forest restoration and carbon removal technology. The authors suggest that global net zero only works if all companies make the same commitment with a shared deadline, which is unlikely to occur and therefore emphasises arguably a more realistic alternative: drawdown-aligned emissions reductions targets, which go beyond simply reducing emissions.

The climate crisis is a crisis because global GHG emissions need to be halved every decade to curb warming, which means a 7% reduction in emissions annually.  This presents an immediate and urgent challenge for companies to set and implement ambitious goals, measure and disclose their efforts, and share their knowledge to maximise impact. To achieve drawdown, businesses must shift their entire operations to address the scope, magnitude, and urgency of the problem within this decade, using their influence to transform entire sectors.

The climate crisis has caused and continues to compound a suite of social issues, from economic inequalities to disparities based on race and sex. Therefore, employees must ensure their company considers the potential adverse and disproportionate effects on marginalised communities by centring justice when reducing emissions.

Employees have a diverse, powerful capacity for change toward drawdown alignment and can refer to this guide for scalable climate solutions for their employers and companies.

1. Employees can find an extended list of 'resources for action' to facilitate implementation of each climate action in the full report.
2. Employees should ensure their company or organisation is taking the necessary steps to understand their carbon impact, first, by measuring their entire emissions profiles, then setting reductions goals. Drawdown-aligned reductions goals means moving on accelerated timeline with interim targets in place and reducing reliance on offsets.
3. Reducing supply chain emissions is a critical piece of the puzzle for businesses and organisations aiming to zero-out their GHG footprint. Scope 3 emissions sometimes represent the largest portion of a company’s emissions footprint, over 80% on average. Because supply chains often overlap from company to company, collaboration is key to reducing Scope 3 emissions across sectors.
4. Employees using this guide must ensure their company considers the potential adverse and disproportionate effects on marginalised communities by centring justice when reducing emissions and companies should collaborate with (and be led by) those most affected by the climate crisis. With an expected increase in employee activism, specifically around environmental issues and climate change, there is an opportunity for companies to collaborate closely with employees. For example, those in human resources roles can help create an environment in which employee concerns are taken seriously by leadership (in a transparent manner) without fear of retribution.
5. Climate-competent boards can help transition strategy and financial performance. This is important because according to research on corporate governance, ESG, and stock returns companies that address environmental and social issues have been shown to outperform competitors in the stock market.
6. Sustainability teams must coordinate with government affairs to ensure all political activity serves stated climate goals in pursuit of transformative climate action. However, employees in all positions of the company should have the opportunity to contribute to conversations around sustainability.
7. Employees can help drive climate solutions by understanding their company’s business model—a topic where an estimated 60 to 85% of employees report a lack of understanding. This is an opportunity for employees to work across teams to generate creative internal climate ideas and make a business case for tangible changes.
8. Emissions reduction efforts should be woven into branding and purpose statements, governance structure, executive decision-making, board priorities, travel policy, employee incentives, and more.
9. Companies must understand the intersectional nature of the economy and climate with other pressing systemic issues, as the climate crisis cannot be solved without also addressing social and racial injustices and global inequality. It is clear that the current economic system is not working for most people or our planet, i.e., income inequality, climate change, and biodiversity loss. The authors highlight that pivoting away from incompatible industries today opens a path for businesses to scale climate solutions at the rate needed this decade.
10. Employees should encourage their company to prioritise long-term social value creation rather than quarterly returns; cultivate strong community bonds where they operate; create more equal, democratic governance and ownership structures; commit to ongoing, organisational anti-racism and justice work; and advocate for cross-industry reform that promotes social and ecological well-being.