No time to lose: Groundswell and Australian funders forge strong relationships at Climate Week NYC

The team at Groundswell, a community committed to funding and accelerating strategic climate action in Australia, has just attended Climate Week NYC, alongside other Australian climate funders. Here, Arielle Gamble, CEO and Co-founder of Groundswell Giving, reflects on the very busy and inspiring few days she had at the event with co-founder Clare Ainsworth-Herschell, who is also a founding member of Philanthropy Australia’s New Gen Network, and Chair Anna Cerneaz.

What was our aim at Climate Week New York City (CWNYC)? To forge partnerships and rally support for what could be a transformative Australian-Pacific COP31, set to reshape global climate action.

We returned with more than we imagined – new friendships, powerful partnerships and a shared sense of purpose that is setting the stage for unprecedented global collaboration.

The week offered a unique platform to deepen international relationships and cement Australia’s role in advancing climate solutions. Thanks to the generosity of the global philanthropic community, we hit the ground running – seizing incredible opportunities to lay the groundwork for meaningful, large-scale change.

From high-level meetings with funders, philanthropists, activists and cultural influencers, we witnessed firsthand the global appetite for bold action. And as Groundswell looks ahead to next year’s COP30 in Brazil – with its focus on forests and the Amazon – we are even more driven by the potential of an Australian-Pacific COP31: an Ocean COP, centred on the Pacific’s urgent fight for survival.

The clock is ticking
The urgency of the moment is impossible to ignore. While in Union Square, the Climate Clock showed just 4 years, 299 days remaining before the world exhausts its carbon budget – locking in a dangerous 3-degree future. For Australia, this is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to move from its fossil fuel legacy to becoming a global leader in renewable energy and climate justice. But the window is small, and the stakes could not be higher.

Building for COP31
Led by our inspiring Chair Anna Cerneaz, the Graeme Wood Foundation, the Myer Foundation, and Groundswell co-hosted an event for more than 150 changemakers and funders about a First Nations and Pacific-led COP31. The evening, centred on the urgent need to amplify Australian First Nations and Pacific Island leadership, featured moving contributions from GetUp CEO Larissa Baldwin-Roberts, oceans advocate Tishiko King, and Lord Fakafānua, Speaker of the Tongan Parliament. The energy in the room was palpable as their speeches ignited what could be possible by backing First Nations and Pacific leaders to shape the narrative and mobilise the world around an end to fossil fuels and a new dawn of climate justice.

We also had the privilege of meeting with the Climate Emergency Fund team, led by Margaret Klein Salamon, whose focus on disruptive direct action serves as the radical flank to shift the Overton window toward accelerating climate ambition globally. Their collective funding approach mirrors Groundswell’s model, pooling donations to fund high-impact groups such as Climate Defiance and Rising Tide (Australia), both of which have garnered global attention and momentum. Notably, this movement has attracted the support of celebrities such as Succession’s Jeremy Strong and Don’t Look Up producer Adam McKay, who have joined the Climate Emergency Fund (CEF) as board directors and funders.

The power of collective action
A highlight of the week was our engagement with Climate Lead and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Climate Lead’s work supporting ultra-high-net-worth families in scaling up climate philanthropy aligns perfectly with Groundswell’s ambitions. The briefings we received – on the critical need to accelerate renewable energy, particularly through initiatives like ReNew2030, led by Rebecca Collyer – made clear how vital expert-led, collective funding is for driving real impact.

Looking ahead: a transformative COP31
As we approach COP31, we feel an enormous sense of possibility. The relationships we formed through The Giving Pledge and the Gates Foundation have connected us to a global community of families who are dedicating everything they can to tackling the climate emergency. And Australia, as the third-largest fossil fuel exporter, has a crucial role to play in the decarbonisation of Asia. Our conversations with the Asia Philanthropy Circle during Climate Week reinforced this – COP31 offers a powerful opportunity to unite as a region and maximise our impact.

Key takeaways

• Collective, strategic funding is crucial to solving the climate crisis with the highest possible impact. 
• An Australian-Pacific COP31 in 2026 presents a rare, transformative opportunity for global climate action. Centring First Nations and Pacific voices, accelerating advocacy, and strengthening international partnerships are essential. 
• Disinformation fuelled by AI is a real, urgent and growing threat – investing in positive climate stories across media will be key to combating bad actors and achieving our emissions targets.
• Australian philanthropy must move beyond talk and mobilise at scale to fund the work requiring resourcing now. With less than five years left in our global carbon budget, this is our last shot. Together with the COP31 funders group, we are assembling a prospectus for co-funding and encouraging people to reach out and get involved.
• The decisions made by world leaders will be shaped by the advocacy and funding we invest in today. Quite simply, we don’t have time to lose.