London Climate Action Week Day 1: Key Takeaways from the Impact Accelerator

By Mathilde Carraro, Director of Acceleration at The Earthshot Prize

Today, in the Shaw Library at The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and Marshall Institute, together with Bloomberg Philanthropies we brought together our 2024 Earthshot Prize Finalists for a day of practical learning and strategic reflection. In a moment dense with climate urgency, we asked: What does it really take to move from promising solution to global transformation?

A few powerful takeaways stood out:

1. Start with the endgame.

LSE’s Stephan Chambers challenged Finalists to define what success actually looks like - and more importantly, who will deliver it. Government? Industry? Citizens? Growth alone is not the goal. Systemic replication is. The most impactful solutions aren’t just scalable, they are transferable, adaptable, and built to shift the whole system.

2. Find the leverage point to shift industry practices.

Notpla’s seaweed-based packaging is a textbook example. With support from Deputy Mayor Mete Coban MBE and food services giant Levy UK, they deployed across London’s stadiums, replacing thousands of single-use plastic items at venues like Stamford Bridge and the Emirates. 

3. Policy isn’t a barrier, it’s a growth tool.

Kieron Boyle (100x Impact), Christopher Hook (Uber UK), and Dr. Toddi Steelman (Duke University) unpacked how regulation can actually unlock scale. From Uber’s early regulatory negotiations in London to building Big Society Capital in government, one theme stood out: invite government in as a co-designer.

4. AI is not the answer, until your mission is clear.

Parmy Olson (Bloomberg) and Shashi Buluswar (ITT) explored how AI can amplify operations, logistics, and decision-making, but only if grounded in a clear, community-led mission. Tech will never substitute for trust, clarity, and purpose.

5. Think like a movement, and fund like one.

Safeena Husain, founder of Educate Girls, reminded us that scale is as much about belief as it is about capital. Her Development Impact Bond enrolled 1.8 million girls and unlocked entirely new funding pathways for education in India. Build legitimacy and community and finance will follow.

This is what the Earthshot Prize platform is built for.

We’re not another accelerator or funding body. We’re a force multiplier for climate leaders already changing the world. These are the heroes of tomorrow, and the results are already here:

• d.light has delivered clean energy access to over 200 million people across 70+ countries.

• The High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People is helping 120+ governments implement the global 30x30 pledge to protect nature.

• In Kazakhstan, the Altyn Dala Conservation Initiative has brought two species back from the brink of extinction, a model for rewilding the world.

Our role is to make these solutions unmissable. To put them in front of the people and platforms that drive change. To give them the credibility, exposure, and networks to shift policy, reshape markets, and capture the imagination of the world.

Because if we want to repair the planet, we need to make these solutions as visible and as unstoppable as the problems they solve.