The 5 essential ingredients to unlock the power of climate collaboration

Tackling the climate and nature crises at the scale and speed they demand requires more than isolated efforts or conventional collaboration – it calls for partnerships that push boundaries, transform practices and redefine markets.

We need bold, innovative approaches that go beyond established public-private models to embrace diverse alliances involving philanthropy, academia, government, innovators and civil society. The GAEA Awards – the new global World Economic Forum environmental awards – showcase how these partnerships are not just conceptual but real, tangible drivers of systems change.

Some pioneering collaborations already illuminate what’s possible when we dare to break out of traditional silos. They set the standard for systemic action by challenging norms and creating blueprints for others to follow. The GAEA Awards recognize these efforts and aim to catalyze broader engagement in reshaping the future.

As the three climate conferences (COPs) in 2024 – the climate COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, biodiversity COP16 in Cali, Columbia and desertification COP16 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – emphasized, systemic transformation hinges on ambitious cross-sector partnerships.

Nowhere is this more evident than in the global effort to close the climate financing gap. While the historic $300 billion annual climate finance commitment by 2035, agreed upon in Baku, marked progress, it underscored the need for continued innovation.

As Simon Stiell, head of the UN Framework on the Convention on Climate Change, acknowledged: “We leave Baku with a mountain of work still to do.”

By forging ambitious partnerships, we can catalyze the systemic shifts needed across society and industry.

For example, combining the unique strengths of philanthropic, public and private actors can transform how we attract capital for nature restoration, which must absorb higher risk and support longer-term goals.

However, moving past incremental progress requires combining this "patient" capital with the innovation and scale the private sector can access, alongside deep public sector engagement to create enabling policies and infrastructure.

Advancing beyond isolated corporate sustainability targets to transform practices or decarbonize entire industries demands collaboration across competitive boundaries. By uniting, businesses can pool resources, share risks, and harness collective expertise and networks to set new industry-wide standards.

In addition, giving young people, grassroots leaders and underrepresented voices access to established networks and funding is critical. Intergenerational collaboration is not just desirable – it’s essential for creating system-wide, equitable and sustainable change.

The GAEA Awards don’t just talk about systems change; they celebrate it in action. The time to reimagine and unite for climate and nature is now.

While the urgency for climate and nature action grows, truly transformative cross-sector and peer-to-peer partnerships remain a rare phenomenon. We need more than just conventional collaborations – what is required are bold, innovative alliances that disrupt entire industries, markets and systems.

Multi-stakeholder collaboration at scale is a complex endeavour, as parties must align not only their roles and priorities but also navigate divergent sectors. Beyond the traditional public-private dynamic, collaboration now extends to philanthropy, academia, innovators, and even youth movements.

Everyone must pull together – across sectors, borders and boundaries – to drive lasting change.

Creating such partnerships demands time. It involves building trust, aligning incentives, proving concepts and securing buy-in before scaling. Conflicting time horizons and different approaches to success measurement can slow progress.

To break through these barriers, we must move beyond theoretical frameworks and recognize what truly drives these collaborations to succeed.

Sustained impact relies on five critical factors:

The most impactful partnerships focus on ambitious, systemic change – not just incremental steps. They confront the root causes of climate and nature crises by addressing challenges that span industries, sectors and geographies.

Decarbonizing transport, for instance, cannot happen without coordinated action from the energy sector, regulatory frameworks, and private-sector innovation. These partnerships are about reshaping entire systems, not simply improving existing practices.

The most powerful solutions emerge when sectors break down silos and integrate resources, expertise, and strategies that no single entity can tackle alone.

True collaboration blends the strengths of multiple sectors – combining scientific research, policy expertise, innovative technologies and financial resources – creating solutions that are resilient and adaptable.

Take biodiversity loss, for example. An integrated partnership might fuse cutting-edge research, finance and local communities to restore ecosystems while fostering economic resilience. This kind of collaboration ensures that the resulting solutions are not only impactful but able to evolve as risks and circumstances shift.

The scale of the climate and nature challenges we face demands solutions that go beyond pilot projects. Partnerships must design solutions with the potential to grow and spread across borders, industries, and communities.

These partnerships are built for the long haul, with scalability and replicability embedded in their DNA, ensuring that successful models can be adapted to new contexts and reach more ecosystems and communities.

While individual projects matter, they alone cannot tackle the global nature of the crisis. We need collaborative models that can be replicated, expanded, and transformed into wide-reaching movements.

Clear, measurable goals are the backbone of successful partnerships. It’s not enough to claim progress; real success is demonstrated through transparent tracking of milestones and impact. These partnerships make tangible progress visible, fostering trust among stakeholders and ensuring accountability.

By tracking impact over time, these partnerships can refine their approaches and continuously improve, offering a wealth of real-world insights for others. Partnerships that achieve sustained impact offer compelling case studies that inspire other sectors to adopt successful strategies and scale them up.

Effective climate and nature partnerships are deeply committed to equity. They involve those most affected by environmental crises – marginalized communities, youth activists, and Indigenous voices – ensuring they are not just stakeholders but co-creators of solutions.

Centring equity in decision-making and activities is essential for building trust, resilience and sustained impact.

So, what do these transformative partnerships look like in action?

The Forum’s GAEA (Giving to Amplify Earth Action) Initiative, in collaboration with Kearney, has launched the GAEA Awards to spotlight and accelerate partnerships that exemplify systemic collaboration at the cutting edge of climate and nature action.

As Beth Bovis, senior partner and global head of sustainability at Kearney explains: “Clearly defining the five key differentiators enables us to identify the innovative models of collaboration with the highest potential to transform systems, industries and sectors at scale.

“By demonstrating what’s possible when organizations think beyond traditional boundaries, the GAEA Awards can inspire and mobilize others to follow their lead and work together towards a sustainable future.”

These partnerships go beyond the traditional models, integrating the private sector, philanthropy, public sector, academia and grassroots movements to change the way we think about collaboration.

GAEA Award finalists, carefully selected by a global panel of experts, represent real-world collaborations that are pushing the boundaries of what’s possible. These partnerships stand as living proof of how "systems change" can transition from an abstract concept to a powerful, practical reality.

Discover the 2025 finalists

At the Forum’s 2025 Annual Meeting, the GAEA Awards will honor awardees across five categories, celebrating them as exemplars of climate and nature collaboration.

By elevating these transformative, scalable, and equitable models, the GAEA Awards aim to inspire a new wave of cross-sector and peer-to-peer partnerships that are truly capable of addressing the most urgent global challenges.

As emphasized by the presidency ahead of COP29, “enhancing ambition and enabling action” are critical to fulfilling our global climate and nature commitments. The GAEA Awards provide crucial blueprints for collaboration—models that can be adapted to meet the unique challenges faced by communities worldwide.

COP29 further underscored the pressing challenges we face. With only five years remaining to meet the UN SDGs and climate financing gaps reaching hundreds of billions, 2025 must be a turning point.

By embracing these pioneering principles and collaboration models, the global community can unite to accelerate the transition to a resilient, inclusive, and sustainable future for all.