Global climate organisation Subak today launches its Impact Lab to speed up systemic change across heat, land use and agriculture, and energy sectors.
Subak’s Impact Lab investigates the most critical climate challenges and creates and funds groups who can tackle these challenges and deliver positive systemic change.
The Lab will first focus on agriculture, forestry, and other land use (AFOLU). It brings together established organisations Nature Friendly Farming Network, Sustainable Soils Alliance and UK Youth 4 Nature who will share knowledge and resources to inform UK government policy, improve soil health and support the transition from intensive to regenerative agriculture.
By working together, Subak and the three organisations will aim to help those working in agriculture reduce their carbon emissions and increase biodiversity, which will have a large impact on the UK meeting its climate goals.
Subak will also research and catalyse work around food loss and waste, deforestation, habitat loss, and ocean health.
Baroness Bryony Worthington, lead author of the UK’s Climate Change Act 2008, co-founded Subak in 2021.
It has since grown to be a global organisation that creates and funds groups of non-profits, academics, and entrepreneurs to tackle challenges and shift policies across major climate sectors.
Subak’s community has grown to more than 300 climate actors working on urgent missions across three continents.
Subak’s Impact Lab will also fund and launch missions in the heat and energy sectors over the coming months:
- Heat: Subak has incubated a new advocacy not-for-profit, Ambient, which has a data-driven vision for Britain to be a clean energy superpower by accelerating the adoption of electrified heat. Subak was pivotal in the creation of Ambient by providing them with funding and personnel support.
- Energy: Subak is working with its existing members, such as climate tech non-profit Open Climate Fix, to develop a mission to increase energy data transparency.
Initially founded as a climate tech funder and accelerator, Subak has helped to scale numerous successful climate organisations across diverse sectors.
Its early support facilitated over £31m in follow-on funding for its cohort organisations, enabling the likes of independent not-for-profit Ember and UK climate data non-profit, Climate Policy Radar to evolve into successful scale-ups.
New AutoMotive joined Subak in 2021 and has received support in multiple areas – including funding, climate expertise and business development. It has grown to become one of the UK’s most prominent clean transport research organisations, playing an important role in helping to win the UK’s Zero Emissions Vehicle mandate, one of the most ambitious clean transport policies in the world.
In addition to funding and accelerating climate action, Subak critically focuses on convening climate organisations and funding sector-specific missions to have a concentrated influence on the areas in most urgent need of policy and behaviour change.
Pranuthi Chander, COO of Subak said: “Subak’s central ethos has always been to drive climate progress through collaboration and systemic thinking. We believe by bringing disparate climate actors together through collaborative missions and the sharing of resources, we can tackle the most pressing challenges in carbon-intensive sectors and rapidly scale impact.
“This is exactly what our Impact Lab has been created to do. We provide space, funding and resources to help our community of climate actors harness sectoral knowledge and data effectively, shift policies and change narratives within their specialist sectors.
“The individuals and organisations Subak chooses to support across the climate landscape are true collaborators and innovators, and by bringing them together we are uniquely positioned to drive real, tangible systemic change.”
Martin Lines, CEO of Nature Friendly Farming Network (NFFN) said: “We are proud to be one of the first organisations to join Subak’s Impact Lab. We’re collaborating with the talented teams at UK Youth 4 Nature and Sustainable Soils Alliance to protect the health of Britain’s soil and encourage regenerative agriculture practices across the country.”
“Subak’s emphasis on collaboration strongly aligns with our values at NFFN and our work to bring farmers’ voices together across the UK. Being part of their global community has given us access to shared resources and a network of support that we can lean on to drive our urgent climate work – we’re excited to be onboard.”
