• Together we shared the Earth Commission’s groundbreaking ‘Safe and Just’ science – which defines the boundaries that will safeguard the global commons and ensure a stable and resilient planet (safe) where all people and species can thrive (just) – in order to build cultures of planetary stewardship, change economic systems, and establish new governance frameworks. This meant translating this Earth system science to be understandable for diverse audiences including: the scientific community through peer-reviewed papers and webinars; civil society leaders through collaboration at global events such as COP16 and Villars; cities and local governments through convenings, research and initiatives; and business leaders through the first-ever public corporate adoption of science-based targets for freshwater and land from the Science Based Targets Network (SBTN).
• We began to build a powerful narrative around the imperative to safeguard the global commons for the prosperity of all people. Communications underpins the newly launched Earth Public Information Collaborative (EPIC), a keystone project of Earth HQ among many. Along with partners we released two major surveys of the G20 public on attitudes to economic transformation and the global commons, with results showing a huge appetite for systems change including taxing the wealthy, and holding polluters to account. The results helped inform political debate as we sought to ensure nationally relevant data reached the right people during a mammoth year for elections globally – and they continue to be referenced in various campaigns and articles today.
• We continued to empower decision-makers to align markets, finance, policy, and governance away from models of growth that transgress planetary boundaries and safe societies. As the first science-based ocean targets were launched, companies now have a clear framework for environmental action across Earth system domains including freshwater, land and ocean. The Accountability Accelerator – which funds organizations working to reduce corporate harms to nature and strengthens the corporate accountability ecosystem – now evaluates companies submitting these nature targets through an independent expert review process to ensure they’re in line with science, as well as releasing practical accountability guidance for financial institutions and businesses. Systems Change Lab continued to track change across key systems through workshops, interactive data, and a high-profile report on transformations needed over the next ten years to reach global climate goals. To support decision-making at global and national levels, accurate cities system data in particular helps reinforce localized pathways to meet global Earth system goals.

All of this is why the Global Commons Alliance is now evolving.

To drive the systems change needed for a just world on a safe planet, we need collective stewardship and coordinated action.

So we’re reshaping the Alliance — deepening relationships with more diverse actors from civil society, philanthropy, business, and government around a shared mission — to safeguard and restore Earth’s life-support systems, equitably, now.

The Alliance secretariat will help create alignment and shared purpose, put together and facilitate partnerships, strengthen collaboration and enable collective learning.

This evolution reflects our belief that no single organization can solve the crises we face.

Because only collective action, rooted in science and solidarity, will do.

Imagine it’s 2050.

The shift to a just world on a safe planet is well underway.

The turbulence of the 2020s — the pandemic, wars, inflation, and political polarization — now feels like a distant chapter in history.  

What once felt impossible, is now blooming. Governments, communities, and corporations worked together to repair our relationship with nature and each other, and to adapt to a fundamentally changed planet.

Humanity is thriving since governance and economic systems shifted in line with the best available Earth system science. 

The global commons — Earth’s interconnected systems, like the ocean, climate, rainforests, freshwater, and nutrient cycles — are keeping the planet stable and societies prosperous.

And this is not prosperity for the few based on an extractive economy.

But prosperity for the many, based on a new economy that truly values people’s and planetary health over short-term profit.

This vision for the future is not inevitable.

It will be hard won. It will take countless small steps, bold experiments and unlikely partnerships. It will take a new understanding of our interconnectedness with the global commons, thanks to the leadership and insistent advocacy of Indigenous Peoples, social movements and change makers in all sectors. From that understanding, we will forge new ways of working informed by a potent combination of ancient wisdom, high-tech science and deep commitment to collective action. 

And it’s right in the middle of that mix that the Global Commons Alliance will play its part.

The years 2024 to 2025 mark a turning point in our efforts and the beginning of key changes toward fulfilling our mission: to help equitably safeguard, restore, and govern Earth’s life-support systems. For all people. Now. 

Building on years of collective work, the Alliance is now evolving to bring more diverse actors from civil society, philanthropy, business, and government together around our shared vision of a just world on a safe planet.

Over the next four chapters we share glimpses of our contributions to this vision — and we highlight the waves of progress that will cascade far into the future, thanks to the wider ecosystem of actors we have long worked with, and from now, hope to grow with.

Thank you to each and every one of you.

Together, we have more power than we can even imagine.

All my best, 

Margarita

Explore our 2024-25 stories below. This report spans the 15 months June 2024 to September 2025, when we formally began the evolution of the Alliance.

Thank you to all our donors, supporters and partners. We especially thank the following funders for their trust in and support of the Global Commons Alliance, either as a whole, or via one of the original members:

Altman Foundation; ClimateWorks Foundation; Generation Foundation; Global Environment Facility; The Tiina and Antti Herlin Foundation; William and Flora Hewlett Foundation; Laudes Foundation; MAVA Foundation; Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation; Oak Foundation; Open Society Foundations; Porticus; Skoll Foundation; Swiss Philanthropy Foundation; Walton Family Foundation; KR Foundation; Rockefeller Foundation; Planetary Guardians; Global Challenges Foundation; Formas, and the Frontiers Research Foundation.