Commonwealth Club of California Podcast CLIMATE ONE: Jonathan Foley: 2025 Schneider Award Winner
Dec 12, 2025
Jonathan Foley, Executive Director of Project Drawdown and a leading climate science communicator, discusses the importance of clear, science-based climate solutions. He emphasizes that addressing climate change can simultaneously enhance our world, much like effective medicine for a patient. Foley highlights the significant impact of food systems on emissions and critiques the lack of funding for this area. He champions meaningful climate actions while cautioning against ineffective solutions, advocating for hope and collaboration in the fight against climate change.
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Ambush Interview Lesson
- Jonathan Foley recounted a leadership training ambush interview staged by Steve Schneider and Paul Ehrlich to prepare scientists for attacks.
- The exercise taught him that public scientists must be ready for hostile media and personal attacks.
Three Rules For Effective Communication
- Know thy audience, know thyself, and know thy stuff before communicating on climate.
- Use those three rules to connect, stay grounded, and maintain credibility in public engagement.
Localizing Climate Solutions
- Project Drawdown built the Drawdown Explorer to be a local, science-based guide to climate solutions.
- It maps solutions to every place on Earth using big data and gives results freely as a public good.
