Cascade Climate

Born from a recognition that the climate crisis had outpaced the world's response, Cascade Climate embarked on a journey to champion high-potential solutions often left on the margins of mainstream action. Founded in 2023, this philanthropy-backed nonprofit saw a critical gap in the climate strategy. While the global focus remained on rapid decarbonization to limit warming, the planet was already crossing critical thresholds. The founders, a collective of entrepreneurs and scientists including Dai Ellis and Hara Wang, understood that earlier strategies were no longer sufficient. A more comprehensive, full-spectrum response was urgently needed, one that embraced near-term warming mitigation, large-scale carbon removal, and measures to prevent irreversible tipping points.

From its inception, Cascade Climate dedicated itself to providing the necessary push for promising but sidelined approaches. The organization's journey began with a deep dive into Enhanced Rock Weathering (ERW), a solution with the potential for gigaton-scale, durable carbon dioxide removal. Recognizing that the bottlenecks to progress were not insurmountable but rather systemic, Cascade set out to orchestrate ambitious initiatives across markets, policy, and science. They act as a connective tissue, fostering deep, trust-based relationships across the entire ecosystem to tackle challenges that no single actor could solve in isolation. By coordinating multi-actor efforts, building novel tools and platforms to accelerate learning, and directing resources toward critical research and development, Cascade is paving the way for a more holistic and effective response to the climate crisis. Their work is a testament to the belief that by unlocking the potential of neglected solutions, we can match the scale and urgency of the challenge we all face.