Introduction
This report from APA and ecoAmerica highlights recent, respected research on the role of organizations in advancing climate action at scale. As structured collectives where people spend a significant portion of their lives, organizations are powerful vehicles for climate solutions. They are potent social environments that shape how people think, feel, and act.
This report aims to elevate the behavioral and organizational science that illuminates how organizational culture, leadership, and motivation can drive climate action that cascades beyond any single organization to produce systemic change.
The urgency is real. Climate change is intensifying, and its impacts on health, livelihoods, and communities are already being felt. Public concern is high, yet a persistent gap between concern and collective action remains. Individual efforts alone cannot close that gap. With more than 170 million Americans in the workforce, change at the organizational level offers a scalable and durable path forward, one that can provide continuity amidst shifting federal climate policy.
This report is written for anyone who wants to make a difference: senior executives, HR professionals, managers, frontline employees, change agents, and community members alike. The guidance is grounded in research applicable across different roles, organizational types, and sizes. We have the science to inform this work and the shared commitment to drive it. Many organizations are already leading; the question is how to accelerate that leadership to the scale this moment demands.
Arthur C. Evans Jr., PhD
Chief Executive Officer
American Psychological Association
Meighen Speiser
Executive Director
ecoAmerica
Why organizations matter for a healthy climate
Climate change is an escalating reality, with its worsening impacts reshaping lives and livelihoods. While many people are concerned, a central challenge is translating that concern into action at scale.
This section focuses on the move toward collective action, alongside individual action, and, from an organizational science perspective, outlines the role of organizations as a key mechanism for advancing visible, sustained climate action.
Takeaways
- Escalating impacts of climate change are reshaping lives and livelihoods
- Individual action alone is not enough
- Organizations can be potent drivers of climate solutions at scale
- Organizations are uniquely powerful social environments
- Organizational climate leadership can play a pivotal role in the United States
Understanding organizational culture and climate action
Organizational response to climate change is directly linked to organizational culture, which influences how individuals within an organization think and act. Culture determines what feels normal, supported, and worthwhile
This section explores how core components of organizational culture can support organizational action on climate change.
Takeaways
- Organizational culture guides how individuals think, act, and shift their behavior over time
- Values, norms, and symbols form the foundation of organizational culture
- Visibility matters
Organizational culture shifts require behavioral change
Shifting organizational culture towards environmental sustainability and climate action requires changes in human behavior.
This section outlines high-impact climate actions, best practices for managing culture change, and the role of effective leadership and motivation in sustaining change over time.
Takeaways
- Lasting culture change requires sustained, supported behavior change
- Environmental sustainability plans are most effective when they include high-impact climate actions and follow best practices to manage change
- HR and administrative practices are powerful tools for change
- Lasting change requires effective formal and informal leadership
- Motivation for climate action comes from both internal drive and external factors
- Climate action benefits both people and organizations
Recommendations for climate leadership at any level
This section outlines evidence-based recommendations to drive climate action within specific roles in an organization, from bottom-up to middle-out to top-down, as well as human resources management or operational roles. It also highlights opportunities available to everyone, both inside and outside the organization.
Takeaways
- Climate leadership looks different at every level, and anyone can contribute
- HR and administrative functions play a key role in embedding environmental sustainability in workplaces
- Both internal and external actors can drive change
- Ongoing climate efforts benefit from resilience
Webinar
Join ecoAmerica for a discussion of the report’s key findings and practical role-specific guidance for driving climate action within and beyond organizations.
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