Acknowledging we have no time to waste, and joining others already working in this space, we built our strategy together with a range of global stakeholders.

In 2020, we collaborated with, listened to and learned from 300 leaders, executives and experts from a number of different sectors who shared their views on the economic system. What was clear was, that in order to change systems, we need to change the mindsets, rules and power of workers and producers, business leaders, policymakers and investors, who are the key agents to make change happen.

In this uncertain world, we created our five-year strategy to be deliberately flexible, so we can constantly incorporate lessons and respond to change. At the same time, we hold ourselves accountable for the change we want to see, and by 2025 would like to have contributed to the following outcomes: 

• Workers, producers (and the communities around them) who claim their rights and build power to organise and advocate for climate-positive practices and equity and inclusion.
• Businesses and industries that promote and implement bold, climate-positive policies, models and practices that contribute to equity and inclusion.
• A financial sector that uses its influence, policies, practices and valuation methodologies to ensure climate-positive practices and equity and inclusion.
• Policymakers who reform, implement, enforce and protect critical laws and policies that require businesses and investors to adopt climate-positive, inclusive practices. 

1. Integrating the price of climate-related externalities into policy
2. Infuencing investors and banks to become Paris-compliant across all assets
3. Engaging investors to drive business and industry toward Paris-compliance
4. Expanding new economic thinking into practical application with policymakers and business

1. Ensuring a just transition including social protection for workers
2. Promoting incentives for accountability, including transparency and regulatory mechanisms
3. Promoting collective action, the agency of workers and communities, and the organisations that support them
4. Enabling legislation to incentivise next generation and circular materials (and disincentivising fossil fuel-based materials)
5. Accelerating investment into next generation and circular materials (and disincentivising investment in fossil fuel-based materials)
6. Transitioning business models (in materials) to landscape approaches, creating more income security for farmers and enabling climate-positive practices

1. Establishing and implementing industry roadmaps as well as enabling legislation on whole life carbon and circular economy
2. Accelerating the equitable distribution of investment in net-zero carbon and resource-efficient buildings
3. Supporting communities to ensure sector decarbonisation and increased resource efficiency promote equity and inclusion
4. Accelerating the uptake of sustainable wood and bio-based materials construction through Built by Nature

During the strategy development process, we developed an interactive Economic System Map, to visually reflect, test and share what we learned from our strategy development process.

The map, which is published under a Creative Commons licence, enables anyone to understand our view of the structural issues within the economic system, and explore how the economic system works. For example, the map shows how decisions by investors can affect the salaries of workers, or how successful businesses are able to influence policy decisions to their advantage.

The map also shows more than 130 organisations and the changes they are working towards within the economic system. It is a tool to create discussion and dialogue between people with different views on what is needed (and what might be most effective) to change the economic system.

As part of the development of our five-year strategy, we designed a
Theory of Change. It shows how through specific interventions we can contribute to the short- and long-term changes necessary to influence four key stakeholders – workers and producers (and the communities they live in), business and industry leaders, investors and policymakers.

We developed detailed, causal chains for each of our industry focus areas and used this information to develop our Theory of Change. An interactive version is available on our website, so that our partners and potential partners can understand how their own visions can amplify the change we all want to see.

Our Theory of Change also helps us determine which of our six approaches will work best: 

To measure our progress towards systems change, while adapting to a rapidly changing world, we’ve developed a rubrics-based methodology. Our 21 rubrics, covering everything from processes to long-term impact, set a standard for what ‘good’ looks like and create a shared language with our partners and other funders to describe and assess this using both qualitative and quantitative evidence.  

These rubrics inform our entire grantmaking process, from the design phase to measurement, evaluation and learning. We have also published a rubrics tool on our website to make our grant application process easier for potential partners.