CEO: Capitalism vs. climate is the wrong question | Kate Williams, 1% for the Planet

Kate Williams is CEO of 1% for the Planet, the global movement founded by Patagonia's Yvon Chouinard that's certified over $820 million in environmental giving - and they're on track to hit their first billion. She's spent the last 11 years scaling a model that proves capitalism can work differently: 1% of revenue (not profit) goes to vetted environmental nonprofits, no matter what kind of year you've had.

It means rent for the planet (and its financial discipline) is baked into the P&L. And it's proof that simple actions, done repeatedly, in community, at scale, can aggregate to billions of dollars in impact - without putting a ceiling on what companies can do beyond that.

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This podcast is brought to you by Ecologi, the UK's most trusted climate action platform. They help businesses reduce their emissions, restore our planet and report their progress for every step of their climate journey. Check them out here: https://tinyurl.com/kfswnxth

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In this episode, we dive into:

→ What trends is she seeing in the market?

→ How is 1% for the Planet different from Patagonia?

→ Why should nonprofits exist separate from the market?

→ What has Kate learned from Yvon? (Patagonia’s founder)

→ Why did the pandemic cause a huge increase in sign-ups?

→ How is 1% using capitalism’s mechanisms for good?

→ What are non-profit’s role in climate progress?

→ Would Kate pick up a call from ExxonMobil?

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Find out more about 1% for the Planet at: https://www.onepercentfortheplanet.org/

Connect with Kate Williams on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katewilliams87/

Subscribe to the Climate Unf*cked podcast at https://climateunfucked.substack.com/

And connect with me on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-coop/

Timestamps

00:00 Non profit’s role in climate

05:42 What is 1% for the Planet?

11:28 Why 1% of Revenue, Not Profit?

18:35 Vetting Nonprofits and Impact Areas

23:47 Dollar-Per-Impact vs Systemic Change

27:29 How can we do capitalism differently?

29:51 How is 1% like a tax?

33:55 Why 1% on revenue, not profit?

40:38 How has Kate grown 1%?

44:37 Why did sign-ups increase in covid?

49:33 What has Kate learned from Yvon (Patagonia founder?)

55:28 Does the ‘green’ movement exclude people?

01:09:45 Being an "N of Many" vs Patagonia's "N of One"

01:06:33 Trends Kate is seeing

01:14:19 “What do you wish more people would ask you?”

01:19:47 “What are you fed up of being asked?”

01:22:00 How to learn more about 1%?