CDP & Google.org’s AI-Powered Climate Fellowship

CDP runs the only independent environmental disclosure system in the world, showing the power of transparency and data to bring change.

It aims to partner with leaders in enterprise, capital, policy and science to enable Earth-positive decisions.

CDP has announced the launch of a Fellowship, in partnership with Google.org, to create an AI-powered tool to drive climate action.

Adam Elman, Sustainability Director at Google, announced the launch on LinkedIn: “CDP and Google.org have officially joined forces to launch a new Fellowship aimed at supercharging how cities and regions tackle environmental risks and drive action.

“With subnational financing needs soaring to a record US$105bn, the gap between climate action is widening. 

“This partnership is designed to bridge that gap using the power of Artificial Intelligence.”

Why was the Fellowship formed?

According to CDP, subnational governments are facing increasing physical climate and nature-related risks, however they lack an integrated way to understand their exposure.

This means governments are struggling to identify actions and opportunities for adaptation and mitigation.

They also need to find ways to signal their funding and financing needs to funders and partners.

Current urban climate finance flows remain below the investment needed annually, despite clear leadership and ambition.

The new tool developed by CDP and Google.org aims to equip subnational leaders with the additional clarity they need to help safeguard communities, protect livelihoods and drive change.

Sherry Madera, CEO of CDP, says: “CDP isn’t just the world’s only independent platform for corporate sustainability reporting – we also surface climate resilience projects across more than 1,000 cities, states and regions worldwide.

“Our data shows a sharp surge in financing requirements for subnational governments soaring to a record US$105bn.

“The message is clear: the urgency for increased financial flows has never been greater.”

About the Fellowship

The Google.org Fellowship brings together a team of Fellows from Google to support CDP in building an AI-powered environmental tool.

The team features AI specialists, UX designers and software engineers, supporting CDP to build an open source platform.

This platform will integrate Google’s AI and Cloud technology with CDP’s dataset of cities, states and regions.

The Fellowship’s platform aims to offer tailored, actionable intelligence that can help leaders diagnose climate risks and identify the most effective environmental pathways.

Sherry continues: “We’re proud to be supported by Google.org in building a transformational tool that brings CDP’s powerful data to life and accelerates real-world action.

“By unlocking the full force of CDP’s unmatched environmental dataset with Google’s talent and cutting-edge AI, we’re equipping subnational leaders with the insight to improve lives, strengthen communities and drive meaningful, earth-positive decisions at scale.”

Google.org’s wider goals

The Fellowship with CDP works to advance Google.org’s mission, which is to apply Google’s innovation, research and resources to promote progress and bring opportunities to everyone.

Google.org’s efforts are focused on knowledge, skills and learning, scientific progress and building stronger communities.

It aims to empower global organisations by deploying the capabilities of Google, providing funding, comprehensive programmes and technical expertise to help fulfill their own missions.

Maggie Johnson, Global Head at Google.org, says: “The Google.org Fellowship programme is one of our most effective models for bringing Google’s technical expertise to help non-profit organisations accelerate their impact.

“We believe technology can be a powerful force multiplier and AI in particular has the power to fundamentally transform how we generate insights from data.”