Theory of Change - OS-Climate 7/11/24, 13:21
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OS-Climate Theory of Change
Theory of Change
A growing cadre of leaders in the climate finance space realize that open source and open
data solutions are crucial for accelerating progress toward the Paris Accord goals.
The community-based open source technology and data development approach has been
crucial in tackling highly complex problems in life sciences (COVID vaccines, Human
Genome Project) and technology (Linux OS, Kubernetes. Hyperledger). The Linux
Foundation has evolved the most effective licensing, governance, collaboration systems,
back office support, and global network of any organization in technology and data.
Through The Linux Foundation, OS-Climate is able to advance solutions for climate-
aligned and sustainable finance in ways no other organization in the space can in a
manner that supports rather than competes with the myriad of other players in competitive
environments.
Open source creates a mechanism for individual agency while removing barriers to
collaboration. A data scientist, modeler, SME, developer, or any relevant stakeholder can
freely contribute based on an individual motivation, while simultaneously finding
contributors from other, often seemingly disconnected organizations who share that same
interest.
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Theory of Change - OS-Climate 7/11/24, 13:21
This creates a community feel where an individual can see the progress of not only their
contributions but also the summation of all contributions. This sense of community that
spans companies, nationalities, and backgrounds provides a sense of purpose for those
involved as they unite behind a common cause, and this purpose unlocks the amazing
talent and innovation that unproductive competition can otherwise thwart.
OS-Climate is a “public utility” that provides “hard and soft infrastructure”. It ensures
completely transparent community governance (from strategic to technical levels),
permissive use licensing that is “as open as possible, as closed as necessary”, along with
research and academic collaboration that ensures science-based solutions.
Given that the current market approach is falling far short of what is needed to create high
quality solutions with speed and lower costs, an open source approach is the only viable
answer to foster the collaboration and agility required. An open source approach brings
together technical experts from NGOs, governments, financial institutions, academia, and
companies to work in a collaborative, focused manner. Rather than spread great talent
thin across disparate efforts, an open source community harnesses this collective energy
to compel action. The Linux Foundation, with its long history in fostering open source
innovation, is well positioned to build the right foundation to accelerate progress in ESG
data and analytics tooling. OS-C can harness the power of open source to:
Produce free, high quality, transparent, and comparable data with broad coverage
faster than regulations can achieve
Rapidly produce high quality, fully transparent analytics tools
Enable IFRS, ISSB, and GFANZ to accelerate the convergence and implementation of
analytic methodologies and data standards
Build a shared platform built on collaboration, not unproductive competition
Create a virtuous cycle to steer the power of free markets toward achieving the Paris
Agreement goals
OS-Climate has already attracted many major players who are working today on the data
and tools they require. They are committing roughly $10.5 million of in-kind technical
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Theory of Change - OS-Climate 7/11/24, 13:21
people, and IP over the next 12 months to make very substantial progress to the Data
Commons (an OS-C developed platform that provides standardized self-service
infrastructure and tooling for creating, maintaining, and managing data products). On top
of this state-of-the-art data platform, the teams are building analytics tools for Physical
Risk & Resilience, Portfolio Alignment, and Transition Analysis.
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