Changing the Game: Community-based strategies and climate mitigation

Published July 21, 2025

By Sam Greenberg, Arushi Desai, and Jessica Kaplan.

Redstone’s recent report, “Changing the Game,” compiles, for the first time, the direct, quantifiable carbon mitigation impacts of community-based climate work. The results are exciting: community-based strategies can yield meaningful mitigation impacts with strong returns on investment. Many of the efforts profiled in the United States and Canada will mitigate 1 to 8 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MTCO2e) by 2030, with some mitigating significantly more. The cost per effort is well under $1 of local philanthropic investment per MTCO2e mitigated through 2030.

The report analyzes 15 case studies from the US and Canada to understand the carbon mitigation impact and return on investment (ROI) of community-based climate strategies. The efforts spanned state and local legislation; renewable energy development; supply-side strategies; and implementation efforts.

The report was prepared for Marin Community Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and Equation Campaign.