Final Pre‑Launch Community Briefing – Summary
December 4, 2025
Overview
This meeting marked the final public briefing before the January 22, 2026 launch of the Climate Restoration Alliance’s 25‑year mission to restore Earth’s climate to safe, pre‑industrial levels by 2050. The session brought together community members, scientists, funders, ambassadors, and partners to align on vision, progress, funding status, team structure, and next steps.
The overall tone of the meeting clearly signaled a transition from mobilization and proof to execution and scale.
Opening & Framing the Moment
[00:00–04:30]
Ilan Mandel opened the session by situating the community at a decisive moment: T‑49 days to the official launch. He emphasized that this was the final public event of 2025 and a bridge between preparation and delivery.
Key emphasis:
- The community has been mobilized
- Initial teams are in place
- A focused funding sprint has brought the initiative to near‑execution readiness
The meeting was positioned as a gateway for participants to step into clearly defined roles moving into 2026.
Moral Grounding: Message from Future Generations
[01:05–02:30]
A prerecorded “Message from Future Generations” established the ethical foundation for the session. The message reframed the climate challenge not as a political or technical debate, but as a decision about legacy and responsibility.
The central theme: future generations lack political, economic, and consumer power—therefore action depends entirely on those alive today.
This segment served as the emotional and moral anchor for the remainder of the meeting.
Mission & Feasibility
[02:30–04:20]
The mission was restated clearly and simply:
Restore the climate by 2050 to safe, pre‑industrial levels.
Key framing:
- Climate restoration has been the explicit goal of the movement for eight years
- The estimated cost of full‑scale restoration is approximately $1B per year
- Near‑term focus is $25M for 2026–2027 to validate and unlock large‑scale deployment
The core reframing was that the challenge is no longer technical feasibility, but coordinated execution.
Ocean Iron Fertilization (OIF): From Nature to Engineering
[05:00–15:40]
Peter Fiekowsky presented Ocean Iron Fertilization (OIF) as the primary climate restoration pathway. OIF was framed as a natural process—photosynthesis in the ocean—applied intentionally through engineering.
Key concepts explained:
- Downwelling ocean eddies as optimal intervention zones
- Iron as a naturally occurring limiting micronutrient
- Localized deployment (well under 1% of ocean surface)
- Direct atmospheric CO₂ measurement using paired upwind/downwind sensors
The discussion distinguished between scientific observation and engineering implementation, positioning OIF as ready for staged real‑world deployment.
Audience questions addressed:
- Why localized OIF differs fundamentally from historical basin‑wide proposals
- Why most other efforts remain focused on research rather than deployment
- Early and constructive engagement with regulators, including the EPA
Timeline & Scale Strategy
[16:30–18:30]
The timeline was refined to emphasize that the period from 2026 to 2030 is primarily about scaling up, with full climate restoration achieved by 2050.
- 2026–2030: Scale Up
Focus on building, testing, and optimizing the Climate Restoration System. This includes validating protocols, refining measurement and verification, and proving repeatable deployment. - 2030 onward: Restore the Climate
Transition from scale-up to sustained global operations capable of restoring the climate at full capacity.
At full scale, the OIF system is envisioned to include:
- Approximately 50 active sites globally
- A fleet architecture based on motherships supplying and coordinating robotic/automated dispersal vessels at each site
- Approximately 500,000 tons of iron deployed per year
- ~60 gigatons of CO₂ removed per year, sufficient to both draw down excess atmospheric CO₂ and counter residual emissions
This framing reinforced the central message that the next five years will determine the next 500, and that choices, investments, and execution discipline in the 2026–2030 window will shape the stability of Earth’s climate for centuries to come.
Funding Breakthrough: OIF Challenge Grant
[19:00–33:30]
Kevin Shanley’s $100K OIF Challenge Grant emerged as the catalytic mechanism of the meeting. The structure encouraged peer participation and shifted attention from fundraising to execution.
A critical moment occurred when the Challenge Grant was completed live during the call, with new Climate Restoration Champions stepping forward.
This moment marked a psychological and operational inflection point for the initiative.
Review of 2025 Progress
[27:40–30:30]
A concise review highlighted what was accomplished with approximately $250K in total funding:
- Buoy test completed
- OIF Challenge Grant launched and completed
- Message from Future Generations produced
- Ambassador and Resolution programs expanded
- 18 community webinars held
- Togo site visit completed
- Climate Restoration Founders Circle established
- Public launch plan announced
The takeaway was strong leverage: substantial progress achieved with limited resources.
Organization & Teams for 2026
[30:40–36:30]
Six teams were introduced as the operational backbone moving into the execution phase:
- Steering Committee
- OIF Team
- Global Movement & Ambassador Program
- Blended Finance Team
- Partnerships Team
- Industry Team
Participants were explicitly invited to identify gaps, raise concerns, and contribute beyond predefined roles.
Building the Global Movement
[37:30–46:30]
The Global Movement strategy emphasized culture, conversation, and social alignment as essential complements to technical solutions.
Movement targets discussed:
- 1 million people engaged by end of 2026
- 1,000 organizations adopting climate restoration as a guiding goal
- 100 global ambassadors
Rotary International and professional networks (including mental‑health communities responding to climate anxiety) were highlighted as key amplifiers.
Financing & Industry Transformation
[52:00–56:40]
The Blended Finance and Industry discussion reframed the climate crisis as a systems‑level challenge driven by misaligned incentives.
Key elements introduced:
- Monthly donor scaling models
- Repeating challenge grants
- Climate Restoration Founders program
- For‑Impact ventures that embed climate restoration in revenue streams
- Introduction of TerraDivs, a limited‑supply climate‑linked asset
The underlying thesis was that new economic structures are required to solve a problem created by existing ones.
Togo as a National‑Scale Demonstration
[57:00–63:30]
Togo was presented as the first integrated Climate Restoration Center (CRC) model, combining climate restoration with economic development.
Highlights included:
- Bamboo as a multifunctional climate and development solution
- Strong governmental interest and community engagement
- Potential to connect diaspora investment with national implementation
Togo was positioned as a replicable prototype rather than a single pilot.
Closing & Launch Momentum
[66:00–69:30]
The session concluded with gratitude, momentum, and a clear invitation to participate in the January 22, 2026 launch.
The defining inclusion principle was made explicit: anyone who cares about future generations belongs in the movement.
You’re Invited — Final Pre-Launch Community Briefing: 2025 Recap & Prep For Launch (Dec 4)
Join us on December 4 for our Final Pre-Launch Community Briefing as we prepare for the historic January 22 kickoff of our 25-year mission to restore the climate to safe, pre-industrial levels by 2050.
At this special session we will share:
🌍 What’s Happening
- The strategy to deploy Ocean Iron Fertilization (OIF) as our primary climate-restoration pathway
- How we build the global teams that will guide implementation
- How the “Climate Restoration System” will operate across science, operations, finance, partnerships, and movement-building
🚀 Why Dec 4 Matters
- This is the final community briefing before the official January 22 launch
- We will present the roadmap, confirm team structures, and share how you can play an active role
- Funding progress, team recruitment, and milestone updates
🤝 How You Can Get Involved
- Become one of the 1,000 Climate Restoration Founders
- Join a team shaping the first global Climate Restoration System
- Support the mission through annual, monthly, or project-specific contributions
