CarbonFix is proud to announce funding HERO, the first platform enabling citizens and organizations to directly fund vetted climate leaders. 

Heroes are people that drive critical climate policy changes or public opinion on climate topics worldwide, hoping to save that world with their, well, heroïc efforts. Their advocacy, influencing laws and public opinion, has been a neglected force for too long. Which is why CarbonFix is proud to issue a grant to HERO.

Founded by Sylvain Franc de Ferrière, who spent 15 years in social entrepreneurship including as Chief Investment Officer at YSB Impact Investing Fund and Mauricio Porras, a campaigner with over 10 years experience in advocacy and movement building, they are focused on one mission: amplifying the impact of these heroes, these climate mobilizers and making sure they become as resilient as possible.

The massive impact of an underutilized resource: climate mobilizers

The impact climate mobilizers have on climate policy has shown to be a very cost-effective catalyst for inspiring social change, including climate policy. This power was also acknowledged by Frans Timmermans, former VP of the EU Commission on Climate Change, who stated, “Without the work of climate mobilizers, there would be no EU Green Deal.”

Franc de Ferriere: “My personal belief is the way to change society is to change the laws for everyone. You see carbon emissions drop whenever there is a law change. That’s what climate mobilizers on HERO advocate for: new policies like the Green Deal, which have a huge impact.”

Which is why Sylvain and Mauricio started HERO, already supporting over 100 verified climate leaders across 30 countries with a stable income first and training, tools and data second. A Basic HERO Income with added benefits, if you will. With this support, these mobilizers advocate ambitious climate policies at city, national, and international levels, mobilizing citizens when and where they matter most. 

Franc de Ferriere: “That income is critical. Their story is a story of resilience. People that have risen up, over time, to advocate on our behalf, deserve support. If we don’t support them, we will lose them. They will burn out. Go to other jobs. We will lose their experience, the compounding effects of their efforts. But we also aim to not just support them financially, but to have a rapid response unit available. So we share knowledge across the world, in a super agile way. All of it is about adding resilience across the world” 

Though HERO’s current goal is to support 250 mobilizers ahead of COP30, their long term vision is to scale to 10.000 mobilizers by 2030, contributing to an estimated 10 million tons of CO₂ emissions avoided. (that’s equivalent to the annual emissions of a small European country.) 

HERO’s approach to funding climate advocacy is both novel and logical, empowering grassroots leaders where it matters most. They can help build crucial citizen support for climate solutions and create the conditions for governments to act with more speed and vigour. CarbonFix is proud to be joining existing funders like Rubio Impact Ventures.