Apolitical, a London-based global online learning platform and community for public servants, has received a £1.5 million grant from the Bezos Earth Fund to provide government workers with the skills they need to take urgent action on climate change.
Apolitical’s Government Climate Campus has already trained over 40,000 public servants in the US, Brazil, South Africa, and the United Arab Emirates, six times the original goal for the pilot phase.
The next phase of the Climate Campus, funded by the Bezos Earth Fund grant, will use technology to expand the training programme at the requisite speed and scale to respond to the climate crisis. The ambition is to train 12 million public servants by the end of 2026.
Apolitical launched the Government Climate Campus pilot in January 2023 with The Bezos Earth Fund as its founding funder and the Smith School of Enterprise and Environment at the University of Oxford as its founding expert partner.
The Climate Campus currently offers a world-class curriculum of 13 engaging courses for public servants, providing them with the knowledge and skills needed to deliver on climate targets.
The courses are designed in partnership with governments and leading academic institutions and experts such as the University of Oxford, the World Resources Institute, and RMI, the climate-focused non-profit organisation.
This grant will support the Climate Campus to deliver seven new, innovative online training modules on topics such as the low-carbon transition, forest management and the design and delivery of countries’ NDCs (nationally determined contributions).
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It will also include communities of practice, leadership briefings, live virtual masterclasses and in-person gatherings alongside key climate forums. The United States of America, Brazil, India, South Africa and Indonesia will be key focus countries.
Robyn Scott, CEO and co-founder of Apolitical, said: “Governments are essential climate actors and are increasingly aware of the need for strategic partners to rapidly upskill their large workforces at speed and scale to enable the action the climate emergency requires.
“The government green skills gap is a critical global threat to climate action. The Government Climate Campus is working to close this gap at speed and scale. We are delighted to continue our work with The Bezos Earth Fund and our many brilliant subject expert collaborators enabling us to provide evidence backed training governments urgently need.”
Andrew Steer, president and CEO of The Bezos Earth Foundation, said: “Governments need to be equipped with the knowledge and skills to understand what needs to be done and to deliver transformative policies, programs, and services.
“The Bezos Earth Fund is so proud to partner with Apolitical. There has never been a more opportune moment than now to focus on climate capable governments.”