For bringing us closer to sustainable futures, one tangible solution at a time
Have you ever skied 1000km over 60 days to the South Pole? Us neither, but Barney Swan has. Pulling a sledge with supplies and shelter, Barney skied to the South Pole surviving purely off clean technologies, including a NASA-designed solar ice melter, biofuels made from waste products, and solar batteries. This proves that clean energy is possible, even in the harshest of conditions. Naturally, Barney’s life mission is to design a more sustainable future—if he’s proven that skiing to the South Pole with clean energy is possible, then we definitely can power our world’s systems with clean energy.Â
This is why he’s founded the charity ClimateForce: which embraces the spirit of collaboration, open-sourcing solutions to the environmental crisis, and making sustainable development inclusive to businesses, students and families. With his sustainable development accelerator, Barney supports regional collaboration, connecting partners from the corporate, educational, agricultural, public sectors and more, with toolkits to boost environmentally-friendly action at scale.Â
Barney believes that explaining to people why this matters is important, which is why part of his work also focuses on immersive storytelling. Utilising IT, virtual reality filmmaking and multimedia platforms, he engages stakeholders. And through leading expeditions to the ends of the Earth, he brings individuals, corporations and even industries, to see the truth of what’s happening to our planet—one ice sheet at a time. He carries these stories with him, and through his consulting and speaking, he convinces companies and communities to get on board Next Gen ESG strategies and takes them through step by step to decarbonise. Â
All of this leads to ClimateForce’s mission: to reduce 360 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions before 2025 by making sustainable development solutions accessible, relevant and engaging. Some days, you’ll find him working with cutting-edge innovations like creating assets out of captured carbon, planting forests with drones, or harnessing drinking water out of air. Other days, you’ll find him just among the trees. Today, he’s in Far North Queensland, Australia: leading a project to restore 450 acres of the world’s oldest rainforest: Daintree. Talk about a jack of all trades!
