Series: six months in

I'm probably one of the only people who didn't like 10:10 when I first heard about it. 

I was opposed to the idea of us starting the 10:10 campaign simply because I could see how much work it would be and our small team already had far too much work on our hands promoting and distributing our climate change documentary, The Age of Stupid.

I tried pointing out to the team how impossible it was for us to even consider starting the 10:10 campaign, especially when we had a Guinness World record breaking premiere to organise, but once they'd heard about 10:10 there was no stopping them.

It was the one idea that all the team members felt a) had the most potential for actually helping solve the climate crisis and b) they were incredibly excited to work on.  

The excitement about 10:10 has continued at every stage of the campaign.  Every person, business, or organisation from close friends to the CEOs to (crucially) the editor of the Guardian loved the idea and wanted to be involved. 

This enthusiasm was felt around the world once 10:10 started getting media coverage and we were inundated with requests from people in other countries wanting to run their own 10:10 campaign. So we open-sourced the UK campaign with the dual aims of cutting carbon in other countries and by doing so creating the mandate world leaders need to make an international deal in line with the science.

I tried pointing out how impossible it was for us to even consider starting the 10:10 campaign when we had a Guinness World record-breaking premiere to organise

It's hard to believe that in just a few short months since launching 10:10 Global so much has happened. We now have active 10:10 campaigns in thirty seven countries from the Netherlands to Nigeria to New Zealand, with influential signups including MTV Netherlands, the Belgrade City Library, the French Open (announced live on TV right before the Women's Final), L'Oreal, the city of Oslo and the President of Malta. 

After the UK campaign's success getting the governments to make a 10:10 commitment we now have a race on between our country hubs to sign up the next government and ensure they cut their carbon by 10%.

Some of our country hubs are really small with a few keen volunteers and others are well-staffed but all of the 10:10 campaigns have bubbled up from a natural enthusiasm for the central concept of the 10:10 campaign. We haven't gone out and tried to get these campaigns going. I think this shows the power and simplicity of the 10:10 campaign in that at it's very core, it simply asks everyone to cut their carbon by 10% in a year.