It’s 3:23 in the morning and I’m awake because my great great grandchildren won’t let me sleep my great great grandchildren ask me in dreams what did you do while the planet was plundered? what did you do when the earth was unraveling? surely you did something when the seasons started failing? as the mammals, reptiles, birds were all dying? did you fill the streets with protest when democracy was stolen? what did you do once you knew?
Drew Dellinger
Imagine three women: Ali Whybrow, Eve Turner, and Josie McLean—two English, one Australian—sitting with a cup of tea, chatting amicably. A shared belief unites them: the power of relationships and community, and the deep interconnection between systems. They exchange perspectives on climate and ecological emergencies, exploring how to foster engagement and participation in order to drive positive change in human awareness and achieve broader systemic change in the world. From these conversations came an idea: to create a community grounded in desire, clarity of purpose, and shared ways of being together.
Communities allow us to support and challenge one another, build connections and new possibilities, and grow in courage, awareness, and action. The Climate Coaching Alliance (CCA) is a global community of coaches committed to bringing the deep, difficult questions of the climate and ecological emergency into coaching conversations.
In 2019, the global membership community was founded, and soon others followed: self-organized local communities, language-based communities, and pods—agile, open groups focused on learning, innovation, and action.
On July 6, 2023, I received an email from Giuliano Tarditi, co-founder of CCA Italy alongside Silvia Tassarotti, which began: “Coaching Climate Alliance Italy is officially launched! Anyone wishing to contribute in terms of time, skills, availability, or ideas should contact us to help build the first initiatives.”
That invitation—with its three words, time, skills, availability—resonated deeply with my need to act and be useful.
How could I contribute? By expanding awareness and influence to address the complex challenges of climate and ecological emergencies, developing and integrating skills to bring climate topics into my work as a coach, and being part of a free, global, inclusive community of coaches committed to supporting people in transforming their relationship with the climate to meet the challenges of climate change effectively.
I told myself it wouldn’t be “a walk in the park,” but a journey of awareness and empowerment I wanted to undertake. Within a few weeks, I found myself, together with Diana Tedoldi and Giuliano, managing the Book Club—a cycle of monthly meetings. Using the book Ecological and Climate Conscious Coaching, the manifesto of the Climate Coaching Alliance, as a starting point, we shared moments of self-reflection, inspiration, exchange, self-connection, and practice guided by a facilitator.
I was eager, my pragmatic nature impatient for an answer to the question: “How can I bring this topic into my next coaching sessions?”
But I realized I needed to give myself time to find my own original and unique answers to such complex and delicate questions. To sit with the question rather than rush to an answer.
The Book Club was not meant to prescribe “this is how you do it”. Instead, it created a space to cultivate listening, curiosity, awareness, to explore challenging topics and questions, and to allow essential practices to transform us from within, over time, at our own pace.
“We are what we practice, and we are always practicing something.”
—R. Strozzi Heckler
This Book Club invited us to practice a different way of being with nature, because from this deeper relational space emerges a different kind of action. We cannot understand “how it’s done” without engaging personally. There are no one-size-fits-all answers or techniques. When an answer emerges, it will be individual: each coach is unique, with different backgrounds and expertise, and must find within themselves their own response to the planet’s call.
It is, and will not be, a journey without obstacles. We must learn to cultivate a deep communicative engagement with nature. For example, I train daily with a tree in my garden to familiarize myself with its nature, identity, and personality. I try to see myself and the world through its eyes, seeking possible answers through intuition, imagination, and sensitivity. This form of communication is based on silent but profound interaction, learning to read nature’s signals and respond harmoniously. We need to strengthen our ability to listen, observe, and interact respectfully and mindfully with the natural environment (see box at the end of the article, “Learn to Read Nature’s Signals”).
Shifting the Coaching Framework: From Individual and Organizational Success to Planetary Success
Traditionally, coaching focuses on the personal or professional success of individuals or organizations, helping clients achieve their goals, improve performance, and solve specific problems. This experience has expanded that vision, moving beyond individual and organizational success to embrace a global perspective that includes the well-being of the planet. In this context, the environment becomes a stakeholder in the coaching process. Just as we would consider other stakeholders—clients, shareholders, or colleagues—the environment is recognized as an entity that requires attention, care, and respect. This implies a profound transformation: coaching is not only about helping people achieve personal or organizational goals but also reflecting on how their actions and decisions impact the global ecosystem.
It becomes an invitation to consider how clients’ personal and professional choices affect the environment, exploring strategies to reduce ecological footprints, support sustainable practices, and promote systemic change for the health of the planet.
The concept of eco-coaching develops through a path of personal and professional growth that guides the coach from simply being curious about environmental issues to becoming an active agent of change. An “eco-cycle” is a journey that requires patience, reflection, and constant attention. I have learned that this journey demands a slow pace, and that one can become an Eco-Active Coach only after consciously moving through the stages of Eco-Curious, Eco-Informed, Eco-Aware, and Eco-Engaged.
ECO-CURIOUS
At this stage, curiosity about ecological and climate issues emerges. It is a moment of discovery, questioning, and openness to the possibility that the environment is a crucial aspect of coaching conversations.
ECO-INFORMED
Knowledge of environmental and climate topics deepens. The coach studies climate change and its global and local effects, building a foundation of awareness to bring into client dialogues.
ECO-AWARE
The coach begins to understand the importance of their role in facilitating ecological transition, aware of the interconnections between individual actions, organizational decisions, and their planetary impact.
ECO-ENGAGED
Ecological topics are integrated into sessions, and the coach supports clients in making conscious, sustainable choices. The Eco-Engaged Coach helps clients creatively address ecological challenges and generate positive personal and professional impact.
ECO-ACTIVE
Only after completing these stages can a coach become an Eco-Active Coach, able to use their influence to facilitate systemic, sustainable change at a planetary level. This coach internalizes ecological consciousness as part of their being, actively promoting it in coaching sessions, personal life, and daily decisions. It requires ongoing commitment, continuous awareness, and reflection.
