Moving together for the climate

Big challenges can make individual action feel small. But when people move together, small actions can build real momentum.

For Future Super member Alice Kendall, climate action is necessarily collective – about finding something that feels possible, bringing other people along and building momentum together.

That’s the idea behind Pledge for the Planet, the organisation Alice founded to help people turn everyday actions into collective climate action. From 13 to 15 November 2026, its 48 Hour Mission will bring sports clubs, community groups and teams together for an action-packed weekend of movement, practical pledges and friendly competition.

Participants choose a practical pledge to enter, then put it into action while their club takes part in running, walking, swimming and cycling. Their individual actions are tracked alongside the group’s activity, creating a live picture of what happens when people move together.

“Being part of the 48 Hour Mission is something you can do to take a tangible action and be part of the collective,” Alice says.

CO2 and systems change

The Pledge platform is full of ideas that spark a ripple effect. Acting as your entry ticket, the pledges include climate-supporting moves such as eating more plant-based meals, avoiding takeaway cups, switching to renewable energy or choosing a sustainable super fund.

Some pledges focus on waste, home upgrades and other carbon-saving measures, while others focus more on actions that maybe can’t be measured in individual footprint, but focus on money, voting and using your voice in other ways – for example talking to your workplace.

“One person in a huge organisation can make a difference by asking the right questions,” Alice says. These are the pledges that focus on systems change rather than individual behaviour – holding a power all their own.

“We’re debunking this idea of ‘I’m just one person, I can’t make a difference’, when in fact, your voice can create change, and these are the levers you can use, this is how you can make it work,” she says.

“We show the power of collective action in sport and sustainability, but getting active communities moving.” Clubs take part in a weekend of running, walking, swimming and cycling, showing the power of collective action in sport and sustainability.

Individual activities and actions are tracked and combined to the collective actions and activities across all clubs and participants from the mission, creating a shared picture of what happens when people move together to protect the places we play.

Not everyone can do everything, but everyone can do something.

The 48 Hour Mission makes climate action social, practical and motivating, with every kilometre tracked pushing your crew further up the activity leaderboard, as carbon and waste reduction and systems change impact actions tracked push your crew further up the impact leaderboard.

What does this have to do with super?

One of Pledge for the Planet’s pledges is to switch to a sustainable super fund. If you’re a Future Super member, you’ve already taken that step. It fits into the 48 Hour Mission’s collective climate action goals because super is also a collective system. Your money is invested alongside the money of other members, creating a pool of capital with collective power to support more resilient systems.

That doesn’t mean one person’s super can solve climate change. It means the choices made across the super system can add up to something much bigger than any one individual action.

For Future Super, sustainable investing means considering the environmental, social and economic conditions that can affect long-term investment outcomes. The investment manager seeks to manage financially material sustainability-related risks and opportunities, including by applying defined screens, investing in climate solutions, engaging with its investee companies and fund managers, voting and advocating for change.

The aim is to make better-informed investment decisions for members’ long-term financial interests, while contributing to more stable and resilient systems.

Kate Donnelly, Impact & Unlisted Investment Manager in the investment team behind Future Super, helps implement the sustainable investing strategy.

“Climate change is a systemic problem. No single person or organisation can solve it alone, and every single person and organisation will be negatively impacted by it” Kate says, adding that this gives everyone an incentive to act. “And collective action is what we need to stop global heating with deep, rapid and sustained emissions reductions, deliver a just transition and create a more equitable, sustainable future for all.”

Your super is part of the picture

“For a lot of people, your super can feel really abstract,” Kate says. “Retirement can feel like a long way away. But whether you’ve made a deliberate choice about it or not, your super is invested in the real economy, growing your retirement savings and the type of economy that you’ll retire into.

“If sustainability is part of your values, it’s useful to check how your super is invested,” she says. “All super funds must invest in their members’ best financial interests, and this can be interpreted pretty literally: as in, what investments will make the highest risk-adjusted returns?

“In today’s economy, when climate risks aren’t well reflected in financial analysis, the best investment could look like fossil fuel companies turning record profits during a global gas shortage driven by escalating conflicts.”

One person learning where their money is invested may feel small, but millions of people’s super adds up to significant capital – and influence.

You don’t need to be an expert investor to start looking more closely. Checking the investment strategy should tell you how your super is invested, including what types of assets and industries it is (and is not) invested in. Does the strategy use engagement, voting or screening to help manage long-term risks, including those driven by environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors? Does the strategy align with the future you want to see?

“ A sustainable super fund, like Future Super, considers sustainability-related risks and opportunities that may affect members’ investment outcomes over the short and long-term. This includes the transition-related risks, like unexpected costs from carbon taxes, penalties or litigation, that fossil fuel companies face today,” Kate says, “as well as the growing physical climate risks that are caused by unchecked fossil fuel use.

“It’s not always as easy as asking whether a super fund invests in a particular industry or company. But everyone can look up their super fund’s investment philosophy and approach... and check whether your super is growing both your retirement savings, and the future you want to retire into.”

The lesson from Pledge for the Planet is not that one person has to carry the whole burden. It’s that our actions can become more meaningful when they’re connected to the actions of others, building momentum towards systems change.

“Systems change is about the actions that reach further than any one of us could alone,” Alice says. “We're so proud to launch it with Future Super for this year's Mission, and to show people that their voice, their vote and their money are some of the biggest levers they have.”

Whether it’s joining a local club, making a practical pledge or taking a closer look at your super, there’s more power in moving together.

• Join the 48 Hour Mission