The Opportunity

The newly-formed Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance (BOGA), an international coalition of 12 founding member-countries and sub-national governments, engaged New Heights to help launch the organization on a global stage: the COP26 climate conference. The alliance, led by the governments of Denmark and Costa Rica, sought to gain commitments from countries to end new licensing rounds for oil and gas production, in alignment with the goals of the Paris Agreement. The coalition hoped a big splash at COP could help pressure countries to raise the bar on their commitments to true climate action – not just empty promises.

The Strategy

COP conferences are the definition of a crowded news environment: Every notable climate organization and environmental thought leader is in attendance, each hoping to make headlines of their own. New Heights worked the press in a dozen countries in the weeks and months before, placing op-eds, garnering editorials, and positioning BOGA as the flank of the climate movement that was actually taking action. We coordinated with a delegation on the ground at the conference to ensure our press conference – featuring representatives from each of the member-countries – was well-attended, on message, and newsy.

The Results

The launch of BOGA was utterly compelling to media and to conference attendees, with one BBC climate reporter calling out our event as having the biggest crowd he’s ever seen at COP. The launch resulted in hundreds of positive media clips for the alliance and its members globally, with Tweets receiving 11.8 million viewers and 20,000 shares, likes and comments on BOGA’s brand-new account. More importantly, our work effectively shifted the narrative, emerging as one of the main storylines of the conference. Today, BOGA has only grown in numbers and impact.