Jacquelyn Francis founded The Global Warming Mitigation Project in 2017 when she realized that existing climate entrepreneurs around the world needed more exposure.
Since then, the Aspen-based organization, now called Climate Curve, has awarded $2.75 million to 80 innovators working to curb climate change. The awardees have gone on to raise $2.87 billion in investments.
In February 2026, Climate Curve is launching a new prize focused on methane emissions from food systems. The Climate Curve Prize: Methane will distribute $200,000 across eight solutions worldwide.
Francis told Aspen Public Radio’s Michael Fanelli that methane emissions are growing worldwide, and curbing them could act as a “parachute” to slow the trajectory of global warming.
The conversation below has been edited for clarity and length.
Michael Fanelli: Tell me about the forthcoming methane prize.
Jacquelyn Francis: So it's going to be a first-of-its-kind methane prize that's focused on the food systems. And that basically means everything from soil to soil. So everything where it's grown in agriculture, to livestock, to how things are transported. And also the waste, like what happens before and after it's thrown away, and it's a full cycle kind of idea of circular economy.
MF: Why is this an important thing to focus on now methane?
JF: Methane is just increasing in our world right now, and there's not a lot being done about that. It is a very potent greenhouse gas. It actually disperses into the atmosphere quite quickly. And it's a heat-trapping gas that actually traps 85% more heat than carbon dioxide. So if we were able to actually reduce our man-made methane impacts, then it could be considered like an emergency brake on our global heating that's happening right now. This could give us more time to actually move past some of the other really more embedded systems that we have in our world when it comes to fossil fuels. We're basically falling into a volcano, our entire civilization, and methane [reduction] is a way to kind of slow our fall.
MF: It sounds like this might have an agricultural focus. Can you talk about how this might be relevant to locals here in the Roaring Fork Valley?
JF: Yeah for sure, agriculture and waste [are] all part of our food systems. There are ways that you can actually grow your food differently that can produce less emissions. There are ways that you can feed your cattle differently to increase their ability to digest the food so that they don't have as much methane gas coming from their systems. There are also supplements that can be given to cattle and vaccines that can reduce their methane emissions by about 80-85%. A lot of companies are working on covering landfills in order to capture the methane emissions and then use them as an energy source.
MF: Your main thing you do as an organization is the Keeling Curve Prize. I realize there's been a lot, but can you think of an example or two of a memorable standout project that has won?
JF: There are a few that have really gone on to be incredible investment opportunities. One of those is a company called LanzaTech that actually is a publicly traded company now, and they make materials out of carbon that comes from all different kinds of sources. And one of the things they're working on is sustainable aviation fuel. So I've done a lot of extra work with LanzaTech as well, because I'm really, really interested in the idea of creating a market around sustainable aviation fuel. The real barrier for sustainable aviation fuel is not the technology and what can be done with biotechnology solutions in aviation fuel, but that it costs more. And we're not really willing as a society to pay more for our aviation fuel, which I find to be something that should change. So LanzaTech is one of them. We have a lot of nature-based solutions that I find super interesting. One of them, Canopy Planet, is about supply chains and getting your products from verified sources that have good practices.
MF: Was there anything else that you wanted to touch on?
JF: I think one of the things that I'd like your listeners to hear is: this is a problem that's fixable. And in my view, there are four existential crises in our world. It's nuclear warfare; it's an asteroid hitting us; it's some kind of biological or virus that takes everybody out that's much more powerful than Covid; And it's climate change — climate systems change. And I think people don't understand that this is such an important issue that we can solve, and this is probably the one out of those four that is the most solvable by human ingenuity and momentum building. We can do this. We just have to put more money behind it and more awareness and take on the challenge, just like humans are able to do in a lot of other situations. This is a huge endeavor, but we can do it, and the opportunities around it are — they're just immense. And that's what I want people to understand, that you have to do something about it, and we have to do something about it now, but we can.
MF: I think that's a good note to end on. Jacqueline, thank you so much for sitting down with me today.
JF: Thank you too, Michael.
