Outlier Projects

Outlier Projects accelerates frontier research to predict and prevent catastrophic climate risks.

Outlier Projects is a climate philanthropy focused on accelerating frontier research to predict and prevent catastrophic climate risks. Most climate funding today focuses on two essential strategies: mitigation (reducing greenhouse gas emissions) and adaptation (protecting communities from climate impacts). But scientists are increasingly warning that warming is beginning to destabilize critical Earth systems — from ice sheets to cloud dynamics to natural carbon feedbacks — in ways that could amplify climate risks beyond what emissions reductions alone may prevent. Outlier supports a complementary and rapidly emerging third pillar of climate strategy: stabilization.

We catalyze research to better understand how Earth-systems are being destabilized — and to explore whether new tools could safely stabilize them. Our work spans areas such as glacier instability, declining planetary reflectivity, methane and carbon feedbacks, and other frontier climate risks.

Rather than directly funding researchers ourselves, we primarily support organizations that fund and orchestrate scientific research and that act as foundational “field builders”, including advocating for greater governmental research leadership and promoting Global South engagement.

In addition to providing our partners with financial and in-kind support, our small and highly engaged team focused on educating other philanthropic funders about the climate stabilization field and the need for greater support.