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Keeling Curve Prize: what it is and what it signals

The Keeling Curve Prize is an annual $50,000 award for projects that reduce or remove greenhouse gases, given in five categories. Organisations apply for it themselves, so the field is self-selected and then scored by analysts and judges. The body behind it renamed: Global Warming Mitigation Project is now Climate Curve, so older claims cite a name the organisation no longer uses.

Type

Awards and prizes

Run by

Climate Curve (formerly Global Warming Mitigation Project)

Since

2018

Headquarters

United States

Official site

https://www.climatecurve.org/kcp

Public list

https://www.climatecurve.org/laureates

What the Keeling Curve Prize is

The prize is named after the Keeling Curve, the record of atmospheric carbon dioxide measured at Mauna Loa since 1958. It recognises "innovative climate solutions that aim to bend the Keeling Curve downward". Winners are called laureates. There are five categories: Carbon Sinks, Energy, Finance, Social and Cultural Pathways, and Transport and Mobility. Each year "10 winners are awarded $50,000 each to scale and succeed", two per category.

What is recognised is a live project, not the organisation behind it. The prize "is awarded for current programs and projects only", and applications "centered on past work, unimplemented ideas, or untested hypotheses will not be accepted". Finalists are named separately from laureates. Climate Curve also runs a newer award with the Global Methane Hub, the Climate Curve Prize: Methane, giving eight laureates $25,000 each for methane work in food and waste systems.

Who runs it and since when

The prize is run by Climate Curve, based in Aspen, Colorado, and recognised by the United States Internal Revenue Service as tax-exempt. It publishes audited financial statements and IRS Form 990 filings on its accountability page, and its laureates page carries editions from 2018 through 2026.

The name matters when checking older claims. "The Global Warming Mitigation Project is now Climate Curve", a change covering "our name, logo, web address, and social media handles", with the mission unchanged. On funder influence, it states that "solicitation and evaluation of nominations for Keeling Curve Prizes as well as the final decision on the awardees are conducted by independent panels of experts behind a 'firewall,' with no involvement or advice from funders".

How an organisation gets it

Applications are open and self-submitted. "The application period for the Keeling Curve Prize opens on November 1 every year." Entries must be in English, must come from somewhere Climate Curve is permitted to send money under United States sanctions rules, and must quantify emissions reductions and address scalability, or they will not be considered. An applicant names one primary category and can win in only one category a year. Past winners may apply again only with a different project using different methods.

Applications "are subject to a rigorous review process led by our diverse and talented group of experts who make up our Analysts, Advisory Council, and Judges". Finalists are those the analyst team "has scored ... as high-quality for efficiency, scalability, and impact"; laureates are chosen from that field as the strongest solution per category. Applying also grants Climate Curve permission to share application information with investors and its network, so it advises against putting confidential material in the form.

What it signals, and what it does not

A laureate record says analysts and judges, in one year, picked this project as the strongest entry in its category among that year's applications, and paid it $50,000. Because entry is self-submitted, the field is who applied, not who exists, so an absent organisation may never have applied. The screen is real in one way: only work already running and quantified is considered.

It is a point-in-time judgement, not an audit and not a renewable status. Nothing about governance, finances or current delivery is certified. Read the tier and the year: a finalist was scored highly but not chosen, and an older laureate describes the project as it stood then. A Methane prize laureate is a different award at a different amount.

How to verify a claim

Climate Curve publishes all laureates on one page, grouped by year from 2018 to 2026 and labelled by category, for example "Energy: Barefoot College International", each with a description and a link to the organisation. Match the name, year and category. Finalists sit on a separate page showing the current edition only, so an earlier finalist claim cannot be checked on the site.

There is no expired or suspended state; a laureate record is a permanent entry for one year. If a name is missing, ask which prize and which year: the organisation may have applied without being selected, may belong to the Methane prize, or may sit in the Climate Impact Conduit database of vetted applications. Claims naming Global Warming Mitigation Project refer to the same body under its former name.

Size and geography

Keeling Curve Prize publishes a total of awarded $2.75 million to 80 nonprofits, companies, and startups. Source.

Our copy of the public list holds 69 organizations across 12 countries, pulled 2026-09-14.

• Mexico 4
• Canada 2
• Nepal 2
• Asia 1
• Belgium 1
• Global 1
• India 1
• Indonesia 1
• Kenya 1
• Netherlands 1
• Uganda 1
• United Kingdom 1

Often held together

Organizations carrying Keeling Curve Prize in our data most often also hold:

• Ashoka Fellows (5 organizations)
• Miller Center (4 organizations)
• Ashden Awards (3 organizations)
• B Corp (3 organizations)
• AIM2Flourish (1 organizations)
• Endeavor (1 organizations)

In the Tokens for Good directory

None of the organizations researched so far carries this label. Submit one, or contribute research with spare Claude capacity.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

1. Climate Curve, Keeling Curve Prize checked 2026-09-17
2. Climate Curve, The Laureates checked 2026-09-17
3. Climate Curve, home page checked 2026-09-17
4. Climate Curve, eligibility and requirements checked 2026-09-17
5. Climate Curve, application period checked 2026-09-17
6. Climate Curve, accountability and disclosure checked 2026-09-17
7. Climate Curve, the 2025 rebrand checked 2026-09-17
8. Climate Curve, Climate Curve Prize: Methane checked 2026-09-17
9. Climate Curve, the Finalists checked 2026-09-17