In September 2020 Evelin Heidel and Alex Stinson facilitated a panel, "Open Questions in a Warming World" at the Creative Commons Summit. There they met Shannon Dosemagen, founder of OEDP. The three later connected and got excited by the idea of starting to understand who from the open movement was working on the climate crisis, what they're up to, and how the Open movement can be strong allies on climate-related work. Teaming up with Luis Felipe Murillo, Michelle Thorne and Emilio Velis in early 2021, this core organizing group started moving plans forward on a pilot series of "Open Climate" calls, mapping the space, and collaborating on a session at the March 2021 MozFest.

In June 2021, this group published an article, “Open Climate Now", on the experience of organizing a series of debates with activists, researchers, and technologists on the possibilities of bridging the ecological and the technological commons. In the article a broad vision was articulated: “The open movement with its values, community and action has the potential to greatly contribute to climate research and activism, and climate scientists and organizers should join the fight for the (digital) commons. We need open climate action, and we need it now!”