Powering a movement: Damon Gameau on creating a positive, climate-conscious future
It’s early morning in the Northern Rivers of New South Wales, Australia. A peaceful silence blankets the coastal town of Byron Bay, interrupted only by the sound of waves crashing on the beach and the occasional magpie warbling in the breeze. As the sun starts to peek through the tall swathes of lush, green rainforest, the town begins to rise. Though for Damon Gameau, his day has already begun. Soaking up first light at his home amongst the trees and ferns, his morning ritual – a cup of tea on the back deck – is a constant reminder of what he fights so passionately to protect, and where his mission to inspire a positive, sustainable future begins each day.
Driven by possibility
Damon has built his career as a filmmaker and sustainability advocate, earning him a global reputation for turning bold climate solutions into inspiring stories. His films, including 2040 and Regenerating Australia, have helped shift public perception by spotlighting the optimism often missing from stories on environmental activism. Instead of dwelling on catastrophe, he focuses on what communities and everyday people can achieve when they choose progress.
Sipping his tea as the day takes shape, the wheels in Damon's mind are already turning – what can he do to shine a light on the inspiring and innovative environmental solutions already in play? How can he cut through the noise of misinformation and negative rhetoric? And how do you reach communities around this vast country to power a movement?
A blueprint for the future
In a world saturated with negativity, Damon is determined to cut through with a clear, tangible vision of what the future can look like. His latest project, Future Councils, marks the next chapter in that mission.
The upcoming documentary follows eight young environmental advocates on a bio-oil-powered school bus as they travel across Europe, confronting leaders of the corporate world about the decisions shaping their future.
But the documentary is just the starting point.
Future Councils is quickly evolving into a global, youth-led movement that empowers children to influence real-world sustainability decisions. Actual Future Councils are springing up internationally, and the movement is seeing young people connect across borders, working directly with companies to co-design meaningful environmental solutions. These early collaborations are showing how youth perspectives can shift corporate thinking.
The grand plan, says Damon, is to help young people co-design a more regenerative and distributed future.
As he finishes his cuppa and climbs into his Polestar 3, Damon heads from his home to the edit suite, but not without sneaking in a scenic drive via the coast – because sometimes you’ve got to stop and smell the salty air just to remind yourself what you’re fighting for.
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The challenge of connection
Damon’s work doesn’t stop when the cameras do. Today’s drive is only a short 20-minute journey, but there are days where Damon needs to travel much, much further.
From climate summits to podcasts and school visits, Damon knows that the best way to meaningfully shift public perception is to meet the people where they are. With so much misinformation clouding the climate conversation, visiting communities where ideas and solutions are already taking root helps to further the conversation.
In a country as vast as Australia, this means travelling thousands of kilometers each year. For Damon, it’s important to have a mobility solution to get around that aligns with his values and doesn’t compromise on the environment. That’s where Polestar comes in.
Polestar’s vision for sustainable electric mobility enables Damon to reach communities across the country quietly, cleanly and with zero tailpipe emissions. With a Polestar 3 Long range Single motor powering journeys behind his films and advocacy, Damon can meet the innovators shaping Australia’s most exciting sustainability solutions in a way that embodies the very future he’s championing.
Powering a movement, together
As someone who lives his values every day and boldly challenges the status quo, Damon and Polestar’s ethos go hand-in-hand. Polestar's own mission to drive sustainable electric mobility compliments Damon's journey to push for a climate-positive future. As a Polestar ambassador, he continues to build a movement by bringing ideas to communities across Australia, showing people a positive vision of the future they can be a part of.
