Bet on the Planet, Not Against It with Stand.earth's Spoof Natural Disasters Betting Platform

How do you make it rain when it rains? By making a fake bet on natural disasters.

For World Environment Day, international environmental advocacy organisation Stand.earth and The Hive revealed it was behind a spoof betting platform aimed at sparking conversation about the ways corporations and governments gamble with our planet by deferring meaningful action on climate.

The betting platform Planet Bet was launched to the anger and confusion of many. The site claimed to allow people to make wagers on natural disasters, featuring odds on severe weather events like tornadoes, hurricanes, wildfires, and more. The intention is to call out the irony in a way that encourages people to stand with Stand.earth against the reckless and irresponsible decisions of corporations. Without a sharp decline in fossil fuel consumption and related investments in development of oil and gas infrastructure, the frequency and severity of natural disasters will continue to rise.

"Corporations are constantly making wagers that prioritise profit over the planet. If the idea of placing bets on hurricanes, tornadoes, and wildfires feels wrong, then why do we allow companies to gamble with our future?" said Todd Paglia, executive director of Stand.earth. "Since 2016, big banks have invested roughly $7 trillion in dirty fossil fuel projects and companies, effectively betting on the continuation of devastating climate impacts that harm people and the planet.”

Whether it’s making a wager on the number of tornadoes in 2025 or betting on the scale of the destruction caused by wildfires, Planet Bet leverages odds rooted in reality to demonstrate the disastrous results of corporations’ and governments’ inaction and complacency on climate change. However, when visitors went to place an actual bet on the platform, they were redirected to Stand.earth’s website to instead take action to protect the planet.

“Every day that we delay transitioning off planet-warming fossil fuels, every penny that is invested in environment-wrecking oil and gas infrastructure, is a losing gamble with catastrophic costs, ”Todd said. “We simply can't afford to wager the wellbeing of people and this planet on short-sighted gains. When we instead bet on our ability to build a just and thriving climate-safe future together, we all win.”

Stand.earth is helping build a movement that demands governments, corporations, banks and financial institutions stop betting against our future by investing in fossil fuels. If we don’t stop these reckless bets against our planet, ‘unnatural’ disasters could be as frequent as a win from your favourite team.