2Celsius started in late 2009 following a large meeting with European environmental journalists organized by the European Climate Foundation in London and presided by Sir Anthony Giddens. At the foundation of 2C, which was initially called 2Celsius Network, is the book of the renowned sociologist, The Politics of Climate Change. At that time, the purpose of the embryonic organization was to avoid the Giddens paradox* and consequently to catalyze and promote information, research and public policy on climate change in Central and Eastern Europe. This was done through a network of East European journos who provided multimedia articles and materials on the 2Celsius.net platform. It is still active today. On Earth Day 2010 (April, 22) the organization was officially registered as an association at the Court of Alba Iulia in Romania.

*No matter how great the dangers posed by climate change, their lack of immediate visibility in the everyday world means that people will not act to deal with them; by the time the dangers are immediately visible, it will be too late for any action on the part of the people to be effective. 

2Celsius Network website in 2009-2010