Generosity as a climate-action driver
Amid the latest global climate conference comes news of a record rise in private giving to help the world鈥檚 most vulnerable people adapt to climate extremes.
A farmer in Aceh Besar, Indonesia, pulls out his rice that failed to be harvested due to a prolonged drought last year.
Reuters
Perhaps the biggest news out of this year鈥檚 global climate conference, which is finishing up in Brazil, is not a new paper promise among governments on reducing carbon emissions. Rather, it is a new survey by the ClimateWorks Foundation that highlights generosity at the heart of climate action.
Private donations to help people adapt to climate change more than doubled from 2021 to 2024, hitting a record $870 million, according to the survey. Meanwhile, the number of foundations making adaptation-related grants jumped by more than 50%.
During the two-week conference itself, more than 35 philanthropic institutions agreed to spend $300 million over three years on one narrow but necessary form of adaptation: meeting the health needs of those most vulnerable to droughts, floods, storms, or heat waves. And the Gates Foundation announced a $1.4 billion project to expand access to innovations that help farmers across sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.
The actual amount of all this new giving 鈥� which donors admit is far less than what is needed 鈥� is not really the focus. Instead, private donors are essential because they are more risk tolerant and creative in putting money into showcase climate projects than risk-averse leaders in business and government.
鈥淚n a time of accelerating climate impacts, shrinking civic space, and fragile global cooperation, philanthropy鈥檚 voice and support matter more than ever,鈥� wrote Nancy Lindborg, head of the David and Lucile Packard Foundation.
Ms. Lindborg also states that there is no conflict between focusing on curbing emissions and helping communities adapt. 鈥�We have found urgent and effective climate solutions that do both 鈥� they lower carbon while improving daily life and meeting the needs of local communities 鈥� whether that means access to clean, affordable energy, better livelihoods, or greater resilience in the face of ever more severe weather.鈥�
Adaptation goals were first established at the 21st U.N. Climate Change Conference a decade ago in Paris. That same meeting also produced a global agreement to 鈥渓imit the temperature increase to 1.5掳C above pre-industrial levels.鈥� Since then, many of the world鈥檚 biggest private donors have been organizing around climate action.
鈥淧eople want to give money to help solve this problem but don鈥檛 know what to do, so they鈥檙e faced with decision paralysis,鈥� stated Dan Stein, executive director of Giving Green, an organization that helps individuals, businesses, and philanthropies make effective donations to combat climate change.
鈥淚n our mind, there was the need for an actionable resource for people looking to solve this problem,鈥� he told TriplePundit, which reports on sustainability in business. Private giving and public spending, he added, can complement each other.