In Short : The fight against climate change remains a critical global challenge, even as the planet faces increasingly severe and record-breaking weather conditions. Despite the urgency of the issue, global efforts to address climate change are facing challenges, including political hurdles, policy disagreements, and economic constraints.
In Detail : Philanthropic giving to address climate change was unchanged last year compared to 2021 at roughly US$7.8 billion to US$12.8 billion, a disappointing development in the face of rapidly intensifying climate impacts around the globe.
The figures, which represent less than 2% of all global giving by individuals and foundations, were released last week from the fourth annual funding trends analysis from the San Francisco-based ClimateWorks Foundation..
“A major acceleration of efforts is required to address climate change,” the report said. “Philanthropy has a significant role to play in driving that acceleration and supporting the implementation of recent commitments.”
Funding growth was likely flat in part because of challenging economic conditions worldwide, but also because the previous year was “a particularly remarkable year in terms of giving levels,” the foundation said. In 2021, giving to climate causes surged 25% compared to the prior year.
Still, the report noted, “in this decisive moment for the planet, philanthropy must rapidly raise its ambition for advancing transformative climate solutions.”
Until 2022, foundation funding to mitigate climate change had increased every year since ClimateWorks began tracking data. Donations grew from US$900 million in 2015 to US$3.7 billion in 2022.
One bright spot last year: Foundation donations aimed at solving climate change increased 12%. But that’s a sharp slowdown from the previous year, when it surged 45%. Within climate change giving, the sectors that received the most money last year were the same as in 2021. Some 11% of all giving went to clean electricity efforts, while forests received 9%, and food and agriculture funding made up 8% of the total.
Giving to mitigate super pollutants surged 60% from year to year, and transportation and industry decarbonization funding each jumped 24%. The spike in interest in super pollutants is a positive step that may have outsized returns, the report said, because it’s likely due to efforts to reduce emissions from methane, which packs more than 80 times the warming power of carbon dioxide in the first 20 years after it reaches the atmosphere.
In another welcome development, foundation giving to Africa jumped 38% in 2022, faster than any other region, the report said. Though giving to the continent has more than tripled over the past five years, it still represents only 6% of all funding from foundations.
July 2023 was the hottest month in recorded human history, and likely the hottest month in 120,000 years, the report said, citing recent extreme weather events around the world, from Cyclone Freddy in the southern Indian Ocean this past February and March to the deadly wildfire that devastated Maui in August.
“This report should be a wake-up call for philanthropy,” Helen Mountford, president and CEO of ClimateWorks Foundation, said in a news release. “The intensifying climate crisis demands greater ambition, scale, and urgency to safeguard lives. There has been meaningful climate progress, but maintaining the status quo is not enough.”