Where the green grants went

Howard Lake | 1 February 2012 | News

The Environmental Funding Network has published the fifth edition of its report ‘Where the Green Grants Went’. Available as a free PDF download, the 52 page document analyses grants data from nearly 150 UK-based trusts and foundations that fund different types of environmental work.
The new edition covers grants made in the three financial years 2007/08, 2008/09 and 2009/10. The grants information is also put into context with comparisons with environmental giving by government and in other countries.
According to the report, environmental philanthropy still represents less than 3% of total UK philanthropy. It has reached a plateau of around £75 million per year during the period examined, following two years of growth. However, a number of new funders supporting environmental causes have emerged and other funders have started to include environmental grants for the first time.
Nearly half (43%) of all grants are made for international environmental work, with UK funders supporting work in more than 60 countries in each of the three years examined. Africa received the largest share at 9.6% across the three years, with Asia close behind on 7.8%.
Funding for regional and local environmental work in the UK remains uneven: the East Midlands, West Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber “are perennially under-funded in comparison to other areas”.
The proportion of environmental grants made to tackle climate change rose during the three years, but these grants, at £15.8 million in 2009/10, still account for less than 0.7% of total UK grants. The report’s authors contrast this with the success of the National Galleries in London and Edinburgh raising “£50 million in four months to purchase a single painting”.
The Environmental Funders Network (EFN) is an informal network of trusts, foundations and individuals making grants on environmental and conservation issues. It aims to increase the overall level of financial support for environmental causes and to help environmental philanthropy to be as effective as it can be.
www.greenfunders.org/wp-content/uploads/Where-the-Green-Grants-Went-Five.pdf

About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale. He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.