Finding greener funders
Melanie May | 13 April 2022 | News
In the drive to become more environmentally friendly, charities are often advised to look at the green credentials of the organisations they work with – checking for example that print partners have ISO Certification for Environmental Management, and banks aren’t investing in fossil fuels, but what about when it comes to finding funding?
Organisations including the Environmental Funders Network and the Association of Charitable Foundations (ACF) provide useful information about green grants and other sources of funding. The former is a network of trusts, foundations, and individual donors supporting environmental causes through grants, with the mission of increasing both financial support for environmental causes and the effectiveness of environmental philanthropy.
There’s also the Funder Commitment on Climate Change, which launched in 2019 and is hosted by the ACF, and the International Philanthropy for Climate Commitment, hosted by WINGS. This calls on all foundations, regardless of their mission, status or geographic location to come together and signal their commitment to climate action. Over 500 foundations have signed up so far across the UK, France, Italy, Spain and Canada, and it links with national movements in these countries.
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Here’s a closer look at the UK’s Funder Commitment on Climate Change.
The Funder Commitment on Climate Change
Signing the Commitment requires foundations to focus on making their own practices more environmentally friendly, and to be transparent about what they do in this regard.
Foundations that sign up make a number of commitments:
- To make opportunities for trustees, staff and stakeholders to learn more about the key causes and solutions of climate change.
- To commit resources to accelerate work that addresses the causes and impacts of climate change.
- To seek opportunities to contribute to a fair and lasting transition to a post carbon society, and to support adaptation to climate change impacts.
- To steward investments for a post-carbon future.
- To take action to decarbonise their own operations.
- To report annually on progress against the five goals listed above and continue to develop, learn from others, and share own learnings.
Josephine McCartney, Chief Executive, Kent Community Foundation says:
“Checking the green credentials of funders is an important element of a charity’s due diligence and has both ethical and reputational implications. If a foundation has signed the Funder Commitment on Climate Change it is a clear indication that they are taking climate change and their impact on it seriously.”
“The transparency of the Commitment is crucial in ensuring foundations who sign the Commitment are acting upon the urgency of the climate crisis. It also serves as a great resource for other trusts and foundations in imagining what different philanthropic action on climate looks like. The annual survey will enable foundations to better understand, gather and communicate the range of activities that signatories are undertaking, the difference that we are making together, and where additional support might be needed.”
In fact, over 90 foundations have signed the Commitment to date, including Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, Comic Relief, Power to Change, Kreitman Foundation, Kent Community Foundation, and Wolfson Foundation.
Richard Luck-Hille, Kreitman Foundation Trustee comments:
“We endorse any process that encourages funders to climatise their thinking and behaviour, not only those with a thematic focus in this area. We particularly appreciate the commitment to look holistically at the Foundation’s operations beyond grant making, especially in how and where we invest.”
For the Wolfson Foundation, Paul Ramsbottom, its Chief Executive, says:
“Being a signatory means we are committed to engaging with environmental sustainability across all of our activities, from our grant making through to taking steps to minimise the impact of our day-to-day operations.
“We recognise that the climate emergency impacts us all. While there is much more work to be done, signing the FCoCC was a recognition of the increasing importance of climate change to those we support, and a commitment to keep learning, communicating, investing and deploying our resources.”
So, what does it mean in practice? The Wolfson Foundation and Kent Community Foundation provide two examples.
The Wolfson Foundation
For Wolfson Foundation, CEO Paul Ramsbottom says:
“As part of our portfolio of funding for people and places, we continue to support projects that are environmental in nature. Since signing the Commitment in June 2020, we have awarded grants over £6 million to researchers and capital infrastructure projects that address the causes and mitigate the impacts of climate change.
“Our new Sustainability Fund is an example of this. It was developed in response to conversations with our grant holders about the need to enhance the sustainability of buildings, improve energy efficiency and reduce ongoing costs, not least in the context of rapidly rising energy costs. The Fund will provide grants of up to £50,000 to support a range of organisations to improve the environmental and financial sustainability of their buildings, for example through installing solar panels, energy-efficient glazing or LED lighting.
“How we manage our endowment is also directly related to this subject, and – alongside our wider ESG policies – trustees have made the decision to divest from fossil fuel extractors.
“We report annually, alongside other funders, on the steps we are taking and our progress against the goals outlined in the Commitment.”
Kent Community Foundation
For Kent Community Foundation, this includes decarbonising its operations, offering educational opportunities for staff, trustees and stakeholders, moving to a more sustainable and responsible investment portfolio, and empowering local communities to take action on local environmental issues through its funding.
Chief Executive Josephine McCartney says:
“Kent Community Foundation has embarked on a new environmental strategy, recognising that many social issues are intertwined with environmental impact. Understanding the potential future impacts of warmer, wetter winters and hotter, drier summers is crucial for the future prosperity, environmental quality, and health and wellbeing of our local communities. As one of the largest grant-makers in Kent and Medway we have an important part to play in combating these challenges. We believe that local community action can be at the heart of delivering solutions that not only minimise the impact on the environment, but also offer additional benefits that people and local communities can reap.
“As place-based grant-makers and in partnership with donors and the local voluntary and community sector we can facilitate dynamic change in our own ‘back yard’. We believe it is right and proper that our broader charitable values respond to the national objective of net zero carbon by 2050 set by HM Government (and monitored by the UK Committee on Climate Change), and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals which now constitute best practice as defined by our umbrella body, UK Community Foundations.”
About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.