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Climate Change: Five Ways You Can Help Right Now

Climate Solutions Mar 19, 2018
This article is deemed a must-read by one or more of our expert collaborators.
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Climate Change: 5 Ways You Can Help Right Now
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Climate change is one of the most pressing challenges facing the planet. Scientists overwhelmingly believe climate change is happening, is primarily caused by humans, and is already having major impacts on the planet, its people, and the economy around the globe.

But, three important factors — economics, innovation, and people power — will help drive the improvements we need to see in the world. Renewables and energy efficiency have become cheaper than many fossil fuels like coal to power our electrical system. Innovations in battery technology for electric vehicles and storage, new financial tools, and more, are popping every day across the globe. People are stepping up everywhere demanding a rapid and just transition away from fossil fuels.

The combination of urgency for action and opportunity for impact means now is the time for getting involved in climate change issues and clean energy.

Here are some suggestions for getting started:

  1. Get educated. My favorite sources of information are Climate Cast, a weekly round-up of the main trends on climate and clean energy; and the writings of David Roberts and Thomas Friedman.
  2. Get networked. There are so many people working on these issues in the public sector, NGO, and business spaces. Reach out to a few people and get to know the topic and the context. Leaders in all of these sectors want to talk and listen.
  3. Get focused. There are literally hundreds of ways to make an impact on climate change. You can work at different levels — global, national, regional, state, local. You can be an investor in a clean energy business, a board member for a great NGO, a citizen activist pressuring government to act, a donor. You can work on solar or transportation or energy storage or dozens of other slices of the pie. To solve the climate crisis, we need to succeed at every level. There is no silver bullet. Pick one or whatever your time allows.
  4. Get active. Once you have chosen your focus, get active, and stay with it. Making change does not happen as quickly as we would like. There are ups and downs, frustration and glorious moments.
  5. Give. You can direct your dollars to organizations like Climate Solutions or through a philanthropic issue fund, such as the Climate Fund.

The climate crisis requires a response unlike anything this planet has ever seen. Fortunately, the opportunities for rapid change through citizen action driving public policy changes; technological and financial innovations to drive down costs of solutions; and the rapidly growing business investments in cleaner options, provide hope that we can indeed prevent the worst impacts of climate change. We can create a world that is cleaner and more equitable.

____

Original contribution by Gregg Small, Executive Director of Climate Solutions.

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Learning and benchmarking are key steps towards becoming an impact giver. If you are interested in giving with impact on Environment take a look at these selections from Giving Compass.

  • This article is deemed a must-read by one or more of our expert collaborators.
    Click here for more.
    Opportunity for Impact: Children’s Environmental Health

    Giving Compass' Take: • The Center for High Impact Philanthropy explains the issues associated with environmental health and how funders can make an impact to improve the lives of children in the U.S. • Does this work align with your philanthropic mission and values? How can philanthropists work together to increase their impact on children's health?  • Learn about using evidence to prioritize and address environmental risks. Chemicals are in the air we breathe, the products we use, and the food and beverages we consume. Many are instrumental in improving the quality of our lives. However, of the 80,000 chemicals registered for use in the U.S., only an estimated 200 have been tested for human health impacts. Moreover, there is a small, but powerful subset of those chemicals that have been identified as toxic to the human nervous system. A study in the U.S. found three pervasive chemicals—lead, methylmercury, and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)—in 96%, 89%, and 100% of children, respectively, and in more than 80% of pregnant women. These chemicals present a significant risk for children and pregnant moms. While there are many factors that contribute to a safe and healthy start for children, here we list three ways donors can help build critical mass in the evolving field of environmental health in early childhood. The most acute stages of human neurological development begin in the womb and continue through age two, a period increasingly referred to as “the first 1,000 days.” While children’s brains continue to develop into adulthood, influences on this earliest period of brain development, including maternal health during pregnancy, can have particularly profound and lifelong effects. Without a safe and healthy start children can miss critical opportunities to thrive and become productive members of our communities. This is a promising and evolving opportunity for philanthropy. Among the ways funders can help prevent and reduce childhood exposure to harmful chemicals include: Advocating for improved policies and regulations. Supporting research and innovation to further assess chemicals whose effects have not yet been fully tested. Eliminating these exposures in built, consumer, and natural environments. Read the full article about children's environmental health at The Center for High Impact Philanthropy.


Looking for a way to get involved?

If you are interested in Clean Energy, please see these relevant events, training, conferences or volunteering opportunities the Giving Compass team recommends.

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