How is global philanthropy working to respond and build resilience to crises in their regions?
The war in Ukraine, economic instability and a sudden increase in the cost of living, the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, the climate crisis, restriction of reproductive rights: the list of global crises seems as if it is getting larger and larger.

Philanthropy has always worked to respond to crisis, but how is it approaching the question of building resilience to crisis? Alliance magazine is focusing on crisis, response, and resilience over the next three months as part of our December issue special feature.

We reached out to colleagues around the world to ask:

  • What is impacting your region and your community, and how are you responding to it?
  • How are you approaching this response? What is the impact of your response on the community?
  • Is building resilience a part of your crisis response work? What does that look like?

Their answers are collected below.

Saliem Fakir, Executive Director at African Climate Foundation
South Africa

The African Climate Foundation has focused primarily on energy transitions since it started in 2020. Our key work was to develop an ecosystem on the Just Energy Transition (JET), as well as JETs which have led to the evolution of a Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP).

This partnership involved aligning the energy transitions to a new climate ambition, which South Africa submitted in 2021 before COP26 in Glasgow. Here, South Africa and the international partners group, (involving the US, the UK, France, Germany, and the EU) announced an $8.5 billion deal. This deal has now led to an investment plan, which will be announced at COP27 in Egypt and sets out South Africa’s vision and plan for clean electrification, hydrogen, and electric vehicles for the next 25 years or so. The $8.5 billion deal is a catalytic deal, involving cheaper sources of climate finance and is aimed at fast-tracking South Africa’s transition to clean energy and the phasing down of coal.

Read the full article about crisis response at Alliance Magazine.