On 31 March 2022, Synergos’ Global Philanthropists Circle, in partnership with Environmental Funders Network (EFN) and The Philanthropy Workshop (TPW), brought together funders for a ‘rare opportunity to hear from the broader environmental philanthropic community on how they are approaching the biggest issue of our time.’ Covering the themes of biodiversity loss, climate-friendly investing and shifting public opinion, the event convened a group of 20 guests at the Conduit in London.

Without action to tackle climate change, we are heading towards a world where our ‘food system is in collapse, a billion or more people are on the move because their land is no longer habitable, and economies are in flux.’ Florence Miller, director of EFN, began by setting the scene for the night’s discussion, highlighting the urgent need for climate action to prevent this bleak future.

She used digital maps to show guests what the world would look like by 2050 without intervention: large parts of East Anglia and London underwater, Bangladesh and South Vietnam gone entirely. The next map showed that by 2050 the tropics are set to experience up to 365 deadly heat days a year.

This is ‘not a world I’m willing for my children to grow up into’ Miller said, to everyone’s agreement. She then discussed what can be done to prevent this catastrophe with three main action points: stop burning fossil fuels, restore nature, and draw down carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Philanthropy’s role in this will be significant. Government and market forces are not sufficient, but philanthropy ‘is the catalyst for both of those things.’ However, with only around 2 per cent of global philanthropy going to climate, there’s a lot of work to be done to ensure this happens.

Balancing climate philanthropy with other focus areas

Many funders start off focusing on other areas and later pivot towards climate. Mokhtarzadeh spoke about her experience at the Savitri Trust, pivoting from community healthcare to climate. She was keen to stress that while charity is important work, it’s ‘not systems change’ which is what makes climate such a complex issue. Mokhtarzadeh’s advice to new climate funders is to ‘pivot out slowly with consideration’ but to remember that ‘if it’s charity someone will come to fill that gap.’

Read the full article about climate philanthropy by Annmarie McQueen at Alliance Magazine.