Our Climate Change Giving Fund in H2/2023

In 2023, over 4,300 donors supported our top recommendations and our Giving Fund: Mitigating Climate Change with 4.9 million euros. Our Giving Fund received approximately 2.1 million euros in 2023, with 1.5 million euros in the second half of the year (nearly 1.3 million euros from Germany and about 200,000 Swiss francs from Switzerland).

The Giving Fund supports our four top recommendations with just over half of the funds, 800,000 euros. Carbon180, the Clean Air Task Force, Future Cleantech Architects and the The Good Food Institute each received 200,000 euros.

To allocate the remaining funds to other organizations, we are in close contact with external experts such as the Founders Pledge Climate Change Fund. Based on his recommendation, we awarded a grant of 300,000 euros to Carbon-Free Europe and 400,000 euros to DEPLOY/US.

Carbon-Free Europe

Full decarbonization likely requires a diverse mix of zero-carbon technologies. Yet the climate policy debate in Europe is often dominated by a strong focus on renewables alone. Carbon-Free Europe (CFE), launched by the Climate and Energy program of U.S. think tank Third Way at COP26 in Glasgow in 2021, aims to address this gap and build support for a technology-inclusive climate agenda. With a presence in Brussels, EU member states, the UK, and Washington, DC, CFE facilitates transatlantic collaboration on climate policy, innovation, and clean energy supply chains.

While the bulk of future emissions and energy demand is likely to be concentrated in emerging economies, developed countries such as the EU and the US have a key role to play in developing the technologies and supply chains that will enable global decarbonization. Policies that remove barriers to the innovation and deployment of a broad range of zero-carbon technologies are an important prerequisite. A technology-inclusive climate strategy will also enhance energy security, make energy more affordable and ensure reliability in a highly renewable system.

As a key pillar of its work, CFE conducts research to ensure that policymakers and the climate community have access to comprehensive, robust analysis to make evidence-based decisions on net-zero strategies. CFE’s Annual Decarbonization Perspective (ADP) provides annual insights into Europe’s progress towards carbon neutrality, using state-of-the-art energy system models to assess the latest changes in energy policies and technology costs.

On the recommendation of the Founders Pledge Climate Change Fund, our grant strengthens CFE’s presence in Europe as a step towards establishing CFE as a fully independent, operational NGO based in Brussels.

DEPLOY/US

DEPLOY/US is a funder, convener, and accelerator of climate leadership across the political spectrum. A non-partisan nonprofit with a bipartisan team and board, they are the only organization in the US focused on scaling the impact of the field of NGOs engaging conservatives on climate change, in order to build broad-based support for US decarbonization and international climate leadership. DEPLOY/US is a charity recommended by our evaluator Founders Pledge.

The climate debate is becoming increasingly polarized in many places, despite the fact that it affects us all. This is particularly true in the United States, where the political system requires cooperation between the two major parties, the Republicans and the Democrats, to get anything meaningful done Clear governing majorities for either party are rare; on average, U.S. political parties secure simultaneous control of the White House, Senate, and House of Representatives only once every fourteen years.

Yet there has been far too little investment in the field of NGOs that can equip and guide both parties on climate change. In the U.S., climate change philanthropy has almost exclusively funded organizations that tend to be seen as left of center on the political spectrum. Only a small fraction (about $30 million/year) supports groups that credibly engage and mobilize more right-of-center constituencies on the issue.

This is where DEPLOY/US comes in. They fund, coordinate, and provide shared infrastructure to the field of NGOs capable of credibly engaging conservatives on climate change, catalyzing center-right environmental leadership, and enabling lasting bipartisan breakthroughs. While their work necessarily has a U.S. focus, it also has an international element, given, for example, NGO leadership driving bipartisan interest in climate-and-trade policy, and supporting increasingly bipartisan participation in climate COPs.

About the author

Sebastian Schienle

Founder & Former Head of Research

I was a co-founder of effektiv-spenden.org and headed up the research department there until 2024. I have been professionally involved in effective climate protection and sustainability for over 15 years, including in my roles as a management consultant and for a family foundation.