Funding trends 2022: Climate change mitigation philanthropy

Funding trends 2022: Climate change mitigation philanthropy

There was significant momentum for climate giving last year — but there’s much more that philanthropy can do to step up.

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By Helene Desanlis, Tim Lau, Karolina Janik, Stephanie Suttenberg, Surabi Menon

Our third annual report on funding trends in climate change mitigation philanthropy covers seven years of funding data from 2015 to 2021.

Philanthropic giving to climate change mitigation increased significantly in 2021, building on the growth we saw in 2019 and 2020. Despite this momentum, climate change mitigation still accounts for a small fraction of overall philanthropic giving. Given the ever-increasing urgency of the climate crisis, it is time for philanthropy to step up its ambition — and to move more funds faster to the places that need them most.

Report highlights

Accelerated growth in foundation funding for climate change mitigation
An expanding community of grantees
Sectoral and regional trends
A growing emphasis on equity and justice
Shifting approaches and strategies and increased collaboration

Foundation funding for climate change mitigation has more than tripled since 2015

Driven in part by the arrival of major new donors, pledges, and commitments, foundation funding for climate change mitigation has accelerated since the Paris Agreement was adopted in 2015.

Foundation giving to climate change mitigation

The number of grantees working to mitigate climate change has nearly doubled since 2015

Backed by philanthropic support, the total number of grantees in climate change mitigation has grown over the past seven years. In this critical moment for action, funders can further expand their support for climate leaders around the world and the enabling environments needed to achieve Paris Agreement goals.

Grantees working on climate change mitigation

“ClimateWorks’ research illuminates many opportunities where philanthropy can help accelerate climate action on the African continent, where climate philanthropy funding has steadily increased by an average of 30% a year since 2015. As the first African-led strategic grantmaker and think tank working at the nexus of climate change and development, we understand the immense potential for climate change interventions to unlock development opportunities in Africa while also accelerating the transition to a low-carbon economy.”

Saliem Fakir

| executive director of The African Climate Foundation

“ClimateWorks’ Funding Trends report shows how incredibly far philanthropy has come in a few short years. But it also reveals how much farther we must go to fully catalyze the transformations needed to mitigate the climate harms already happening and ensure communities around the globe can thrive today and for generations to come.”

Larry Kramer

| president of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation

“We are moving in the right direction with climate change mitigation philanthropy nearly doubling in the last three years. This is the momentum we need to come together, collaborate, and scale it much faster. The field is ready for that with so many solutions ready for major philanthropic funding all around the globe. Working together to heal the planet is our opportunity and our challenge. Scientists say we can do it, still. And, philanthropy can help make it happen. But it must scale exponentially – now.”

Jennifer Kitt

| president, Climate Leadership Initiative

“To end the climate crisis, funders’ investments must be comprehensive and ratchet up support to underfunded organizational partners working at the local level, to ensure that solutions reflect local realities. Well-meaning but inadequately informed efforts to address the climate crisis will not be durable if they exacerbate, rather than ameliorate, existing social and economic inequalities. To get transformation at the speed we need, we must intentionally anchor the transition to a clean economy with equity and justice.”

Danielle Deane-Ryan

| director of equitable climate solutions, Bezos Earth Fund

“Far too many people are already experiencing the devastating impacts caused by a reliance on fossil fuels. Philanthropy is stepping up its investments for a more just and sustainable future, but it must exponentially boost ambition and move funds faster to the places that need them the most to match the urgency of the crisis.”

Helen Mountford

| president and CEO of ClimateWorks Foundation

“It’s striking how little foundation funding is going toward mitigating climate change in regions that have contributed the least to greenhouse gas emissions but face extreme climate threats. Achieving global climate goals will require that these geographies receive as much funding as high-polluting countries.”

Surabi Menon

| vice president of Global Intelligence for ClimateWorks

About ClimateWorks Global Intelligence

In partnership with a global network of grantees, funders, and researchers, ClimateWorks Global Intelligence provides insights to help funders build and execute transformative climate strategies.

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