Climate change: what is philanthro-activism?

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Although philanthropic giving to climate mitigation has increased in recent years, the amount given is still too low to save the planet, and accounts for less than 2% of all philanthropic giving.

McKinsey Sustainability say “philanthropic funding of climate-change solutions remains meagre compared with the scale of the problem and the speed with which the world must act to stop climate change and the suffering it causes”.

Climate justice groups, which focus on climate solutions with socially equitable outcomes, have in particular been long underfunded. Bineshi Albert, co-executive director of the Climate Justice Alliance, says: “We need philanthropy to get on board with the visionary, community-led climate solutions and shift more money to the grassroots now.”

Research shows that while indigenous groups are on the front line of climate impacts, they are also very well-equipped with traditional knowledge and technologies to find climate solutions which serve the global population.

Community-led approaches to climate action in other forms are also thought to be valuable in their responsiveness to conditions on the ground, their legitimacy among local people, and their ability to facilitate specific local adaptation.

Philanthro-activism is a term coined by the non-profit One Earth meaning a system where the resources of philanthropy are directed to the activism of communities working on the front lines of climate change.

Here is how One Earth is using digital technology to achieve this vision.

The One Earth marketplace platform

OneEarth’s marketplace platform is a digital solution to the gap in funding for community-led climate initiatives. With options to use a database or global navigator view, the platform outlines vetted projects currently seeking funding.

The purpose is to mobilise the philanthropic community to direct their support to climate action to meet the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement. The platform serves as a way for communities to attract new capital towards climate solutions on the front line of the crisis.

Philanthropists can use the database to browse and filter projects by category, region, status, funding level, and keywords relating to different projects.

In December 2022, the projects detailed on the platform range from restoring ecosystems through women-led climate coalitions in Southern America, to providing emergency relief for clean energy entrepreneurs in Uganda, to safeguarding endangered wildlife through regenerative agriculture in Indonesia – and many more.

Supporting communication

There is a communication gap between local communities taking climate action and philanthropists. Zainab Salbi, co-founder of Daughters for Earth, says that this is because the dominant way of transferring knowledge in philanthropic circles is limiting to communities who might have less resources, a different way of communicating, or who speak different languages.

One Earth works collaboratively with community partners to create storytelling media to help communicate desired outcomes and long-term visions of their projects in clear and inspiring ways in order to drive philanthropic support.

Global Safety Net App

The online Global Safety Net app created by One Earth gives a comprehensive view of Earth’s most essential areas for biodiversity and climate resilience.

Users of the map can view rare species sites, high biodiversity areas, large mammal landscapes, intact wilderness areas, and climate stabilisation areas.

One Earth notes that over one third of the most essential areas are communally held by indigenous peoples, which highlights the need to safeguard territorial rights for these communities.

They state that the app acts as a “blueprint” to restoring our biosphere. It serves as an accessible way for philanthropists and other users to understand how the crisis can be tackled on a local scale.

What everyone can do

As well as their work connecting community-led projects with philanthropic resources, One Earth has given everyone the opportunity to learn from local community leaders through online panels (see below). Here is some key information from these discussions.

“We need people from around the world to ally with us”, says Nemonte Nenquimo, indigenous Waorani leader and co-founder of Amazon Frontlines and Ceibo Alliance.

Speaking to Justin Winters, the Co-Founder and Executive Director of One Earth, Nenquimo says that everyone should “work to transform the societies where they are – western society, the capitalist system – because that is a system that is invading and destroying…and not respecting Mother Earth.”

“The first thing is to grow consciousness and wake up and dedicate your lives to transforming the systems that are destroying the world and indigenous people.”

Speakers on the panel also recommended visiting the Daughters for Earth and Sacred Earth Solar websites.

Tabara Ndaiye urges listeners to support grassroots-led efforts and invest in women, while Melina Laboucan-Massimo appeals to philanthropists to actively look for who they can support in the frontlines of the climate crisis, ensuring that indigenous peoples in particular are represented in philanthropy.