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This guide illustrates how the climate crisis impacts funding portfolios and highlights where there are co-benefits with taking climate action. It looks at five key areas that we call 'climate intersections.'The findings and suggestions in this report are meant to shine a light on how you as a funder can increase your impact by applying a climate lens to existing work. You know your portfolio best, and are therefore well placed to think through what these intersections mean for your work. The report is also interspersed with case studies on funders and select NGOs who are already applying this lens to their work.
Association of Charitable Foundations (ACF);
The Funder Commitment on Climate Change is a holistic, high-level framework for foundations - whatever their size, mission, or area of benefit - to play their part in tackling the causes and impacts of climate change. It was launched in November 2019, and since June 2020 has been hosted by the Association of Charitable Foundation (ACF). This UK initiative has inspired foundation networks in France and Spain to develop parallel commitments, and there are also plans for national commitments in other states and a global version. ACF invited all current signatories to respond to a simple survey of actions taken under each of the elements of the Funder Commitment. Funders were invited to make a simple self-assessment of their progress in each area - the collated results of which are shown as bar charts in this report. ACF also took this opportunity to ask signatories about how ACF can best support peer learning and further action, and finally to gather some basic data about the signatories to inform future work.
The reality that COVID-19 was a pandemic became clear by mid-March 2020. Immediately, grassroots, community-led groups organized mutual aid and other COVID response efforts to bridge the gaps created by lack of preparedness as well as inadequate response on the part of the state and federal governments.The Barr Foundation is interested in learning how these community based responses were organized, how they operated, and what the network ecology looked like in Boston, Chelsea, and Revere. The overall goal is to understand how community-focused and community-led responses like these can be built upon and reinforced to support equity-centered climate resilience.
Single-use plastics – the cheap plastic goods we use once and then throw away – epitomise the plastics crisis. Today, single-use plastics account for over a third of plastics produced every year, with 98 per cent manufactured from fossil fuels.Unsurprisingly, single-use plastics also account for the majority of plastic thrown away the world over: more than 130 million metric tons in 2019 – almost all of which is burned, buried in landfill, or discarded directly into the environment.The cost of single-use plastic waste is enormous. Of all the plastics, they are the most likely to end up in our ocean, where they account for almost all visible pollution, in the range of five to 13 million metric tons each year.1,2,3 Once there, single-use plastics eventually break down into tiny particles that impact wildlife health – and the ocean's ability to store carbon.4 Single-use plastics contain chemical additives such as plasticisers that have been found in humans and are linked to a range of reproductive health problems.5 And if growth in single-use plastic production continues at current rates, they could account for five to 10 per cent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.6Despite these threats, the plastics industry has been allowed to operate with minimal regulation and transparency for decades. Government policies, where they exist, tend to focus on the vast number of companies that sell finished plastic products. Relatively little attention has been paid to the smaller number of businesses at the base of the supply chain that make "polymers" – the building blocks of all plastics – almost exclusively from fossil fuels.These companies are the source of the single-use plastic crisis: their production of new "virgin" polymers from oil, gas and coal feedstocks perpetuates the take-make-waste dynamic of the plastics economy. The economies of scale for fossil-fuel-based production are undermining transition to a "circular" plastic economy, with negative impacts on waste collection rates, on end-of-life management and on rates of plastic pollution. The focus needs to be on producing recycled polymers from plastic waste, on re-use models and on alternative substitute materials.Part of the problem is that we can't manage what we can't measure. In this report, we identify for the first time the companies that produce from fossil fuels the five primary polymers that generate the vast majority of single-use plastic waste globally ("virgin single-use plastic polymer producers") – and which investors and banks are funding them. We also assess which companies are making real efforts to create a circular plastics economy, and estimate how virgin polymer production is expected to grow or decline in the future.
New York Renews;
For NY Renews, our hundreds of allied organizations, and tens of thousands of supporters statewide, the answer is clear: we rebuild our economy by jumpstarting the just transition to renewable energy and investing in our communities--especially disadvantaged communities hit first and worst by both Covid-19 and the climate crisis; we enact the Climate and Community Investment Act (CCIA) in New York and pass the Transform, Heal, and Renew by Investing in a Vibrant Economy (THRIVE) Act in Congress.Just as the CCIA will cut climate and air pollution, it will send ripples of investment throughout the economy. By supporting worker training, fueling small and large-scale infrastructure projects, electrifying our state's energy production, providing direct rebates to up to 60% of New Yorkers, and jump-starting community-driven climate solutions, the policy will invigorate many sectors of New York's economy.To be conservative in its estimates, this report analyzed two areas of the CCIA's spending that will create significant calculable new jobs in New York either because they replace expenditures out of state for fossil fuel or because they replace or expand employment in more labor and value intensive sectors of the economy: the CCIA's Climate Jobs and Infrastructure Fund and the Community Just Transition Fund.
US Water Alliance;
Access to water and sanitation services should not hinge on background, geography, or how much money someone makes—but it often does. Studies show that between 2012 and 2019, local water bills increased 31 percent nationally, far outpacing inflation and the consumer price index. Historical declines in federal support for water infrastructure have made this trend even worse. Local officials and water utility leaders have had no choice but to raise local water and sewer rates to pay for the needed operation, capital, and maintenance costs. Without federal and state support, local water and wastewater rates have increasingly become unaffordable for millions of Americans, and utilities have operated with outdated billing systems and often struggled to enroll low-income residents into the modest assistance available.Financial stress incurred by the COVID-19 pandemic and economic crisis has brought water affordability into sharp focus, and innovators have been seeking solutions to meet their communities' rising needs. The water and wastewater utilities in Louisville, Kentucky, provide one such case. Louisville shows how new, smarter solutions to bill relief are helping people in need while improving the utility-customer relationship by balancing care, bill assistance, and debt relief with needed revenue stability to maintain essential water systems. This case study explores key facets of the challenge, what Louisville achieved for its residents, and how the city's approach provides a model for other utilities to consider as they move forward. Sections discuss: How traditional customer assistance efforts have failed to meet customer needs, struggled with enrollment, and overlooked their fundamental purpose of guarding against revenue instability.What a modern, user-friendly approach to bill assistance looks like and how, combined with compassionate messaging, it can shift utility-customer payment and service relationship for the better.Why establishing innovative bill assistance options is especially wise given current and future federal funding opportunities to provide debt relief.Longer-term actions the federal government should prioritize to make safe, reliable water and wastewater service affordable for all.
Association of Charitable Foundations (ACF);
Climate change is an existential threat to humanity and the planet we call home. As many have reflected, it has no vaccine. Its economic, social and health impacts will dwarf those of the COVID-19 pandemic – unless we step up our response, and fast. We believe a key reason for inaction on climate change by potential funders is the difficulty both in understanding the issue and in finding effective solutions. This resource pack was developed to help funders overcome these challenges. It provides a range of useful and accessible sources of information on climate change: why it is so urgent, how it impacts other charitable causes, what the solutions are, and how funders – whether through grantmaking, operations or investments – can make a difference.
Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University SIPA;
New legislation, corporate action, and public interest have created both an imperative and opportunities associated with rapid and profound CO2 reduction and removal. Net-zero industrial hubs present a pathway to focus investment, innovation, and public policy to create industries and infrastructure toward achieving that goal. Such a hub would require building facilities, plants, and linked infrastructure that would reduce and eventually eliminate greenhouse gas emissions through the application of advanced clean energy, emissions control technology, and possibly CO2 removal technology. This concept, while relatively new, has already gained interest from some nations and companies, most notably in the United Kingdom around net-zero hubs like the Teesside collective.This paper, part of the work from the Carbon Management Research Initiative of Columbia University's Center on Global Energy Policy, examines Houston as a potential net-zero hub location. Houston, a major US refining and petrochemical center, possesses a high concentration of industrial sites and fossil-fueled power plants. Regional CO2 storage capacity, low-cost energy, infrastructure like the Port of Houston, and a large skilled labor pool also suggest a possible opportunity for investment, trade, and greenhouse gas reduction in this area. The paper also makes recommendations for policy makers should they seek to pursue a net-zero hub in the Houston area.
Walton Family Foundation, Inc.;
For the last couple of decades, climate change has been a large, amorphous, existential threat to everything we hold dear. In more recent years, the threat has become increasingly clear and present in the lives of most Americans, who see the reality of the challenge reflected back at us in the most basic ingredient for life: water.Through water, many Americans experience the reality of climate change almost daily. Flooding, drought, record-breaking storms and even wildfires – each in their own way makes the presence of climate change and its impact on both water and everyday life inescapable.The Walton Family Foundation has a longstanding and deep commitment to protecting rivers, lakes and oceans. Our response to the water and climate challenges we face involves building broad coalitions around commonsense ideas.
National Resources Defense Council;
Due to the impacts of climate change, summers are getting are hotter across the globe—but the health impacts of this heat are not felt equally, even within the same city. In New York City and many other cities across the United States, extreme heat disproportionately impacts certain vulnerable populations.Since 1900, New York City has warmed by 4.4°F, more than double the 2°F increase for the state as a whole. While this kind of heat can be uncomfortable for many city residents, it becomes life-threatening for others. That is due in no small part to the temperature variations within a city—trees, parks, and greenery bring temperatures down, while areas packed with concrete and asphalt skyrocket high temperatures even higher. In part due to historical and current patterns of racial discrimination and segregation, people of color often live in areas characterized by abundant heat-retaining surfaces and a lack of canopied vegetation. These residents are less likely to own or be able to afford to run an air conditioner and more likely to suffer from pre-existing health problems that can be aggravated by heat. Extreme heat vulnerability in New York City is, quite simply, an environmental injustice.This report looks at how exposure to extreme summertime heat is distributed unevenly throughout New York City, discusses the health burdens extreme heat imposes on environmental justice communities, and suggests equitable policy solutions that reflect the concerns and experiences of those most impacted by extreme heat.
Tiny Beam Fund;
* Expansion and intensification of game meat production in South Africa is gathering momentum. This is primarily due to efforts by the South African game industry which views expansion and formalization of the game meat value chain to be a good way forward as it faces many challenges and is at a crossroad in 2020. Among the most significant challenges are the collapse in game prices and the economic shut-downs associated with COVID-19.* This report traces the efforts made by the South Africa game sector. It also explains the changes that lead to the challenges experienced by the sector and to an increase in game populations that needs to be dealt with. These reasons and changes are complex. They are related to and intersect with: Game breeding practices, farm conversions and new investment patterns, hunting norms, ecotourism, biodiversity loss, processed game products, and the emergence of community game farms through land reform.* An expanded game meat value chain raises serious concerns for socio-economic development and racial transformation, environmental sustainability, human health and animal welfare. And there are key gaps in the regulatory framework for game meat production. The report highlights these concerns and gaps. It provides six recommendations for front-line persons and policy makers who want to ensure that expansions in game meat production occur in an inclusive, sustainable, safe, and ethical manner.
Environmental Policy Innovation Center;
In this report, we evaluate how states allocate support from the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) using national and state-level data from 2011 to 2020. This program already helps address disparities and has even more potential to do so. We find that states address disparities by targeting assistance towards:Health: Communities with more health-based Safe Drinking Water Act violations are more likely to receive assistance.Income: Communities with lower median household incomes are slightly more likely to receive assistance.We also find that states could do more to address disparities by expanding:Reach: 7.1 percent of eligible drinking water systems have received assistance.Additional subsidies: 26.6 percent of total assistance was distributed as principal forgiveness, grants, or negative interest loans, despite a federal ceiling of 35 percent for disadvantaged communities.Diversity: Small communities and more racially diverse ones are less likely to receive assistance.