Climate action needs big money — and Canadian philanthropists say it's time to pay up
Nine wealthy families and foundations are pledging $405 million to fund climate-related projects
Sylvie Trottier says it has long been recognized that while the wealthiest countries are the biggest contributors to climate change, the least wealthy countries will unfortunately bear the brunt of its impacts.
"That's true on an individual level as well, [and it's] something that I have grappled with personally," Trottier, a philanthropist and board member of the Trottier Family Foundation, told The Current's Matt Galloway.
Last week, nine wealthy Canadian families and foundations — including Trottier's — committed a total of $405 million over the next decade to help combat climate change.
The pledge was made through the Climate Champions initiative, a campaign by the Clean Economy Fund, a charitable foundation focused on increasing climate-focused philanthropy in Canada.
Trottier says climate change is an existential threat, adding that there is "no other issue which is as pressing."
However, in 2022, $106 million of Canada's total philanthropic donations — just 0.9 per cent — went to climate-related causes. That's a sum lower than the global average of 1.6 per cent, according to data from the Clean Economy Fund.
"There's not any one entity that's going to solve it on its own, so a lot of philanthropists and funders [think] it's easier to fund a hospital or a university, or something that's much more tangible," said Trottier. According to its website, the Trottier Family Foundation supports projects focused on mitigating climate change and protecting the environment.
"What funders can do is to be that one domino that gets things going, and that scales up solutions to the level we need them to play."
Basav Sen — climate justice project director for Washington, D.C., think-tank Institute for Policy Studies — says that climate philanthropy is necessary because it's not sufficient for the government or the private sector to shoulder all of the burden for funding climate action.
"The non-profit sector needs philanthropic funding in order to function. And as we have seen from country after country over the last several decades, it is [the] grassroots social movement, it is civil society, that has driven a lot of the needed transformation that has already occurred," said Sen.
Shift to low-carbon economy
Bruce Lourie, president of the Ivey Foundation, says that while climate change is a complex issue, he sees an obvious solution.
"We know that we have to stop burning fossil fuels — that's the main problem," said Lourie.
"We're talking about the complete retooling of the global economy. It's from one based on fossil fuel to electricity."
The Ivey Foundation supports organizations, communities and initiatives accelerating this transition by "having equity ownership in major projects that will be electrifying the economy," he said. In 2022, the foundation announced it would wind up operations in 2027 and committed its $100 million endowment to climate-related projects.
That has included funding for projects that support heat pump and HVAC technician skills development and exploring uses of hydrogen.
He also wants to demonstrate to political leaders that the move away from fossil fuels is economically beneficial.
"This will create millions of jobs in communities across our country, and will attract billions of dollars in investment as investments in oil go down," he said.
He points to the government of Ontario's investments in the emerging electric vehicle manufacturing sector as one example of a shift toward a greener economy.
Support for grassroots organizations needed
Sen says that there are certain factors to consider to ensure the effectiveness of philanthropic contributions, noting a broad trend in philanthropy has been to contribute to already well-funded organizations.
"I would argue that it's some of the smaller, less well-funded grassroots organizations that are really the most cutting-edge and the most effective in terms of coming up with solutions," said Sen.
"That's only to be expected because it's the people who are closest to the problem, who are closest to the solution."
But Sen cautions that philanthropy could give donors disproportionate power to set the agenda if "wealthy individuals use their economic clout to steer solutions in a direction that is preferable to them, rather than one that is in the best interests of humanity," he said.
Government-led wealth redistribution policies — taxing wealthier individuals and corporations more — should play a bigger role, he says. The additional revenue, he explained, could then be used to fund government programs that support under-resourced communities dealing with the effects of climate change.
Taking action
Sen recommends that donors directly engage with communities — including low income and Indigenous communities — that are being affected by the harmful impacts of fossil fuel extraction and use.
"Find out what they need, find out what solutions they're already working on, and fund them," said Sen.
Trottier agrees, and says she urges other philanthropists and wealthy families to give more, and invest in a way that is going to help speed up a transition to a "cleaner, healthier, greener future."
"We do have a responsibility to play a role."
"The riskiest thing here is, really, to do nothing. To be like, 'Somebody else will do this,' or 'I'm not quite sure where to get started,'" she said.
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Audio produced by Ines Colabrese and Paul MacInnis