Posted on 26th January 2012
By:
Environmental Funders Network
New donors are helping to boost environmental philanthropy by UK-based trusts and foundations, finds a report published by the Environmental Funders Network (EFN) today (Friday, January 27th).
The report, Where The Green Grants Went 5 (WTGGW5), records a big increase in the proportion of environmental philanthropy going to tackle climate change, averaging 21% of green spend over the three years to 2009/10 - up from less than 9% in 2005/06 to 2006/07.
The total amount given by charitable trusts and foundations to environmental causes is around £75m per year, with nearly £10m (13%) of the 2009/10 total coming from newer philanthropic structures, such as the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation and the European Climate Foundation.
Report co-author and EFN coordinator Nick Perks said: “Existing and new donors alike are taking a keen interest in climate change, a trend we expect to strengthen as the impacts of environmental change make themselves felt in areas ranging from public health to human rights.”
Despite the increase, the report finds that climate change attracts less than 0.7% of total UK philanthropy. More traditional areas of philanthropy remain far better endowed, with over half of all donations over £1m going to higher education. Overall, less than 3% of total UK philanthropy goes to environmental causes.
Within the database of 6,100 grants and 147 grant-makers assessed for the WTGGW report, biodiversity and species preservation was the most popular grant-making category. Work on more sustainable transport, toxics (such as pesticides), waste and consumption continued to receive very low levels of investment.
The report encourages green funders to reflect on allocation of their resources. For instance, the report finds a strong emphasis on saving individual species, but a weaker focus upon underlying causes of global ecosystem change. The £1.1 million foundations have invested in protecting water voles, and the £0.3 million towards reforming the aviation industry, are among the examples given.
Jon Cracknell, report co-author explains: “Many people who give to environmental causes are motivated by protecting much-loved wildlife and landscapes. Sadly, places and species cannot be placed in a glass bubble – ultimately their welfare depends on the wider ecosystems. Smart philanthropists are thinking about the health of these systems and the factors that undermine them, such as ever-increasing resource consumption and continued dependency on fossil fuels.”
Nick Perks adds, “Falling public expenditure will create funding pressures for many NGOs. In the context of increasing environmental threats, there is a pressing need for increased environmental philanthropy and for funds to be spent wisely to help bring a more sustainable society. Strategic reviews, particularly by funders who have not undertaken one recently, may be needed.”
More than 50 members of the Environmental Funders Network gathered last week near Chester to consider the findings of the report.
Key findings of the report:
- The 10 largest environmental funders identified in 2009/10 each gave more than £2m to environmental causes in 2009/10, together accounting for 58% of total grants by value.
- Green grants are heavily concentrated on a small number of recipients. Although 2,100 organisations received trust funding over the three years under analysis, the 104 top-funded organisations secured 59% of total grants by value.
- International comparisons show the UK lagging behind the US, where foundations give nearly four times as much on a per capita basis to environmental issues.
- Environmental philanthropy has a strong international element, with nearly half of all grants (48.3%) going for work outside the United Kingdom.
- Within the UK, just three areas - Scotland, the South West and London - received 41.5% of the grants for local and regional work. The East and West Midlands, Northern Ireland, and Yorkshire and the Humber receive the least funding per capita.
- Grant-making trusts only provide a small part of the income of environmental charities, and even rapid growth in environmental philanthropy would not compensate for planned reductions in statutory spending on the environment. However, philanthropy can play a crucial catalytic role by offering flexible support to NGOs on strategically important issues.
The report can be downloaded at the EFN website, www.greenfunders.org.
The WTGGW series comprises the most in-depth data on patterns of environmental philanthropy in the UK. Now in its eighth year of gathering grants data, WTGGW has analysed nearly 12,000 individual grants, tracking their distribution between different environmental issues and grantees.
