Grants for Climate Change
Learn about grants for climate change and clean energy by browsing our curated list of top climate change funders below. Members can also research funding opportunities using the search tool for GrantFinder. Become a member.
Key Climate Funders
- Ballmer Group
- Benificus Foundation
- Bezos Earth Fund
- Bloomberg Philanthropies
- Breakthrough Energy
- ClimateWorks Foundation
- Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
- The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
- The Kresge Foundation
- Libra Foundation
- The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
- McKnight Foundation
- Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation
- The David and Lucile Packard Foundation
- Robertson Foundation
- Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
- Rockefeller Foundation
- Sea Change Foundation
- Sequoia Climate Foundation
- Skyline Foundation
- Bernard and Anne Spitzer Charitable Trust
- Walton Family Foundation
- Waverley Street Foundation
- Wellspring Philanthropic Fund
Trends in climate funding
The United Nations and other global organizations have been sounding the alarm on climate change and the transition to clean energy for decades. Most recently, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change called the current climate situation a “code red for humanity” and encouraged immediate and drastic action around the world.
Despite global concern, it is estimated that less than 2% of philanthropic funding is currently dedicated to climate change action. Between 2020 and 2021, the ClimateWorks Foundation estimated that climate change giving rose 25% between 2020 and 2021, three times faster than overall philanthropic giving, according to the report, which used data from Wealth-X and Barton Consulting. That said, according to an updated report from ClimateWorks in 2022, climate change giving decreased overall, despite showing some resilience in light of global economic conditions, falling far short of the scale needed to address the climate crisis.
In the United States, grants for climate change continue to represent a small fraction of all giving (estimated at 2–3%). Despite stagnation in climate philanthropy, one positive trend to note is a 12% increase in foundation funding, which is about $3.7 billion.
Climate change funders have typically included efforts to support clean energy with a particular emphasis on methods like public engagement and advocacy campaigns that encourage the fossil fuel industry to steer investments toward clean energy.
Developing areas of climate change funding
Several new trends have developed across climate change funding. As Michael Kavate, IP’s climate journalist reports, funding rose “60% for combatting super pollutants, particularly methane, likely boosted by more than 20 philanthropies launching the Global Methane Pledge in late 2020 and committing $328 million to reducing emissions of the potent greenhouse gas.”
According to the 2022 ClimateWorks report, funding to decarbonize transportation and industry also saw increases, each rising 24%. “Despite the double-digit gains, all three sectors are still relatively small,” says Kavate, “accounting for 4% each of total foundation funding.” Other top sectors have remained unchanged, though clean electricity remains the largest climate grantmaking category (11%), followed by forests (9%) and food and agriculture (8%), which are virtually unchanged from 2021.
ClimateWorks highlights four growing areas of interest: maritime shipping, the built environment, minerals for the energy transition and corporate accountability.
Overall, climate philanthropy disproportionately funds action across the U.S. and Europe. However, Africa and India have seen the fastest growth of all regions, rising 38% and 37%, respectively, along with Latin America (15%). These three regions receive just 20% of place-based climate grantmaking, though we are seeing a gradual, if not slow, shift in climate funding for the Global South. Only time will tell if this trend continues.
Opportunities for growth in climate change funding
While many climate change funders focus on mitigating greenhouse gases and reducing fossil fuel and coal use, the climate change work of other funders centers on building green jobs, as well as building climate equity through an intersectional lens. It is unclear, however, just how many dollars are going to climate justice efforts, climate migration issues or climate adaptation funding. It remains to be seen how grants for climate change will evolve in the coming years among legacy funders and newcomers — and whether billionaires will be as generous as in years past.
Climate Change Foundation Grants
11th HOUR PROJECT
The 11th Hour Project is an environmental grantmaker that supports “resilient systems for food, energy, water, human health and climate” in the U.S. and globally.
128 COLLECTIVE
This funder supports climate change-focused projects and organizations through two program areas, Climate and Youth Organizing & Climate Education.
776 FOUNDATION
Alexis Ohanian’s 776 Foundation has awarded fellowships for young people working toward climate change mitigation.
ADDITIONAL VENTURES
This funder’s Climate Action grantmaking supports research and development “to create solutions that can safely remove CO2 at costs consistent with gigaton scale.”
ALCOA FOUNDATION
Alcoa’s climate change funding invests in the prevention and management of climate change in geographic areas where its parent company operates. It also supports research and education toward these goals.
PAUL G. ALLEN FAMILY FOUNDATION
Allen’s Environment program works broadly to protect “biodiversity and vulnerable ecosystems” with acknowledgement of climate change and related environmental degradation.
ALL POINTS NORTH FOUNDATION
Grantmaking for clean energy primarily centers around solar energy, including initiatives for “the penetration of solar through education, job training and use of solar electric technologies in the United States.”
AMALGAMATED FOUNDATION
The Amalgamated Foundation has demonstrated a strong commitment to supporting organizations involved in climate change and clean energy. Past grants have gone to “local climate justice movements centering those most impacted by climate change.”
AMERICAN JEWISH WORLD SERVICE
This funder makes climate justice grants around the world with a focus on Indigenous land rights.
ARCADIA FUND
The Arcadia Fund supports and promotes “evidence-based practical solutions to the global biodiversity and climate crises.”
ARKAY FOUNDATION
Arkay’s environment grants are based on the foundation’s commitment to “reducing human impact on the environment to counteract global climate change.”
ASHDEN TRUST
Ashden works collaboratively to move “private and public capital away from polluting corporations to companies that will help achieve the Paris Agreement’s goal of keeping temperature rises well below 2 degrees and preferably 1.5 degrees.”
AUTODESK FOUNDATION
While this foundation does not have a giving program for climate change, it appears to give grants to organizations that focus on humanitarian or disaster aid spurred by climate change pressures.
AYRSHIRE FOUNDATION
This funder makes grants for “scientific research and education as well as sustainable or remedial environmental policy.”
BANCKER-WILLIAMS FOUNDATION
The foundation does not name specific grantmaking priorities, but broadly funds organizations and projects related to climate change, clean energy, sustainability, biodiversity, and wildlife conservation.
BARR FOUNDATION
Working mainly in Massachusetts, Barr supports “equitable solutions for clean energy, mobility, and resilient communities.”
BATTELLE MEMORIAL INSTITUTE
This funder does not name climate change as a giving area; support stems from its employee giving and volunteering programs.
BENIFICUS FOUNDATION
At the top of the list of Benificus’s climate change grantees is Stanford University, which used funding to establish the Doerr School of Sustainability.
BEZOS EARTH FUND
This has quickly become a major funder in this space, supporting a range of climate change, clean energy, food and agriculture, and environmental initiatives globally.
BIA-ECHO FOUNDATION
Nicole Shanahan’s environmental funding broadly focuses on climate change and averting climate disaster, as well as conservation efforts that support it’s climate change goals.
MORTON K. AND JANE BLAUSTEIN FOUNDATION
Climate change grantmaking focuses on building bipartisan alliances for equitable energy and climate policymaking in the United States and grassroots organizations led by communities impacted by climate change.
BLOOMBERG PHILANTHROPIES
Mike Bloomberg is “[g]lobally recognized for his work to fight climate change and accelerate the energy transition.” Bloomberg Philanthropies conducts extensive grantmaking in this field.
BOEING COMPANY
Boeing awards grants in 20 states and Washington, D.C. Its areas of focus vary by state, but include environmental protection, conservation and climate change.
BULLITT FOUNDATION
This foundation focuses on developing sustainable and healthy relationships between cities and their neighboring ecosystems. Climate and energy grants support organizations that increase energy efficiency, promote clean energy, and eliminate toxic chemicals in products.
CALDERA FOUNDATION
The Caldera Foundation invests in organizations combating climate disruption and advocating for the sustainable use of the planet’s natural resources.
MARGARET A. CARGILL PHILANTHROPIES
Cargill’s climate change and environmental conservation grantmaking is conducted via its Tropical Forests and Grasslands programs.
CHICAGO COMMUNITY TRUST
This local funder’s giving for climate change and the environment intersect with racial equity.
CHILDREN’S INVESTMENT FUND FOUNDATION
Grantmaking for Climate Change concentrates on “smart urbanization” and “energy sector transformation,” working mainly in Europe, China, and Latin America.
CHRISTENSEN FUND
This funder does not name climate change as an interest. However, it seeks to preserve “Indigenous Peoples’ efforts to secure and exercise their rights to their land, territories, resources, and sovereign systems of governance.”
CLARA LIONEL FOUNDATION
Clara Lionel predominately makes grants for climate resilience and disaster relief related to climate events.
CLIMATE AND CLEAN ENERGY EQUITY FUND
This fund supports community-based organizations that are engaged in the “multiracial community-driven movement to forge and implement climate equity policy solutions.”
CLIMATEWORKS FOUNDATION
ClimateWorks is a global grantmaker and philanthropy-serving organization supporting a range of climate change mitigation efforts through research, collaboration, and grantmaking in the areas of carbon removal, transportation, land use agriculture.
CLIMATE EMERGENCY FUND
The Climate Emergency Fund provides “catalytic funding to emerging groups to recruit, train, and prepare for non-violent civil resistance.”
COMER FAMILY FOUNDATION
Comer invests in “bold actions to confront the climate crisis and its impact on humanity.” Grants support research, education and vocational training for the emerging renewable energy industry.
THE COMMONWEALTH FUND
This health funder’s Climate Change and Health Care program “seeks to promote the decarbonization of the U.S. health care system” through policy, practice and “research to measure, compare, and reduce the health system’s carbon footprint.”
COMPTON FOUNDATION
Compton conducts climate change-related grantmaking through its Transformative Leadership and Courageous Storytelling initiatives.
CRAIGLIST CHARITABLE FUND
CCF’s grants broadly support causes related to biodiversity, climate change, domesticated animals, and environmental education.
CROSSCURRENTS FOUNDATION
While the foundation’s giving for environmental issues is not as robust as in other areas, CrossCurrents has made grants totaling almost a quarter-million in recent years to conservation and climate change organizations.
NATHAN CUMMINGS FOUNDATION
The Nathan Cummings Foundation’s climate-related giving looks at the issue from an equity perspective. The funder supports the transition to clean energy, with an emphasis on communities.
DEVON CREEK FOUNDATION
Devon Creek’s climate-related funding prioritizes resource, land and species conservation. The foundation’s geographic priority for its environmental funding appears to be Florida.
ARTHUR VINING DAVIS FOUNDATIONS
This major funder’s environmental solutions program has considerable overlap with its private higher education initiative in that it prioritizes education, research and fellowships at private colleges and universities.
RE:WILD
Formerly the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation, this funder supports environmental causes around the world.
DONNER CANADIAN FOUNDATION
The Donner Canadaian Foundation supports the development of a clean energy economy in Canada, but lacks a clear strategy for its work in this area.
DORIS DUKE CHARITABLE FOUNDATION
Duke runs a robust environmental program that aims make grants for conservation and climate change that also “promote a more equitable society.”
DROPBOX FOUNDATION
Climate change and environmental justice are not stated focus areas of the foundation, but it has made broad grants in this space.
EAGLEMERE FOUNDATION
This funder’s environmental work has addressed dams, strengthened protections for endangered species, and reinforced climate resilience across the world.
EARTHWATCH INSTITUTE
Earthwatch works to engage people and their communities to address environmental conservation and climate change efforts.
EDISON INTERNATIONAL
Climate-related grants tend to focus on educating the public on how to better apply conservation and climate change resilience principles to ensuring a more sustainable future.
ELMO FOUNDATION
This funder does not articulate climate change strategies, but this is its largest givign area. Grants support large national organizations.
ELSEVIER FOUNDATION
Elsevier runs award programs for projects in sustainable chemistry.
EMERSON COLLECTIVE
Emerson’s Environment program works to “support a just transition to a regenerative economy that helps communities most impacted by our changing climate.”
ENERGY FOUNDATION
This foundation targets climate change by developing access to green jobs, improving climate-related health outcomes, and addressing national security issues related to climate risk multipliers.
ENTERGY CHARITABLE FOUNDATION
Entergy’s climate change work funds energy efficiency and renewable energy, environmental education, and community resilience and mitigation.
EPPLEY FOUNDATION FOR RESEARCH
This foundation supports scientific research. Areas of interest include climate change, ecosystem studies and studies of “single species if they are of particular significance in their environments, in the U.S. and abroad.”
FEDEX CARES
Grantmaking for climate change stems from FedEx’s Sustainable Logistics program, which aims “to help the logistics industry and communities we serve move people and goods more sustainably.”
FLORA FAMILY FOUNDATION
Flora’s climate protection program is “chiefly concerned with coal combustion and the reduction of short-lived climate pollutants such as methane and black carbon.”
FORD FOUNDATION
Ford’s Natural Resources and Climate Change focus area prioritizes work benefiting or protecting the Global South and Indigenous communities.
FRANKEL FAMILY FOUNDATION
Frankel’s Environment grantmaking addresses the “changing climate conditions on our planet and the developed world’s dependence on fossil fuel as an energy source.”
FUTURA FOUNDATIONS
Working mainly in Sweden, this funder seeks projects that take a long-term approach to questions of the environment and climate change.
GIVE2ASIA
Give2Asia facilitates grantmaking sourced from U.S.-based corporations, foundations and other donors. Asian climate change initiatives are a small area of giving here.
GLOBAL GREENGRANTS FUND
The fund’s Climate Justice initiative supports “projects to restore forests, resist harmful development, and advocate for smart climate policies.” It prioritizes initiatives led by Indigenous and grassroots organizations.
LISA AND DOUGLAS GOLDMAN FUND
Environmental grantmaking supports initiatives for the development and adoption of clean energy to mitigate climate change. Grants tend to be concentrated in the San Francisco area.
GRAND CIRCLE FOUNDATION
Grand Circle works with grassroots and indigenous groups to protect and preserve land and natural resources that are vital to the global struggle against climate change.
GRANTHAM FOUNDATION FOR THE PROTECTION OF THE ENVIRONMENT
All grantmakingis conducted through a climate lens, and the foundation has established relationships with some of the world’s major environmental organizations.
GEORGE GUND FOUNDATION
The George Gund Foundation supports the arts, economic development, community revitalization, education, the environment, climate change and human services in the Greater Cleveland area of Ohio.
HALLORAN PHILANTHROPIES
Halloran’s climate change grants are broad and primarily conducted through its global development interests.
GEORGE HANLEY FOUNDATION
Grantmaking emphasizes projects that involve environmental education and social and economic empowerment.
HEINZ ENDOWMENTS
Focusing on Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, this funder focuses on “advancing a clean economy, protecting the environment and public health and pursuing equitable development.”
HEISING-SIMONS FOUNDATION
This major funder’s climate and clean energy program focuses on protecting the “people and planet from the worst impacts of climate change by accelerating the transition to a clean energy future.”
HEWLETT FOUNDATION
Hewlett is one of the biggest funders in the climate space. Its Environment program works to “protect people and places threatened by a warming planet by addressing climate change globally, expanding clean energy, and conserving the North American West.”
HIGH MEADOWS FOUNDATION
This foundation’s climate change interests include environmental education, conservation research, wilderness and landscapes, land management and sustainable food systems.
HIGHTIDE FOUNDATION
HighTide takes a broad approach to its climate change-related funding and does not impose specific requirements.
HIVE FUND FOR CLIMATE AND GENDER JUSTICE
The fund’s grantmaking works to transition to clean renewable energy, reverse the growth of “dirty energy industries,” and help place more women of color in positions of influence and power within the climate movement.
ROY A. HUNT FOUNDATION
Hunt’s environment initiative seeks organizations that protect “natural resources and ecosystems in the United States,” and support “sustainable solutions to altering root causes of environmental damage.”
IKEA FOUNDATION
This foundation prioritizes efforts to reduce carbon emissions in areas where “a relatively small amount of money can change large, complex systems that are currently responsible for a lot of greenhouse-gas emissions.”
INCITE LABS
Incite Labs supports grantmaking in the environment and climate change spaces but does not articulate goals or priorities for this giving.
HENRY M. JACKSON FOUNDATION
Jackson’s grantmaking for climate has gone mainly to organizations and institutes engaged in climate research and policy development toward climate change mitigation and national security.
JOCHNICK FOUNDATION
Grants stemming from the Our Planet program area have supported environmental conservation and clean energy initiatives, including organizations involved in research and “raising public awareness and changing consumer behavior.”
JOYCE FOUNDATION
The Joyce Foundation’s Environment program works to address the “long-term environmental challenges facing the next generation in the Great Lakes region.”
JPB FOUNDATION
A significant portion of JPB’s giving focuses on the organization of communities around environmental and climate justice.
J.M. KAPLAN FUND
Kaplan supports organizations that promote lower greenhouse gas emissions, reduce coal-generating activities in countries with high emissions rates, and advocate for carbon pricing.
MAYER AND MORRIS KAPLAN FAMILY FOUNDATION
The Kaplan Foundation focuses its grantmaking on mitigating the effects of climate change, promoting climate change education and clean energy policies.
KATALY FOUNDATION
This funder’s grants prioritize groups “led by and for the communities most impacted by environmental racism and unjust economic, social, and political systems.”
KENDEDA FUND
Kendeda conducts environmental and conservation grantmaking through its Montana, People, Place and Planet and Southeast Sustainability programs. Each program aims to protect the environment, create sustainability, and educate the public.
KR FOUNDATION
This funder awards grants to risky projects that have the potential for transformative and systemic change. It makes grants through programs for Sustainable Behavior and Sustainable Finance.
KRESGE FOUNDATION
Kresge’s Environment grants help cities “combat and adapt to climate change while advancing racial and economic justice” by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, preparing for future impacts of climate change, and advancing “social cohesion and equity.”
LAUGHING GULL FOUNDATION
Grantmaking for Climate Change focuses on supporting “sustainable communities living in balance with the earth and liberated from the inter-generational harm of structural racism and economic inequality.”
LAWRENCE FOUNDATION
The Lawrence Foundation mainly supports initiatives for the adoption of renewable energy.
MAX AND ANNA LEVINSON FOUNDATION
While Levinson has not outlined its strategies for giving in this space, tax filings suggest that this is a major area of focus.
LIBERTY HILL FOUNDATION
Grants for climate change and clean energy are mainly sourced through Liberty Hill’s emPower Outreach program, which helps Californians “overcome barriers to sustainable energy usage commonly experienced in low-income and working-class communities of color.”
LINDEN TRUST FOR CONSERVATION
The Linden Trust for Conservation focuses on market-based approaches that can provide long-term financing for policy work in climate change and conservation.
MACARTHUR FOUNDATION
Mac’s Climate Solutions program is concerned with limiting global warming, mainly through the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
MADRE
MADRE’s Advancing Climate Justice program area partners with local women’s organizations to combat the effects of climate change, such as “food shortages, droughts, floods and diseases.”
CHARLOTTE MARTIN FOUNDATION
Prioritizing Washington, Oregon, Montana, Idaho and Alaska.the foundation’s Wildlife and Habitat program seeks to “protect and restore vital ecosystems especially in the face of a changing climate with the long-term aim of preserving biodiversity in the region.”
MCKNIGHT FOUNDATION
McKnight’s Midwest Climate & Energy program makes grants for “bold and urgent action on the climate crisis by dramatically cutting greenhouse gas emissions and advancing an equitable clean energy transition.”
MERCK FAMILY FUND
The Merck Family Fund focuses its climate change grantmaking on reducing CO2 emissions through the promotion and implementation of energy efficiency policies and carbon pricing mechanisms.
MERTZ GILMORE FOUNDATION
The foundation’s Climate Change Solutions program is designed to provide investments in sustainable policies and practices in order to trigger significant reductions in global warming pollution.
MEYER MEMORIAL TRUST
This national funder’s climate work intersects with equity work, and focused on climate resiliency.
MICHELIN CORPORATE FOUNDATION
Michelin’s Protecting the Environment initiative seeks to address the “fundamental challenges for the future of our planet” by focusing on the “fight against global warming, the renewing of energies, the preservation of resources and biodiversity.”
MIZE FAMILY FOUNDATION
The Mize Family Foundation funds organizations that promote global environmental justice. It also funds organizations that advocate for increased diversity in the environmental movement.
GORDON AND BETTY MOORE FOUNDATION
This is is one of the largest and most active grantmakers in science and conservation philanthropy. Focus areas include marine and rainforest conservation, sustainable agriculture and food systems, wildfire resilience and a program focused on the San Francisco Bay Area.
CHARLES STEWART MOTT FOUNDATION
This funder’s climate grants support NGOs that aim to create “global and regional initiatives that help entrepreneurs address finance and policy barriers that prevent access to clean energy,” and organizations that provide technical assistance to communities in the Amazon and Sub-Saharan Africa.”
FREDERICK MULDER FOUNDATION
Mulder funds programs and organizations that promote “natural climate solutions, and the role of capital markets in driving the move to a low carbon economy.”
MUSK FOUNDATION
The Musk Foundation is the personal philanthropic organization of Elon Musk. Its work in the climate change area includes grants to support renewable energy research and advocacy.
NEIGHBORHOOD FUNDERS GROUP
This funder’s climate grants focus on climate justice and occur through a racial equity and gender lens.
NEW YORK COMMUNITY TRUST
Within New York City the fund aims to help New York become “a climate-smart metropolis,” to improve community health through environmental intervention and to protect existing ecologies in the city. NYCT also makes climate grants for other areas via the Kraft Family Memorial Fund.
NEW WORLD FOUNDATION
This funder’s Climate Action Fund awards grants to organizations that “aim to reverse the devastating impact on society’s dependence on fossil fuels.”
LAIRD NORTON FOUNDATION
The Laird Norton Foundation’s climate change grantmaking focuses on regenerative biological systems, reducing fossil fuel dependency, and promoting renewable energy.
OAK FOUNDATION
Oak Foundation’s environmental program is subdivided into three main focus areas: Energy, Food, and Nature.
OCEANKIND
This funder emphasizes organizations and projects that focus on the intersection between climate change, overfishing, habitat loss, and pollution.
ORSKOV FOUNDATION
The Orskov Foundation’s student grants have supported projects that involve the use of clean energy in agriculture and methods for adapting agricultural practice to changing climates.
OVERBROOK FOUNDATION
This foundation’s communities and climate program aims to change individual and collective behaviors towards more sustainable energy use.
PACKARD FOUNDATION
Packard is a major player in the climate field and its giving is broad and deep. Areas of interest include climate leadership development and the reversal of tropical deforestation.
PARK FOUNDATION
Park funds policy development, advocacy, organizing and corporate accountability initiatives related to the adoption of affordable and accessible clean energy. This grantmaking prioritizes the state of New York but has gone to organizations in other parts of the country
PISCES FOUNDATION
This foundation’s climate and energy grants support initiatives to reduce “black carbon, methane and hydrofluorocarbons” as part of the broad effort to “keep global temperature under critical thresholds.”
QUADRIVIUM
Quadrivium’s grants for climate change primarily advocate for “bipartisan passage of a U.S. climate strategy that doubles as an economic growth strategy.”
V. KANN RASMUSSEN FOUNDATION
This funder supports initiatives that relate to climate future, including scientific research, mitigation and planning for a rapidly changing earth.
REGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE FOUNDATION
This funder makes grants for agriculture-related efforts that promote responsible land stewardship, climate change solutions, freshwater and ocean protections, racial and economic equity and other issues in the U.S.
RESNICK FOUNDATION
Aside from a $750 million gift to Caltech in 2019 for an energy and sustainability research center, this funder makes only a few grants for climate change.
DAVID ROCKEFELLER FUND
The David Rockefeller Fund supports “[n]ew ideas, initiatives, and policy breakthroughs in support of bipartisan U.S. climate leadership.” It is willing to take funding risks with organizations having a difficult time obtaining funding from more traditional funders.
ROCKEFELLER BROTHERS FUND
The fund’s Sustainable Development grantmaking broadly advances climate solutions that are “ecologically based, economically sound, socially just, culturally appropriate, and consistent with intergenerational equity.” Climate grants also stem from the fund’s China program.
ROCKEFELLER FAMILY FUND
This funder is often drawn to smaller groups doing policy and advocacy work with national implications.
ROCKEFELLER FOUNDATION
This iconic foundation places climate at the center of its programming, vowing to “reverse the climate crisis” as part of its work across its priority giving areas.
This local funder’s climate change grants focus on resiliency, climate justice and storytelling.
SCHERMAN FOUNDATION
The foundation’s Environmental and Climate Justice giving program works broadly “to empower justice-seeking grassroots EJ groups to develop their own strategic and policy solutions and approaches.”
SEA CHANGE FOUNDATION
The Sea Change Foundation and its international counterpart, Sea Change International, focus on policy development in the areas of climate change mitigation and clean energy production.
SEMPRA FOUNDATION
Tax filings to not reveal grantmaking for climate change and clean energy per se, but the foundation does engage in signature projects to bring energy resources to communities in need in the U.S.
SEQUOIA CLIMATE FOUNDATION
This funder works “across regions and sectors to support grantees taking bold and ambitious actions to drive down emissions and accelerate a just and equitable transition to clean energy.”
THOMAS AND STACEY SIEBEL FOUNDATION
This foundation has run contests that recognize innovative climate solutions and research.
SKOLL FOUNDATION
This funder’s climate work “supports social innovations that mitigate climate change, influence private sector action, advance climate justice in partnership with the hardest-hit communities, and build strong support for climate action globally.”
ALFRED P. SLOAN FOUNDATION
This research funder’s interests include energy markets and policy, negative emissions technology innovation, transportation, equitable energy distribution, industrial decarbonization and the adaptation of energy systems to the changing climate.
SUMMIT FOUNDATION
Summit’s Sustainable Cities program area works to support “cities’ efforts towards effective and efficient sustainability.”
SURDNA FOUNDATION
Surdna makes grants to help “communities of color and low-wealth communities to direct infrastructure and land use investment dollars, drive decision-making processes and design policy solutions.”
STARR FOUNDATION
While the Starr Foundation does not name a specific interest in climate change, it broadly funds organizations working in this area.
THE STREISAND FOUNDATION
This is a smaller area of giving for Barbara Streisand’s foundation. Grants mainly go to well-established national organizations.
FLORA L. THORNTON FOUNDATION
This funder broadly funds climate change and environmental work.
THOUSAND CURRENTS
A significant portion of Thousand Currents grantmaking goes to initiatives that promote sustainable agriculture, water management and the limitation of fossil fuel extraction from indigenous lands.
THRESHOLD FOUNDATION
A main goal of this funder’s Land and Climate program is to mitigate climate change through the management of “farms, ranches, and other landscapes so we pull carbon out of the air and return it to soils and living systems.”
TIDES FOUNDATION
Tides currently focuses on women’s leadership in the climate change movement and a fund “that equips communities impacted by climate environmental hazards with the critical resources they need to take on big polluters in the courtroom
TOMBERG FAMILY PHILANTHROPIES
Tomberg broadly conducts grantmaking for climate change initiatives through its environmental giving.
TOMKAT FOUNDATION
Grantmaking prioritizes organizations that work to prevent climate disaster and develop a “new energy economy.”
TRAFIGURA FOUNDATION
This Switzerland-based foundation focuses on “mitigating environmental and social issues caused by transportation or infrastructure at land and sea.”
TURNER FOUNDATION
Climate change and clean energy grantmaking stems mainly from Turner’s air initiative, which aims to scale clean energy technologies, emphasizing wildlife-friendly and affordable sources of energy.
UBS OPTIMUS FOUNDATION
The foundation’s Climate Change program works to “identify and help scale a range of climate solutions to create a cleaner, safer and a more equitable future for all.”
VERE INITIATIVES
Vere Initiatives is the philanthropic vehicle of Dirk and Natasha Ziff. It names “improving the health of our oceans and expanding regenerative agriculture” as two of its main areas of engagement.
VOLO FOUNDATION
This funder’s areas of climate interest include carbon pricing, voting movements that protect climate change efforts, climate change education, sustainable agriculture, clean energy and sustainable transportation and refrigeration.
WALLACE GENETIC FOUNDATION
This foundation’s giving for climate change overlaps with its global development, conservation and sustainable agriculture work.
WALLACE GLOBAL FUND
Climate giving supports divestment and limitation of the fossil fuel industry, grassroots organizing toward climate justice and the adoption of clean energy alternatives and initiatives that provide hands on support for clean energy projects in “front line and indigenous communities.”
WELLCOME TRUST
This funder seeks fund research projects that can “define the interventions and policies that can respond to the climate crisis in a way that protects and improves human health.”
WELLS FARGO
In addition to its climate grantmaking, Wells Fargo operates the Innovation Incubator program, which funds a mix of renewable energy, energy efficiency, green buildings, alternative transportation, water, and sustainable agriculture.
WEND COLLECTIVE
Rather than grantmaking, the collective appears to make strategic investments in promising climate change projects.
WESTWIND FOUNDATION
WestWind is a small, Virginia-based funder. Grants primarily fund the fight against climate change, prioritizing the American South and stopping new coal plants. While somewhat regional, this funder supports groups across the United States.
WILD GEESE FOUNDATION
The Wild Geese Foundation’s grants for climate change support efforts to “wean us from extractive methods of energy production and fossil fuels” and to “build resilient and regenerative economies in healthy communities.”
WYNCOTE FOUNDATION
Grantmaking for climate change and clean energy stems mainly from the Wyncote Foundation’s Northwest funding program. Grants support policy and voter initiatives.
YOUTH CLIMATE JUSTICE FUND
The Youth Climate Justice Fund is a single-issue funder tackling the impacts of climate change on global communities, with a primary focus on organizations founded and run by young people.
ZEGAR FAMILY FOUNDATION
Zegar’s environment program broadly supports organizations “addressing the climate change crisis to preserve and conserve […] natural biodiverse resources and sustain [the] world environment.”
ZOOM FOUNDATION
The ZOOM Foundation supports organizations working toward reversing the effects of climate change.