Bold climate action deserves bold philanthropy that takes chances, trusts capable leaders, and backs ambitious ideas that push the boundaries of what’s possible. We have evidence our program fosters a rare environment that leaders need to pursue bold strategies—especially emerging or underexplored ones—as innovative and incisive as the problem demands. Quite simply, there is no other climate philanthropy program like the Climate Breakthrough Award.
Since 2016, we have championed some of the world’s most visionary strategists to swiftly and justly close the gap between the world today and a sustainable future. With our support, Climate Breakthrough Awardees have launched initiatives that are shaping consequential climate conversations, challenging outdated assumptions, and pushing for transformative change where it’s long overdue. These are initiatives that, if successful, could significantly reduce global annual greenhouse gas emissions, affect entire industries or regions of the world, and materially change the lives of tens of millions within ten years of launch.
Their projects span the globe: several are global in scope, while others operate in Latin America, OECD Countries, Climate Vulnerable Countries, Europe, North America, China, and Africa. They span a wide range of efforts, from accelerating clean energy adoption to fostering grassroots activism that mobilizes thousands of communities. They have focused on overcoming entrenched barriers in economic systems and cultural norms, creating new frameworks for international climate policy and collaboration, and supporting decision makers to set ambitious targets. Over the years, we have watched their projects evolve from “underexplored,” “too ambitious,” and “too improbable” to become the new norm.
But our legacy isn’t just about who and what we support—it’s how we support. Our philanthropy model—the Four Pillars of the Climate Breakthrough Award program—has been cited multiple times as an example of an exciting platform to support, such as here and here. Through what we call Philanthropy Forward, we are sharing these insights to inspire the broader philanthropic sector and challenge funders to embrace the kind of ambition this moment demands.
Climate Breakthrough offers a framework of how institutional philanthropic operations can be comfortable making bigger commitments to the bold ideas of brilliant individuals.
INSIDE PHILANTHROPY