Enabling climate action: 6 things funders can do

As a funder what, practically, can we do to integrate climate considerations across our work? Beyond trying to reduce the environmental impact of our own activities.

One way to start is to ask where our greatest influence lies. For most funders, that’s with the organisations we support – it’s through their work that we ultimately make a difference in the world.

So, a key question is: how can we support the organisations that apply to and receive funding from us to enhance their ability to act on climate change meaningfully and effectively?

Importantly, climate action isn’t limited to cutting emissions. I’m not suggesting we start requiring all our applicants to report on carbon reduction targets! Beyond the direct impact of their own operations, third sector organisations have important roles to play:

• helping people, places and communities adapt to a changing climate and be resilient in the face of extreme weather or climate-relate challenges
• engaging and mobilising people in identifying, demanding and contributing to solutions
• advocating for an equitable and just transition to a sustainable future.

As funders, we need to think about how we can enable action on all these dimensions.

I suggest there are six ways that could serve as a framework for how we think about this. I call them the ‘six Is’: Inform, Inspire, Inquire, Infrastructure, Invest, and Incentivise. 

The Funder Commitment on Climate Change and its six pillars

In suggesting these, I’ve been inspired by the latest progress reported from signatories to the Funder Commitment on Climate Change (FCCC), which offers an encouraging insight into how over 100 UK charitable funders are working to reflect climate and environmental concerns in their work.

The FCCC’s pillars are a helpful high-level framework for funders to think about their approach and report on progress – from educating themselves about the topic through committing resources to addressing it and thinking about how their endowments are invested, if they have them.

It’s up to each funder to determine what’s appropriate for them in relation to each pillar. There’s not a detailed guide or set of recommendations.

Five years after the FCCC was launched, the activities reported by its signatories reflect a range of approaches which may be particularly helpful for non-environmental funders or those making grants for a wide range of causes, like the one I work for.

My six ‘Is’ overlap with and expand on the FCCC’s six pillars for helping funders think about these issues.

1. Inform

How can we help organisations understand how the environmental crises will affect their missions?

A 2024 update from the Scottish Third Sector Tracker found that 54% of surveyed organisations believed climate change would have little or no impact on them. This is despite the direct and indirect threats climate change poses to our health, economies and infrastructure – especially for the most marginalised and least resilient communities.

Funders can use their communications to signpost to resources like NPC’s Everyone’s Environment reports, offer carbon literacy training as part of their funder-plus support, and share tools to help organisations assess climate risks.

2. Inspire

How can we stimulate organisations to act on climate and imagine what’s possible?

This means encouraging people to consider how climate and nature relate to their work and envisage what a sustainable and climate-adapted future could look like. It’s also about presenting real examples of what others are already doing.

One of the most significant things funders can do is embed climate and nature into the narratives and language we use to explain our own goals, strategies and progress. Funders’ words have influence, so if we demonstrate this matters to us, we can encourage others to start applying this frame to their own activities.

We can also spotlight inspiring projects via grantee events, websites, newsletters and awards – hearing peers describe their what they’re planning and doing can spark new ideas for others.

3. Inquire

How can we be curious about what organisations are noticing, thinking, and needing?

Conversations with partners and grantees provide a chance for us to ask them about their perceptions, concerns and achievements regarding climate change and the environment. Demonstrating our interest not only creates opportunities for learning about good practice, barriers and opportunities but also signals that climate matters to us as funders.

Conversation guides, recording climate-related outcomes in our grants data, and regular reflection and sense-making within teams or with grantees can help capture and act on these insights.

4. (Support) Infrastructure

How can we support climate action across networks or sectors?

Collaborative initiatives that help organisations and communities to learn and act together are more efficient and effective: accelerating learning, aligning resources and amplifying impact.

Infrastructure organisations and network bodies are well placed to build knowledge, insight and capacity around climate action but may need extra resources to achieve this. Supporting them means all the organisations they reach can be supported to take climate action, not just the ones we happen to connect with directly as a funder.

Funders can also take part in collaborative efforts like Everyone’s Environment, SCVO’s Growing Climate Confidence initiative, or funder-specific groups like local funders forums, the Environmental Funders Network, and the community of practice around the FCCC, of course.

5. Invest (in capacity)

How can we fund in a way that enables organisations to learn, act, and adapt?

Many of the actions above will require investment. At the grantee level, this includes meeting any additional or up-front costs to allow them to operate more sustainably or embed environmental co-benefits into their work, across all our grant-making, not just environmental programmes.

Crucially, if we want our grantees to have the capacity to learn and collaborate around climate, to adopt sustainable ways of working, and adapt as things change, we need to ensure they have access to flexible, long-term funding.

6. Incentivise

How can we motivate organisations while aligning with their priorities and values?

Finally, funders can use questions on their application forms, related funding criteria, additional or dedicated funding streams, or grant conditions to encourage applicants and grantees to engage with environmental considerations.

And, as noted above, at a more fundamental level, they can adopt an explicitly climate-informed strategy to guide programme design and funding decisions.

(But we need to be cautious about incentives and avoid creating performative hoops for organisations to jump through or soliciting opportunistic bids for funds rather than enabling meaningful and mission-aligned engagement with the topic.)

Conclusion

Integrating climate considerations into their work won’t look the same for every funder. But the impacts of environmental change are already touching every cause we care about. Whether our funding supports health, the arts, communities or social justice, the environment intersects with our aims.

Working alongside the organisations we fund, we can use our influence and resources in a number of ways to rise to the challenge of securing a sustainable, fair and resilient future for everyone.