We aim to make an outsized impact on resolving the climate crisis through our global philanthropy. Since 2016, we have supported social change leaders through our Climate Breakthrough Award program to develop, launch, and scale their boldest new initiatives with breakthrough potential to address climate change.

With our backing, awardees have launched high-ambition, high-gain initiatives to significantly reduce global annual greenhouse gas emissions, affect entire industries or regions of the world, and materially change the lives of tens of millions of people within ten years of launch. The initiatives 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 helping decision makers set ambitious targets.

More importantly, we have catalyzed the development of emerging and underexplored climate action strategies, such as climate litigation, building electrification, and reimagining the role of the insurance industry in climate action. Ambitious concepts, like the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty and capping oil consumption in countries like China, took root within our program.

But aside from advancing climate action through who or what we back, we’re also advocating for progress through how we fund. We have evidence that the unique structure of our philanthropic program fosters an environment where bold, transformative ideas can take root and grow. This approach not only benefits our grantees to dream big, but also pushes us as a funder to embrace high-ambition, high-gain opportunities with greater confidence. Through what we call Philanthropy Forward, we’re sharing these insights to inspire the broader philanthropic sector.

our story in numbers