The devastating impacts of climate change have hit home recently. Powerful hurricanes ravaged Puerto Rico and parts of Texas and Florida last year. Wildfires rage across the Western U.S. And many parts of the world have been hit even harder.

The Heising-Simons Foundation recently refreshed its Climate and Clean Energy program strategy, recognizing the importance of efforts to prevent even worse climate change impacts in the future, and the urgency of curbing pollution and accelerating the transition to clean energy.

The Foundation’s longstanding commitment to climate and clean energy is motivated by a desire to help protect people and the planet from the worst impacts of climate change, and to make energy clean, affordable, safe, and reliable for all.

The time was ripe for the Foundation to refresh its strategy because the policy landscape has changed significantly over the past several years, the Foundation hired dedicated Climate and Clean Energy program staff, and the program’s investments grew to $20 million in 2018. Over the past year, staff listened to experts in the field, analyzed opportunities to cut pollution and advance clean energy, and assessed where our funding could have the greatest impact.

The program’s updated strategy supports organizations that help advance policies to spur large-scale progress curbing pollution, and works to ensure that a low-carbon future is a prosperous one for the most vulnerable communities. We do that by funding efforts primarily in the U.S. focused on four strategic areas:

• advancing climate policy to limit greenhouse gas emissions;
• transforming the energy sectors that are the primary sources of pollution;
• cutting the most potent pollutants such as methane; and
• seizing time-sensitive opportunities to achieve large-scale emission reductions.

The program supports organizations that help advance policy quickly and boldly. For example, grantees design and advocate for effective policies, build coalitions to foster policy improvements, communicate the urgency to take action on climate change and the benefits of clean energy, and empower leaders to be bold and innovative. I invite you to read more about the refreshed strategy on the Foundation’s website.

We are grateful to the many experts and partners who advised us on how to update the Foundation’s strategy to have the greatest impact. As leaders from around the world come together this week in California for the Global Climate Action Summit, we are proud to be doing our part by supporting our hard-working grantees in their efforts to protect humanity from the devastating impacts of climate change.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/6″][vc_column_text]The Heising-Simons Foundation Joins Philanthropic Community in $4 Billion Commitment to Combat Climate Change