From left, Eric Scotto, Tonika Hirdman and François Gemenne.

Despite the urgency of climate change and the threat it poses to all aspects of society, global philanthropic funding for the climate has remained relatively low compared to more traditional areas like education or health.

To explore this discrepancy and inspire philanthropists to action, the Fondation de Luxembourg invited François Gemenne, lead author for the IPCC and researcher in environmental geopolitics and migration governance, and Eric Scotto, co-founder of the Akuo Foundation, under the aegis of Fondation de Luxembourg to speak at its latest Philanthropy Adviser Event.

Fondation de Luxembourg Director General Tonika Hirdman began by welcoming the guests, mainly senior wealth advisers, and introducing the speakers. François Gemenne started the discussion by offering his expert view on the results from COP27, the most positive outcome being the major achievement of the “Loss and Damage” fund. Indeed, all 195 participating countries reached a consensus to compensate the countries that are most vulnerable to climate change’s effects and, at the same time, least responsible for greenhouse gas emissions. Other objectives were not met with the same success, and he deplored that there was no consensus for more ambitious goals phasing out fossil fuels from the global energy mix.

While there is no silver bullet in solving climate change, he reminded guests that this should not discourage philanthropists or lead them to inaction. On the contrary, philanthropy can help achieve important, short-term milestones on the trajectory to a net-zero world. Climate change is not a binary issue, and every action - even small ones - count. Indeed, when every tenth of a degree of warming matters, no action is useless.

To demonstrate that effective solutions are often the simplest ones, Katinka Rambert, head of the Akuo Foundation joined Eric Scotto in sharing some of their foundation’s key initiatives which will have lasting impacts on local communities and beyond. Guided by the foundation’s mantra to “show, share, and replicate”, projects such as introducing women in Mali to permaculture techniques for improved food security or building low-carbon schools with local resources in Madagascar, aim to take root and spread to neighboring communities, amplifying the initial project’s benefits. Both speakers stressed the importance of joining forces with experts, as well as communicating on the solutions available widely and in attractive and visual ways.

Tonika Hirdman closed the evening by emphasizing that climate change is deeply intertwined with all other global issues such as poverty, migration, social tensions and increased inequalities. Indeed, what lies ahead is not only an environmental issue but will impact all of society. It is up to us today to anticipate and to become part of the solution.

Information

• Startdatum : 30.11.2022 18:00
• End-datum : 30.11.2022 21:00