Are we on the cusp of a new ‘green giving’ era?

Growing levels of concern from the wealthiest

A few of the most economically privileged among us have historically failed to engage sincerely with climate change, though this new pledge suggests things are shifting.

Jeff Bezos is notoriously stingy with dishing out dough and seems more focused on his space fantasies than our rising sea levels, for example, but is actually notably involved with this new initiative via the ‘Protecting our Planet’ challenge and has promised a personal lifetime donation of $10 billion USD.

Bill Gates, meanwhile, donated $36 billion USD between 1994 to 2018 to The Gates Foundation, and continues to play an increasingly active role in climate change research and prevention.

In addition, Dr Rebecca Gooch, senior director of research at Campden Wealth, said to the Guardian that ‘wealth holders are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of environmental conservation’. In short, those with the big bucks are noticing the need for organisations that protect our world.

What is the current state of environmental giving?

More alarming weather patterns are emerging across the globe every year, and as it becomes harder to ignore the state of our warming planet, so too does the need for hefty financial backing from the world’s most fortunate to make adaptation plans and prevention tech a reality.

Despite all the good news and headline-breaking pledges, climate focused donations and philanthropy are still dwarfed by other, more mainstream areas.

According to the NGO Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, environmental charity only makes up 8% of financial giving. We should expect this to begin to change over the next decade, however, as needs and decisiveness become more pressing.

The Giving Pledge is a big step in the right direction – and will be urgently needed if we want to seriously halt the worst of the climate crisis sooner rather than later.