Climate nonprofits operate within a growing but uneven philanthropic system. Foundations and individuals provided an estimated $11.7 billion–$18.4 billion for climate-change mitigation worldwide in 2024, while climate-mitigation philanthropy represented about 2.1% of worldwide philanthropic giving. The figures below show how that money has grown, where it goes, which strategies it supports, and how nonprofit capacity is being built.
Contents
- Scale and growth of climate philanthropy
- Geographic distribution and equity
- Sectors and strategies funded
- Adaptation, resilience, and corporate giving
- Cross-border philanthropy and leading funders
- Organizations, grantees, and collaborative capacity
Scale and growth of climate philanthropy
Climate mitigation funding has expanded rapidly in recent years, although the available totals depend on what is counted. ClimateWorks estimates that individuals and foundations supplied $11.7 billion–$18.4 billion for climate-change mitigation in 2024. Its 2024 estimate also places foundation climate-mitigation funding at $6 billion, the first time that annual total reached that level. Foundation funding increased roughly 30% from 2023 to 2024 and was more than twice its 2020 level. These are estimates for mitigation philanthropy, not a complete measure of every climate nonprofit’s income.
The earlier ClimateWorks series reported an estimated $9.3 billion–$15.8 billion from individuals and foundations for climate mitigation in 2023. Overall climate giving grew 20% year over year from 2022 to 2023, while foundation funding for climate reached a record $4.8 billion in 2023. That 2023 foundation total was nearly triple the $1.7 billion recorded in 2019.
Another ClimateWorks series measured foundation funding to mitigate climate change rising from $900 million in 2015 to $3.7 billion in 2022. The different totals and periods should be read as separate reported measures rather than combined into one uninterrupted series: scope, classification, and reporting coverage vary by analysis.
| Measure | Reported amount or change | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Individuals and foundations, climate mitigation | $11.7B–$18.4B | 2024 |
| Foundation climate-mitigation funding | $6B | 2024 |
| Individuals and foundations, climate mitigation | $9.3B–$15.8B | 2023 |
| Foundation climate funding | $4.8B | 2023 |
| Foundation climate funding | $1.7B | 2019 |
Source labels: ClimateWorks, “Funding trends 2026: Climate change mitigation philanthropy”; ClimateWorks, “Climate Giving Surges 20% in 2023, Outpaces Growth in Global Philanthropy”; ClimateWorks, “Report: In Sharp Reversal, Climate Giving Flat in 2022”.
Geographic distribution and equity
Climate nonprofit funding is concentrated geographically. During 2019–2023, the United States and Europe received 60% of tracked foundation funding directed to a single country or region. Africa, other Asia and Oceania, and Latin America together received an estimated 20% of that tracked funding, despite being home to more than 6 billion people.
The type of grant also differs by geography. Low- and middle-income countries received 14% of foundation climate funding as flexible core support during 2019–2023, compared with nearly 33% for U.S. and European grantees. Flexible core support can matter for nonprofit stability because it is not restricted to one project, but these figures describe funding shares, not the effectiveness of individual grants.
The 2022 regional picture was similarly concentrated. More than 60% of foundation funding directed to a single country or region went to the United States and Canada ($955 million) or Europe ($475 million). At the same time, multi-region foundation grants exceeded $1 billion, representing more than 30% of overall foundation climate-mitigation funding that year.
The OECD reported $700 million in climate-related philanthropic funding for Africa during 2020–2023. China also received $700 million, mostly from domestic sources, while India received $500 million. Ethiopia, Nigeria, and Kenya each received $200 million during the same period. These country figures are climate-related philanthropic funding totals, not a complete accounting of all nonprofit revenue.
Growth was fastest in several regions in 2022: Africa increased 38%, India 37%, and Latin America 15% in foundation climate funding. Foundation funding for climate mitigation in Africa more than tripled between 2018 and 2022, yet Africa still represented only 6% of foundation climate funding in 2022. The contrast between rapid growth and a small overall share is central to understanding the equity challenge.
Source labels: ClimateWorks, “Climate Giving Surges 20% in 2023, Outpaces Growth in Global Philanthropy”; ClimateWorks, “Report: In Sharp Reversal, Climate Giving Flat in 2022”; OECD, “Trends in private philanthropy for sustainable development”.
Sectors and strategies funded
The distribution across climate sectors shows that nonprofit climate action is broader than renewable energy alone. In 2022, clean electricity received 11% of foundation climate-mitigation funding, forests received 9%, and food and agriculture received 8%. Public engagement was the top-funded enabling strategy across the 16 tracked climate sectors and strategies.
Some smaller sectors recorded strong changes. Foundation giving to maritime shipping reached $16 million in 2022, after more than tripling from 2018. Built-environment foundation funding grew from $65 million in 2018 to $155 million in 2022, then increased almost 20% between 2021 and 2022. Corporate-accountability efforts represented 4% of foundation climate-mitigation giving in 2022, while corporate-accountability funding increased 130% in 2021.
The OECD’s 2020–2023 classification gives another view of funded themes. Environmental policy and administrative management received $1.3 billion, or 19%, of climate-related philanthropic funding. Renewable-energy generation received $900 million, or 13%, and biodiversity received $600 million, or 9%. These categories cover climate-related philanthropic funding across the OECD analysis and should not be added to the ClimateWorks sector shares as if they used identical definitions.
For readers evaluating climate nonprofits, the numbers suggest several distinct pathways: technology and infrastructure, land and biodiversity, food systems, policy, public engagement, and accountability. A nonprofit working on shipping or building efficiency may operate in a smaller funding category while still addressing a measurable and growing strategy area.
Source label: ClimateWorks, “Report: In Sharp Reversal, Climate Giving Flat in 2022”; OECD, “Trends in private philanthropy for sustainable development”.
Adaptation, resilience, and corporate giving
Mitigation receives much of the public attention, but adaptation and resilience are also significant nonprofit funding areas. Foundation funding for climate adaptation and resilience reached at least $600 million in 2023. This is a minimum reported total and should not be interpreted as the full value of adaptation work worldwide.
Corporate philanthropy remains a large pool overall, but climate and nature represent a small share of it. The World Economic Forum reported that corporate philanthropy, including funding and in-kind contributions, represented around 11% of overall philanthropy. Global corporate philanthropy totaled approximately $71 billion in 2022, and almost half came from U.S.-based organizations. Yet less than 5% of reported global corporate philanthropic funding was directed to climate- and nature-related themes in the dataset cited in the 2024 report.
The climate-and-nature share is growing. Corporate philanthropic funding to climate and nature rose 127% in dollar terms between 2018 and 2022. The Cisco Foundation committed $100 million over 10 years through grants and impact investments for climate action and conservation in 2021. In 2024, the GAEA Corporate Philanthropy Challenge launched with a goal of mobilizing $1 billion by 2030 for climate and nature interventions. The GAEA figure is a target, not money already distributed.
Source labels: ClimateWorks, “Climate Giving Surges 20% in 2023, Outpaces Growth in Global Philanthropy”; World Economic Forum, “The Role of Corporate Philanthropy in Accelerating Climate and Nature Transitions”.
Cross-border philanthropy and leading funders
Private climate philanthropy is highly cross-border. The OECD recorded $6.8 billion in private philanthropic funding for climate adaptation and/or mitigation during 2020–2023, equal to 10% of private philanthropy for development. Cross-border philanthropy supplied $6.3 billion of that total, while domestic philanthropy supplied $500 million.
For scale, official development assistance for climate adaptation and/or mitigation totaled $139 billion during 2020–2023, or 18% of total ODA. ODA climate flows were more than 20 times larger than private philanthropic climate flows during this period. The comparison separates official development assistance from private philanthropy; it does not measure the quality or local impact of either funding stream.
The largest private philanthropic funders accounted for a substantial share. The Gates Foundation provided $1.1 billion in climate-related philanthropic funding during 2020–2023. The Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, IKEA Foundation, and Bezos Earth Fund each provided $600 million, while the Postcode Lottery Group provided $500 million. The ten largest philanthropic climate-related funders supplied about 70% of total philanthropic climate-related funding during 2020–2023.
Source label: OECD, “Trends in private philanthropy for sustainable development”.
Organizations, grantees, and collaborative capacity
Funding totals become more tangible when connected to organizations and grants. ClimateWorks has granted more than $1.8 billion to more than 850 grantees in over 50 countries since 2008. Its 2024 Funding Trends analysis covered philanthropic funding from individuals and more than 90 foundations, using a 2023 dataset for that analysis. The long-term ClimateWorks figure describes cumulative grants and should not be treated as one year of spending.
Collaborative campaigns can distribute relatively small initial grants across multiple regions. The Drive Electric Campaign’s first fund phase awarded $1 million to 10 projects in Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia at its 2022 launch. The coalition included more than 100 partners from climate foundations, research institutions, and civil-society organizations.
The World Economic Forum’s corporate-philanthropy report profiled 8 GAEA corporate-philanthropy partners in its 2024 report. Separately, 32 philanthropies reported development finance to OECD-DAC statistics in 2023, including 24 that reported biodiversity-related activities. These counts describe participating or profiled organizations, not every climate nonprofit worldwide.
Together, the figures point to a field with expanding resources, concentrated decision-making, and substantial collaborative infrastructure. They also show why climate nonprofit statistics need context: a funding increase can coexist with regional inequity, a large pledge can be a future target rather than a completed grant, and a sector share can change depending on the classification used.
Source labels: ClimateWorks, “Climate Giving Surges 20% in 2023, Outpaces Growth in Global Philanthropy”; ClimateWorks, “Drive Electric Campaign Launches Fund to Mobilize Electric Mobility in Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia”; World Economic Forum, “The Role of Corporate Philanthropy in Accelerating Climate and Nature Transitions”; OECD, “Trends in private philanthropy for sustainable development”.