Climate

“Put simply, net zero means cutting greenhouse gas emissions to as close to zero as possible, with any remaining emissions re-absorbed from the atmosphere, by oceans and forests for instance.”  – United Nations Net Zero Coalition

Approach

Communities are already experiencing the impacts of climate change. More frequent and severe natural disasters (flooding, tornados, heat waves, forest fires, droughts, etc.,) are threatening our food production, our homes, our roads and bridges and our ways of earning a living. Experts agree that the cost of inaction and adaptation to climate impacts will be far greater than the costs of taking action now.

We recognize that the impacts of the climate crisis are not experienced evenly across society, meaning some communities are more severely impacted. For example, melting permafrost, changing ice patterns and changing migration of animals are especially damaging to Indigenous ways of life, and it is often Indigenous communities’ lands and waters that are most polluted by fossil fuel projects. It is inadequately housed Canadians and those most at risk, such as the elderly who experience the highest mortality rates during heat waves. Critical to tackling the climate crisis is to support communities most impacted in designing and implementing solutions.

We recognize that this is a field in rapid evolution, and we are always open to learning about new approaches. We invite you to book a 15-minute appointment with our team, and we can determine if we are the right partner for your project.

Please note that the Climate Change Focus Area is not currently accepting applications area. Updates will be provided as they become available. Read our news post to learn more.

With this Focus Area, we seek to support organizations contributing to at least one of the following strategies: 

• Climate Mitigation Solutions:
  Projects that seek to address systemic barriers to carbon emissions reductions. Specifically, we are looking for projects addressing high-emitting sectors that can demonstrate a pathway to net-zero carbon by 2050. 
• Equity, Diversity and Inclusion: 
  Projects representing:
  -Indigenous, racialized, and/or youth groups;
  – Communities who depend on and/or are impacted by fossil fuel industries; or
  – Otherwise marginalized groups that seek to empower communities to improve their resiliency to climate impacts or engage in climate mitigation solutions. 
• Climate Finance:
  Projects that seek to innovate the financial sector in Canada by addressing specific data and knowledge gaps for financial institutions, investors, pension funds and the corporate sector. This includes strengthening climate risk disclosure practices, decarbonizing investment portfolios, establishing science-based climate plans and advancing equitable participation in climate finance and capital investments in the energy transition. 

To learn more about the questions and criteria for all three funding strategies, please read our Sample Application Form.