Environmental Funders Network

Richard Parr MBE, The Good Food Institute Europe Defeating the “veggie burger ban”: how funders helped catalyse a big win for European food policy

Posted on 7 Jan 2021

From "veggie burgers" to "vegan sausage rolls", Europeans have been enjoying plant-based meat and dairy for decades. But in October 2020, the European Parliament voted on a plan to ban the plant-based sector from naming their products with the everyday language people use to describe these foods. Following a funder-supported campaign from The Good Food Institute Europe in collaboration with other international non-profits, leading businesses and thousands of consumers, MEPs voted to reject this attack on plant-based meat. Richard Parr, Managing Director of GFI Europe, describes how the willingness of their funders to support a collaborative approach enabled their small team to have an outsized influence in defeating the veggie burger ban.

Keywords: advocacy, agriculture, collaboration, food, policy work

Salisha Chandra How can funders better support their grantees in measuring the impact of conservation efforts?

Posted on 11 Dec 2020

For conservation to truly be successful in stemming the ongoing biodiversity losses being experienced across the globe, we need to make concerted efforts to measure the impact of specific interventions, thereby generating evidence to inform the development of more impactful conservation strategies in the future. As part of an MPhil in Conservation Leadership at the University of Cambridge, Salisha Chandra undertook a research project to generate insights into and best practices in conservation impact measurement and reporting. Here are the key recommendations to emerge from her research for conservation funders to encourage better monitoring and evaluation practice by their grantees.

Keywords: biodiversity, conservation, effectiveness

Vicki Hird, Sustain the Alliance The Agriculture Act: a case study for funding effective policy work

Posted on 12 Nov 2020

Vicki Hird reflects on several years of hard work to win a better approach to UK farm policy via the brand new Agriculture Act, making the case that flexible funding was key to allowing the Sustain alliance to adapt to a rapidly changing political and policy environment. The Act is now here, but the hard work has only begun.

Keywords: advocacy, agriculture, effectiveness, policy work

Sufina Ahmad, MBE, John Ellerman Foundation Seeking feedback as a funder: asking questions and being ready to act on the answers

Posted on 16 Oct 2020

Seeking honest and open feedback can be downright daunting. It is, on the face of it, always the right thing to do. However, there is a real art to seeking meaningful feedback that is easy to process and act upon. As funders, where should we begin?

Keywords: effectiveness

Patrik Ewe, Possible COVID-19: The view from Possible

Posted on 12 Aug 2020

When coronavirus hit, like many other organisations working in the sector, we were determined not to let it stall the momentum for action on climate change that has been built in the last year. We know there is no silver lining to coronavirus. But we also recognise the pandemic represents an utterly unprecedented global ‘moment of change’, in which the regular patterns of hundreds of millions of people’s lives have been forcefully interrupted, not just as individuals but as part of local and global communities. Capturing this moment provides an opportunity to create a domino effect of climate-positive behaviours in communities across the UK, writes Patrik Ewe from Possible.

Keywords: advocacy, climate change, communications, communities, COVID-19, fundraising, justice, policy work

Natalie Hart, Marine CoLABoration Communicating the Ocean in a COVID-19 World

Posted on 3 Aug 2020

How can we communicate about the ocean effectively in a COVID-19 world? It is a question that many members of the Marine CoLABoration, a network of ocean-interested organisations funded by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, have grappled with since the start of the pandemic. There have been difficult conversations over the need to communicate sensitively, while also protecting the hard-won gains that have been made in recent years and continuing to progress forwards. Natalie Hart from the Marine CoLAB explores how we can push for meaningful change, but do so in a way that does not cause harm.

Keywords: advocacy, collaboration, communications, COVID-19, effectiveness, marine issues, policy work, values

Amy Forshaw, Whitley Fund for Nature COVID-19: The view from Whitley Fund for Nature

Posted on 31 Jul 2020

Whitley Fund for Nature supports grassroots conservation leaders in the Global South, for whom the effects of the pandemic have been profound. Across our network of over 200 conservationists in more than 80 countries, many are facing delays to urgent projects, reduced income from livelihoods based on ecotourism, or an increase in harmful activities by people who are struggling to survive. But our winners never cease to inspire us with their ability to adapt to challenging circumstances, writes Amy Forshaw from Whitley Fund for Nature.

Keywords: biodiversity, climate change, communities, conservation, COVID-19, grassroots, women

Jim Pettiward, Synchronicity Earth COVID-19: The view from Synchronicity Earth

Posted on 28 Jul 2020

COVID-19 is a reminder of the strength of communities, the effectiveness of collective action, the power of empathy. Can we harness these positives to begin to change the stories we tell ourselves about our place in the world? Can it be the catalyst for us to begin to address the inequalities in our relationships, both among our own communities, and with the natural world around us? This pandemic may just have given us an unexpected window of opportunity to reconsider the path we are on and the motivation to help us change course, writes Jim Pettiward from Synchronicity Earth.

Keywords: biodiversity, conservation, COVID-19, funding overseas, policy work

Beccy Speight, RSPB COVID-19: The view from RSPB

Posted on 20 Jul 2020

Funding to save the natural world is dwarfed by spending on other sectors, and the dearth of funding on the environment could become even worse as a result of COVID-19. Yet the lockdown has demonstrated how vital nature is for our mental and physical wellbeing, and the critical need for long-term support to ensure the health and vitality of our precious green spaces - for the climate, for nature and for people. Beccy Speight from RSPB tells us about the challenges they are facing, the opportunities they are seizing and what funders can do to help.

Keywords: biodiversity, conservation, COVID-19, health, policy work

Dr Abigail Entwistle, Fauna & Flora International COVID-19: The view from Fauna & Flora International

Posted on 17 Jul 2020

With regionally-based programmes around the world, Fauna & Flora International has seen COVID-19 play out in very different ways, which have presented differing challenges affecting both people and wildlife. In this blog, Dr Abigail Entwistle describes how these challenges are impacting operations across their global programmes and with local partners, and the ambitious steps they are taking to respond with the help of their funders.

Keywords: biodiversity, communities, conservation, COVID-19, funding overseas, tourism

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