Environmental Philanthropy: Stories to Inspire
Scaling up climate action in Scotland and beyond
Over more than a decade we set up and supported a team to help spread the word on climate change in Scotland, and to train future experts in carbon and climate. Our funds led to the input of another £2 million of public (UK and EU) funding, which resulted in the training of hundreds of climate champions. Some of these champions remained local and some spread out from our region. We were also able to help dozens of organisations reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by around 20 per cent, but we recognised that further reductions would require government commitment and fiscal incentives: action on climate change needs government involvement as well as individual effort.
Once our original aims (awareness raising and training) became mainstreamed into government policy, we refocused into a specialist team working with governments, charities and businesses across the UK to champion natural and ecological ways of keeping carbon in the ground: through peatlands, wetlands and rewilding. The team is now financially self-sustaining, offering specialist advice on peatland carbon, as well as training and environmental education to clients in the public, NGO and private sectors. Mindful of the need for small organisations to collaborate, we build partnerships with other environmental NGOs, with whom we occasionally run joint campaigns.
I have learned some key lessons from the experience. Success requires positivity and pragmatism. Investing in talented people is key. Worrying people by telling them that ‘the end of the world is nigh’ is unhelpful, while creating mechanisms to reward climate-beneficial behaviour makes sense. And finally: helping people to love nature is wonderfully effective.