Environmental philanthropy works. That’s the message behind the Environmental Funders Network’s (EFN) new publication ‘Environmental philanthropy: stories to inspire’. 

We were delighted to contribute to the publication, focusing on our support of the Marine CoLABoration (CoLAB) and the #OneLess campaign against single-use plastic water bottles. It has given us huge pleasure to see #OneLess go from being a CoLAB experiment to a successful campaign; one that has had visible wins and is building a movement to protect our ocean.

The environment is humanity’s life support. Yet the systems we have established – economic, industrial, even political – are changing our climate, endangering our fellow species, and robbing us of our health and wellbeing. COVID-19 was our starkest warning yet that human and environmental health are inextricably linked, and more pandemics are likely if we continue to degrade nature. We have plenty of solutions to each of these problems – plenty of ways to redesign our systems – but the funds currently available for that work are a fraction of what they need to be.

This publication aims to help address this funding gap. The EFN has compiled a collection of nearly 30 stories of donors providing funds that helped solve significant environmental problems. Ranging from £5,000 to millions, in each instance, their support had a transformative effect. The publication also reveals some common themes across these success stories, from funder collaboration to providing unrestricted or core funding.