Can philanthropy fill the hole left by USAID?

Outrage + Optimism

Persephonica

Science, Finance, Energy, Policy, Business, Green, Society, Current Affairs, Climate, News, Planet, Society & Culture, Environment, Climatechange, Nature, Parisclimateagreement, Globalwarming

4.7 • 1K Ratings

🗓️ 27 February 2025

⏱️ 42 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Development programmes across the world are still reeling from the swingeing cuts to USAID, whilst other western nations such as the UK and Germany have announced plans to scale back their own aid commitments.

With Mike Bloomberg agreeing to fill the gap in climate funding left by the US's withdrawal from Paris, is it up to wealthy philanthropists to fill the hole of state funding? Is it realistic or appropriate for them to do so? And do competing interests from funders compromise work on the ground?

Tom Rivett-Carnac, Christiana Figueres and Paul Dickinson examine the potential for a slippery slope in which governments increasingly abdicate their responsibilities for minimising problems for people and the planet.

To delve into the topic more broadly, Christiana speaks to Helen Mountford, president and CEO of ClimateWorks Foundation, a global platform of researchers, strategists and grantmakers aiming to end the climate crisis by amplifying the power of philanthropy.

Since 2008, ClimateWorks has granted over $2 billion to more than 850 grantees in over 50 countries. Whether electric vehicles or clean cooling for air conditioning units, Helen cites examples of philanthropic programmes that not only tackle climate destruction but also improve standard of living for people. And after expressing some much justified outrage, Christiana and Helen agree on a moment of optimism for bottom-up community coordination.

Learn more:

📖 Read up on the ClimateWorks Clean Cooling programme.

🧑‍🎓Learn more about wider trends of slashing global aid

💬 Let us know whether you think philanthropy can or should fill the gap left by governments by sending us a voice note!

🎟️Be a part of it: We’re very excited to announce we are hosting an event at The Conduit Club in London on the 22nd March and we’d like to invite you, our wonderful listeners, to join us. We’ll have just been to see the West End play Kyoto, an incredible dramatisation of the 1997 Climate Summit and will be hosting an evening of thought-provoking conversations with key insiders who were in the room at this negotiation, plus activists and thought leaders who can help us think about how we shape the next chapter of climate action. Click here to find out how to get your tickets.

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Producer: Jarek Zaba

Video Producer: Caitlin Hanrahan

Exec Producer: Ellie Clifford

Commissioning Editor: Sarah Thomas

This is a Persephonica production for Global Optimism and is part of the Acast Creator Network.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi everyone, just before we get started, I wanted to tell you about a really exciting opportunity
0:08.4	coming up for listeners who happen to be in or near London. On the 22nd of March, we're hosting an event
0:14.0	at the Conduit Club. This is inspired by the West End Play Kyoto, which we will have just been to
0:19.5	see, and which we hope you might join
0:21.2	us at as well. This is an incredible dramatization of the 1997 Climate Summit. At this event,
0:27.6	we'll be hosting a series of conversations with key insiders who were in the room at this
0:32.2	negotiation, plus activists and thought leaders who can help us think about how we can now shape
0:37.0	the next chapter
0:38.1	of climate action. If you're in London, please do come along. We'd love to see you. This will be an
0:42.6	evening of powerful conversation of bold ideas and as ever, stubborn and determined optimism.
0:48.6	A link with information on how you get tickets will be in the show notes. And we will of course
0:52.2	make sure the conversation is recorded and put out to podcast listeners after that as well. But if you can come, we'd love to see you.
0:59.3	Maybe see you then.
1:07.6	Hello and welcome to Outrage and Optimism. I'm Tom Rufitkanek. I'm Christiana Figueres.
1:12.2	And I'm Paul Dickinson.
1:13.4	This week we're going to pick up on our theory of change conversation from two weeks ago
1:16.8	and look at the role that philanthropy is playing in climate change.
1:20.9	Thanks so much for being here.
1:25.9	Hey friends, so a couple of weeks ago we did this episode, I mean, just a week before,
1:30.2	the brilliant Costa Rica episode where Cristiana realized her ultimate dream of the whole reason
1:34.3	she started the podcast. But the week before that, if listeners can cast their minds back,
1:38.8	we did an episode on levers of change that we can still access at this critical moment
	...

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