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Climate Group

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The Climate Group
Founded2004
TypeEnvironmental charity
FocusClimate change
Location
  • London, UK: Headquartered in London with offices in Beijing, New Delhi and New York.
Area served
International
Websitewww.theclimategroup.org

The Climate Group is a non-profit organisation that works with businesses and government leaders aiming to address climate change.[1] The Group has programmes focusing on renewable energy and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Launched in 2004, the organisation operates globally with offices in the UK (headquarters), the United States and India. It acts as the secretariat for the Under2 Coalition, an alliance of state and regional governments around the world that are committed to reducing their greenhouse gas emissions to net-zero levels by 2050.[2][3] As of 2022, the Under2 Coalition brings together over 270 governments representing 1.75 billion people and 50% of the world economy.[4][5][6]

The organisation's business initiative, part of the We Mean Business Coalition, attempts to grow corporate demand for renewable energy, energy productivity and electric transport, through which it would plan to accelerate the transition to a zero-emissions economy while helping businesses reduce carbon footprints.

History

The Climate Group was initiated in 2003 and launched in 2004 by ex-CEO and co-founder, Steve Howard,[7] together with ex-Chief Operating Officer, Jim Walker[8] and former Communications Director, Alison Lucas. It evolved from research led by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and was established to encourage more major companies and sub-national governments to take action on climate change. To join, a company or government had to sign the organisation's leadership principles. Former UK prime minister Tony Blair has supported the group since its launch and has appeared at a number of the organisation's events.

The Climate Group's international network of States and Regions included a number of prominent leaders of sub-national governments that have been or are involved in its policy work in developing renewable energy and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.[9] These include, or have included, Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond; Welsh First Minister Carwyn Jones; Prince Albert of Monaco; former Governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger; former Premier of Manitoba, Gary Doer; former Premier of Quebec, Jean Charest; former Premier of South Australia Mike Rann and President of Poitou-Charentes, Ségolène Royal. In successive years, Schwarzenegger, Charest and Salmond each received: The Climate Group's international climate leadership award from Co-chair Mike Rann.[10]

In 2011, Mark Kenber, previously deputy-CEO, took over from Steve Howard as CEO.[11] He resigned from the post in 2016.

In 2017, Helen Clarkson became CEO.[citation needed]

Funding

The Climate Group states that it functions independently of any corporate and government entities. It funds its work from a variety of revenue streams. The organisation's 2004 launch was supported primarily by philanthropic organisations, including the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, the DOEN Foundation, the John D and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation. The organisation's 2007-2008 annual report[12] indicated that over 75% of its funding at the time was from philanthropic donations, foundations and other non-governmental organisations, as well as from the now-discontinued philanthropic HSBC Climate Partnership.

HSBC Climate Partnership

In 2007, HSBC announced that The Climate Group, along with WWF, Earthwatch, and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, would be a partner in the HSBC Climate Partnership, and donated US$100 million to fund joint work – the largest-ever single corporate philanthropic donation to the environment.[13] The results of this programme can be seen in HSBC's 2010 Partnership Review,[14] and HSBC's Clean Cities film of December 2010. The Clean Cities film specifically outlines some of The Climate Group's achievements enabled by this programme, including LED pilots in New York, clean technology finance in Mumbai, consumer campaigns in London, and cutting employee carbon footprints in Hong Kong.

References

  1. ^ Hannam, Peter (2015-02-01). "NSW signs up to global climate group". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2018-09-10.
  2. ^ Makower, Joel (2018-09-04). "Global Climate Action Summit: A business preview". GreenBiz. Retrieved 2018-09-10.
  3. ^ "How cities are making an impact at the COP23 climate talks". Curbed. Retrieved 2018-09-10.
  4. ^ White, Randol. "Portugal Joins Gov. Brown's Under2 Coalition To Fight Climate Change". Retrieved 2018-09-10.
  5. ^ Ramanathan, David G. Victor and Veerabhadran (2018-09-10). "Turning California's green leadership into a green planet". Brookings. Retrieved 2018-09-10.
  6. ^ "Under2 Coalition". Climate Group. Retrieved 2022-10-09.
  7. ^ "U.N. Climate Panel Seeks Money to Help Developing Countries". Nytimes.com. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  8. ^ Sir Richard Branson Low Carbon Innovation and Leadership, Virgin Group website, April 2014, Retrieved 3 January 2019
  9. ^ "The Climate Group". Theclimategroup.com. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  10. ^ "The Scottish Government - Home Page". Scotland.gov.uk. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  11. ^ "The Climate Group". 3 June 2011. Archived from the original on 3 June 2011. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
  12. ^ "2007-2008 Annual Report" (PDF). Theclimategroup.org.
  13. ^ "HSBC Announces US$100 Million Program to Combat Climate Change World-Wide – Press Releases on CSRwire.com". Csrwire.com. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  14. ^ "HSBC ANNOUNCES CONTINUED SUCCESS OF CLIMATE PARTNERSHIP : PROGRAMME REVEALS ENVIRONMENTAL AND BUSINESS BENEFITS" (PDF). Hsbc.com.au. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
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