A group of families and foundations from across Canada have pledged $405 million over the next decade to help solve climate change.
The pledge includes commitments from prominent families, including $150 million from the Trottier Family Foundation, $100 million from the Peter Gilgan Foundation, $18 million from the Ronald S. Roadburg Foundation, $15 million from the Chisholm Thomson Family Foundation, $10 million from David Keith and Kirsten Anderson, $6 million from the Sitka Foundation, $5 million from the Vohra Miller Foundation and $1 million from Allan Shiff – all in addition to the $100 million that the Ivey Foundation recommitted.
“Climate change is an issue that touches really every aspects of our lives, of our communities, of our economy, of our ecosystems. There’s really no part of our day-to-day life (that) isn’t being affected by climate change and will not continue to be affected more and more as the planet warms,” Sylvie Trottier, a board member of the Trottier Family Foundation, told CTV News Toronto in an interview.
“It’s a threat multiplier, so whether one is concerned about inequality, housing, food, migrant rights, what have you, climate is going to be driving those changes and not in a positive direction. So for us, and our family’s foundation … it was a major priority of our funding. “
The pledge was made through the Climate Champions initiative, a Clean Economy Fund campaign that aims to encourage new commitments to climate philanthropy – something they say Canada has apparently been lagging behind in. While Thursday’s announcement provides a large boost, in 2022, there was about $106 million in climate philanthropy (amounting to less than one per cent of all philanthropic endeavours in the country at the time and well below the global average of 1.6 per cent).
The fund’s goal is to triple annual contributions toward climate initiatives, going from about $100 million to more than $300 million, by 2030.
“Climate change is impacting our lives more than ever,” Luke Gilgan, board member for the Peter Gilgan Foundation, said in a release. “We are proud to be a part of this historic effort and invite all Canadian philanthropists to join us in stepping up to support climate solutions.”
Trottier says this funding is “quadrupling down” on climate granting that could boost capital to this issue as well as provide a clean, safe and healthy future. She pointed to the Trottier Foundation’s past work with school buses – the Canadian Electric School Bus Alliance that’s aiming to replace diesel buses to electric ones by 2040 – as an example of what could come with the pledge money.
“That just wasn’t happening on its own, because there were government policies and subsidies for the diesel uses, and through philanthropy, basically, we were able to bring those actors together, brainstorm the solutions,” Trottier said, noting a huge uptake in electric school buses in Quebec (with the model being brought over to other provinces.)
The nine partners who pledged money in Thursday’s announcement are each responsible for implementing their own climate-based commitments while working through the Climate Champions initiative.
“Philanthropy alone cannot address climate change, but we can really play a major role of being a catalyst for other parts of our society – whether it’s government, private industry, civil society – to all work together,” Trottier said.