Philanthro-activism isn’t just a buzzword spread around recently. Executive director and co-founder of One Earth Justin Winters coined the term to organize collective action against climate change. One Earth’s goal is to bring philanthropy to a whole new level by helping grassroots campaigns that need funding to pursue their advocacies. And if you want to know more about philanthro-activism, read more below.
Justin Winters believes that we have a very “short window” for transformative change to fight against climate change, which shows how worse it has progressed in the last couple of years. And philanthropy might be one of the stepping stones that can help strengthen the fight against the climate crisis.
But what is philanthro-activism? Winters explains that it’s a combination of the words “philanthropy” and “activism”. This term inspires people that philanthropy and activism can be a good tandem empowering people to help with transformation in a radical way.
Many philanthropists worldwide shell out money out of pocket to support causes and advocacies they believe in. Unfortunately, less than two percent of these philanthropic funds will be allocated to climate and environmental campaigns in 2020.
Moreover, only a fraction of the two percent goes to locally-organized climate and environmental efforts. And finally, a meager fraction goes to women-led efforts.
Indeed, supporting these locally-based efforts should be a priority because these are the people who suffer the impact of climate and environmental issues first-hand.
Philanthropists should step up their game
McKinsey describes the fight against climate crisis as “meager”. The company believes people should expect more from philanthropy if we want to fight climate change.
McKinsey claims, “Climate change has begun to exacerbate societal challenges in many areas that philanthropies have prioritized, such as education, health, human rights, equality, and food security. Still greater threats to human well-being lie ahead. Climate hazards are set to become more frequent and more intense over the coming decade. Despite climate change’s impact on their work, philanthropies have historically allocated relatively small sums to addressing the problem.”
Winters from One Earth, a former Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation leader, in collaboration with Deputy Director Karl Burkart, are trying to fill in that gap. The nonprofit organization and these environmentalists have the “clout, expertise, and resources” to do it. So why not start a revolution?
It was disappointing that the indigenous people who have led these climate and environmental efforts don’t get enough financial support. And the experts believe these are the kind of people that should be backed by philanthropy because these are the people that aren’t seen or heard. Plus, they are also under-resourced.
If people genuinely want to empower others, especially those who suffer first-hand from the effects of climate and environmental issues, upping the ante on philanthropic capital that goes to these indigenous-based efforts should be a priority.
One Earth’s three pillars
One Earth is a nonprofit organization that is based on three pillars. The first is to have 100 percent sustainable energy. The second is to protect the world’s lands and oceans. And finally, the aim for regenerative agriculture.
It works by finding the right philanthropists and matching them with under-resourced locally-based campaigns. This way, climate change won’t feel like it’s an impossible, colossal issue that can’t be solved through collective efforts from both philanthropic organizations and indigenous people.
Winters stressed that the world needs a new economic model that would probably become the fourth pillar of One Earth. This should revolve around a circular regenerative economy prioritizing nature and people first.
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