Climate Solutions Program Strategy - MacArthur Foundation

Our Strategy

Our grantmaking focuses on reducing greenhouse gas emissions (carbon dioxide, methane, etc.) from energy-related sources. We emphasize supporting subnational work in key cities, states, and regions across the world, with heightened attention to the United States and India. We support equitable climate solutions by improving citizen engagement in shaping climate policy within the context of each country’s politics, society, and economy. To a lesser extent, we provide seed funding to innovative and/or timely approaches to advance climate solutions, including in areas of finance, governance, and philanthropy.

We are committed to learning with and from communities disproportionately affected by climate change and strive to share decision making with organizations led by or representing these communities. Beneficiaries of grant support include organizations led by and representing communities that do not have access to reliable, clean energy, are or will be economically disadvantaged due to the energy transition, and experience disproportionate health impacts of climate change.

While we are not accepting unsolicited proposals at this time, we are always eager to hear new ideas and perspectives.

Grantmaking Approaches

Altering Political Discourse

Activities and grantees infuse the public narrative about the climate crisis with more equitable solutions identified by and for people disproportionately affected by climate change and the transition to clean energy.

Advancing and Enforcing Climate-Friendly Energy Policies and Regulatory Action

To help rapidly expand clean energy and technology deployment, activities center on educating policymakers, regulators, businesses, and consumers about the costs and benefits of less carbon-intensive energy policy.

Expanding Financing and the Climate Solutions Funding Company

We use our institutional voice to increase support from domestic and international funders for advancing equitable climate solutions, and we invest catalytic capital to help deploy clean energy and technology to communities that have or will be disproportionately impacted by the climate crisis.

Supporting Power Building

Centering racial, economic, and generational equity, we support frontline communities shaping climate solutions. In the U.S., we fund power building among groups led by people of color and rural communities; in India, we build capacity for worker and smallholder-focused organizations.

A man speaks into a microphone in front of a crowd of people.

Activists demand action on the global climate crisis.

Why We Support This Work

We are facing a climate crisis. Globally, we must halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and, by 2050, balance our carbon budget so emissions are matched by removals. We are not reducing emissions fast enough to meet these targets or avoid more frequent and intense extreme weather events and natural disasters.

Climate change affects all of us, but not equally. The climate emergency is unfolding unevenly, and communities’ ability to respond and recover varies widely. Existing inequities are exacerbated as cities overheat, oceans rise, drought consumes crops, and fires rip through communities.

Centering equity raises the ambition of climate solutions by recognizing the interconnectedness between improved livelihoods and a stable climate, helping ensure the human right to a safe, clean, healthy, and sustainable environment for present and future generations.

Expected Outcomes

Climate Solutions expects to demonstrate contributions to the following outcomes through our grantmaking:

Wide ranging national and subnational policies and targets around decarbonization, clean energy deployment, and sustainable land management are implemented.

Environmental protection laws are enforced and expanded.

Funding for organizations led by communities most affected by climate change and for the transition to a clean energy economy is increased.

Investment capital for communities disproportionately impacted by the climate crisis is more readily available.

Organizations led by and representing communities of color, rural communities, and displaced workers are established as leaders in the climate movement.

Funding Priorities

Our grantmaking focuses on reducing greenhouse gas emissions (carbon dioxide, methane, etc.) from energy-related sources. There is an emphasis on strengthening support for subnational work in key cities, states, and regions across the world, with heightened attention to the United States and India.

Evaluation for Learning

The measurement and evaluation of the Climate Solutions initiative includes questions that (1) test our theory of change and underlying assumptions, (2) assess our activities, and (3) measure the extent to which we have met our intended outcomes in the United States, India, and China. From measurement and evaluation we expect to learn the extent to which the Foundation’s strategy and investments contribute to stabilizing the pace of greenhouse gas emissions growth in developing countries and reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the United States.

Climate Solutions Overview