Climate change mitigation nonprofits are not getting the environmental donations they need to realize their potential. But why?
Giving USA found that just 3% of all giving went to environmental and animal welfare organizations in 2020.
Other research suggests that environmental nonprofits—which include land conservation, land trusts, and wildlife protection organizations—received about 2% of charitable donations. Propublica estimates that climate change mitigation nonprofits received .4% of philanthropic dollars in 2020, and environmental justice organizations received .5% of total charitable contributions.
Additionally, Propublica’s report found a disconnect between where most carbon emissions originate and where climate change prevention funding is going. For example, Asia receives just 12% of the funding raised by climate mitigation nonprofits, but it is the source of 53% of global carbon emissions. The same discrepancies occur in decarbonization projects by sector. The food and agriculture sector is responsible for 34% of emissions, but it received 8% of nonprofit funding. The industrial sector received a mere 2% of funding, but it is responsible for 30% of emissions.
According to Pew research, a study conducted that same year found that ⅔ of Americans believe that the federal government is doing too little to reduce the global effects of climate change, and 6/10 of Americans say that climate change is a major threat to the country.
Why are environmental donations raising such a small part of the total charitable contributions made in the United States? Why is there such a disconnect between the public consensus on climate change and funding?
Lack of Clear Information
The public has a vast range of opinions about the primary causes of pollution and how to address them. One person may think cars are the biggest source of pollution, for example, while another may think of animal agriculture and another thinks of fracking or littering. Identifying solutions to pollution is difficult. It’s even more difficult when there’s no consensus about the primary sources of that pollution.
The available information about the root causes of climate change can be difficult to process. As of 2020, transportation seems to be the number one polluter in the US. But, globally, the data on 2020 emissions suggests that industry is the largest greenhouse gas polluter and is currently responsible for 30% of greenhouse gas emissions. Next is electricity (26%), agriculture, land use, landfills (21%), and then transportation (16%). There seems to be no clear source of truth for the average consumer who wants to learn the best way to fight climate change. The available studies have a lot of different approaches to categorizing data, and they organize that information in a way that is confusing to the average person. Confusion about the root causes of pollution and the way to address them makes it hard for donors to understand how giving to environmental nonprofits will help make a difference.