The climate crisis is accelerating at an alarming rate. According to the ClimateWorks Foundation, funding for climate change mitigation stagnated in 2022, a slowdown from the growth seen since 2019. Society is falling short of funding solutions at the scale needed to address this crisis.
However, 1% for the Planet and our partners believe in our ability to come together to create significant and lasting positive change. The 1% for the Planet® Impact Fund at National Philanthropic Trust was created to do just that. It is a philanthropic fund dedicated to addressing environmental challenges—including climate change—by investing in and granting to solutions. Available to all donors, the Planet Impact Fund brings together a global community of philanthropists and changemakers to drive outsize impact for our planet.
In May 2023, the Planet Impact Fund made its first grants to six inspiring 1% for the Planet Environmental Partners. More recently, the Planet Impact Fund deployed its first private investments, selected to help limit net warming to below 1.5-2 °C and prevent the worst of the climate crisis. These investments are already creating meaningful change:
- Renewable energy and green infrastructure: This fund invests in renewable energy installations, energy efficiency projects and sustainable infrastructure. They have renewably produced more than 6.7 million megawatt-hours of electricity, the equivalent of more than 926,000 homes’ electricity use for one year, and have also supported more than 5,000 green jobs, conserved more than 4 billion gallons of water and planted more than 5 million acres of trees. Their portfolio also supports innovation: one solar energy project is part of a research study with several academic institutions, exploring the potential for pollinator vegetation to improve panel efficiencies by generating a cooler microclimate or through the light reflectivity of specific plant species. (Sources: Organization’s 2022 annual report and Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator)
- Sustainable forestry: The sustainable forestry fund invests in sustainable commercial timberland, supporting forestry as a nature-based solution to climate change and biodiversity loss. This solution can help counteract global emissions, increase ecological resilience and provide improved wildlife habitat. As of December 31, 2022, this group has planted 16 million trees across the entirety of its United States footprint. (Source: Organization's annual reporting survey)
About the Planet Impact Fund partners:
The Planet Impact Fund combines the climate investing expertise of CapShift Advisors and the philanthropic advising expertise of 1% for the Planet. CapShift applies its experience sourcing, analyzing and managing transformative climate investments to advise on the Planet Impact Fund’s investment portfolio, while 1% for the Planet, a global organization with more than two decades of expertise in environmental philanthropy, does the same for the grants issued from the Planet Impact Fund. National Philanthropic Trust serves as the fund manager, sponsor and fiduciary of the Planet Impact Fund.
Take Action
See how your dollars can drive maximum impact with our Planet Impact Fund.