After college, and a year interning with the Quaker UN Office, I joined the UN Non-Governmental Liaison Service just before the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio. There, I helped evaluate NGO negotiations, which went a lot better than the governmental ones across town. NGOs from the Global South made a powerful case to the Northern “Big Greens” that, without focusing on people and their social and economic well-being, climate and conservation efforts would fail.
By the time I attended the Paris Climate Summit as a Sierra Club Board member 23 (!) years later, the “Big Greens” were finally taking that message to heart. And governments and the UN were finally recognizing NGOs’ and civil society’s importance, hosting them next door to the governmental negotiations. Less than a year later, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon chose to announce the Paris Accord going into effect (in record time) with a group of civil society representatives. He told us, "You mobilized hundreds of millions of voices and made this international agreement possible” and urged us to “keep up the fight, hold governments accountable, and press for action." NGO experts and activists, however, were realizing that, while pushing governments is important, it’s not enough.
Today, through strategies ranging from Ceres’ Climate Action 100+ to Divest/Invest, #StopTheMoneyPipeline and #GoTimeForClimate, advocates are pushing companies, investors and financial institutions to shift trillions from fossil fuels to climate solutions and holding them accountable.
Align your investing
Supporting civil society leaders working on climate and justice-- particularly young and people of color leaders -- is among the highest calling for donors right now. However, grant-making is not enough. Donors and investors need to leverage ALL their assets and relationships, starting with aligning their whole portfolios with their values, the science, the Paris Accord and Net Zero targets. Momentum is building, with recent commitments by Harvard University, the MacArthur Foundation and the Ford Foundation to align investing with values and shift away from fossil fuels; and the McKnight Foundation committed to meet Net Zero by 2050 targets with its $3 billion endowment.
While smaller, the Sierra Club Foundation was among an initial 40 asset owners, totaling $2.35 trillion in assets, to commit to achieve net zero alignment by 2050 or sooner, as part of the Paris Aligned Investment Initiative.
Make your commitments real
Like other asset owners, the Sierra Club Foundation must figure out how to implement our commitment, with the help of resources like the Net Zero Investment Framework Guide. (Being divested from fossil fuels helps!)
But what of others’ commitments? With governments, big investors, corporations (even fossil fuel companies) committing many trillions to Net Zero by 2050 targets, will these promises amount to anything, or are they just cynical green washing/delay tactics? While some advocate for abandoning “Net Zero” language, others argue for making it real and creating accountability. Mission-driven asset owners can help show the way and hold others accountable to meaningful targets by:
- Making realistic plans and setting interim goals (2050 is far away!);
- NOT buying questionable offsets in place of making meaningful emissions reductions;
- Centering justice (as the NGOs told us in Rio, climate solutions won’t work without social and economic progress);
- Addressing Scope 3 emissions (i.e. those not owned/controlled by the reporting organization, but that you impact through your value chain);
- NOT waiting for perfect metrics or actions … MOVE now, adapt as you go!
- Taking risks.
Be an active asset owner
Talk to your asset managers. Are they part of the Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative or have they made other meaningful commitments? Do they vote shareholder proxies? Can they help you do so? Are they committed to a climate transition that will work for all of us? This doesn’t just mean investing in undercapitalized places, it also requires diverse people making investment decisions. Due Diligence 2.0 explains why this matters and how to implement change. If your managers fall short in any of these areas, Values Advisor can help you find new ones.
Sign investor letters and vote your shareholder proxies. This can feel intimidating, but, again, the right manager can help. You can also look to experts like As You Sow or Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, and networks like Confluence Philanthropy’s Active Owners Initiative, the Intentional Endowments Network and Ceres. This coming shareholder season will see resolutions targeting banks who continue to finance fossil infrastructure in a big way, despite their Net Zero commitments (Banking for Climate provides other tools for holding financial institutions accountable).
Don’t stop pushing governments! Public policy, democracy initiatives and even electoral engagement will help ensure we have political leaders ready to act with the urgency needed.
Together, as donors, asset owners, and advocates, we can help make sure more than pretty words come out of Glasgow!
Loren Blackford chairs the Sierra Club Foundation's investment committee and is a member of the Confluence Philanthropy Board and the Ceres Presidents’ Council.
- Loren Blackford, Investment Committee Chair, Sierra Club Foundation & Confluence Board Member
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