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We offer climate change consulting for value-aligned individuals, foundations, and businesses.
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Whether you seek personalized advisory on climate philanthropy or strategic guidance on corporate sustainability, our team is equipped to tackle any challenge with a rigorous, evidence-based approach.
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Our expertise spans environmental science, climate policy, economics and climate communications. We also have access to 250+ global development specialists from our parent organization, IDinsight.
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Ready to enhance your projects with robust data and evidence?
For individual donors and foundations
Climate grantmaking consulting
Grantee due diligence
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We evaluate the potential of specific climate nonprofits that interest you.
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Our team maps out the organization’s theory of change, examines its impact pathways, and cross-references with other key players in the climate sector.
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We provide concrete recommendations while transparently addressing uncertainties.​
Climate grantmaking strategy
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We help individual philanthropists and foundations develop grantmaking strategies that maximize climate impact per dollar.
We use tools from our research process, applied to your needs and preferences.
This can include evaluating climate grantmaking opportunities in specific countries, regions, or sectors.
Case studies
The challenge
Given challenges with the credibility of forestry projects, how can we identify high-impact donation opportunities at the nexus of climate, nature, and biodiversity?
When it comes to supporting climate solutions, many donors root for trees. However, Giving Green’s research found that, while forestry interventions are important, finding high-impact opportunities beyond the usual options is challenging due to complicated systems and relative funding saturation.
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For example, efforts to halt deforestation in one area can inadvertently displace tree loss to another, undermining their effectiveness. Also, forestry projects are generally relatively well-funded. Major foundations like the Bezos Earth Foundation have committed $5 billion to protect and conserve 30 percent of Earth, including forests. As a result, Giving Green determined that most forestry projects do not offer the highest return on investment for climate-focused donors.
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However, many donors would like to include forestry projects in their giving portfolio. Effektiv Spenden, a philanthropic advisory organization serving donors in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, echoed this sentiment: some of their clients expressed a strong interest in supporting high-quality forestry initiatives.
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​To bridge this gap, Effektiv Spenden enlisted Giving Green to help identify high-impact donation opportunities spanning climate change mitigation, nature conservation, and biodiversity protection. Giving Green met this demand by sharing the conclusions of our forestry report, and then conducting due diligence on a specific organization identified by Effektiv Spenden as potentially high impact, which worked on a forestry protection strategy highlighted in our report as promising.
The Giving Green Approach
We extended our team’s expertise in nature-based climate solutions to dig deep into one nonprofit.
In our forestry report, we analyzed the tractability and neglectedness of 17 forestry interventions, such as discouraging illegal logging, increasing crop productivity, and setting up protected areas. We found that initiatives that reduce the underlying demand that is driving forest destruction provide promising opportunities, since they can work at large scale, and eliminate the problem of just shifting around deforestation.
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This research pathway resulted in Giving Green’s recommendation of the Good Food Institute, since we think their work on alternative proteins has the potential to decrease demand for livestock, which are a large driver of deforestation. However, there are other potentially impactful pathways that Giving Green hadn’t explored in our core research.
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We worked with Effektiv Spenden to explore other approaches to reducing demand for products that drive deforestation, specifically focusing on the work of one nonprofit that Effektiv Spenden was considering as a recommendation for some of its donors.
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Over several weeks, we carried out a high-level assessment of the plausibility and expected impact of the charity’s work. Guided by Giving Green’s proven research framework, our process included:
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Desk research to gather and consider evidence resources.
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Engagement with the charity.
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Interviews with other players, such as donors, academics, and policy experts.
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Report writeup.
The Results
A deep due diligence report tailored to our client’s goals meant they could move forward in their giving with confidence.
The project resulted in a report which outlined:
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An overview of the charity’s work.
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The charity’s theory of change and our assessment of how the team executes on this theory.
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Uncertainties.
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Conclusion and our recommendations.
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The report we delivered to Effektiv Spenden bridged the gap between our research findings and popular demand. It supported Effektiv Spenden’s philanthropic advisory work on high-impact giving opportunities at the nexus of climate and nature.
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Furthermore, our extensive interactions with the charity during and after the consultancy provided direct value, as it helped the organization think through its theory of change and how to present its work to different stakeholders.
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At Giving Green, we champion strategic philanthropy and evidence-based giving. However, humility is one of our organizational values; we consider different perspectives and acknowledge our own limitations. We are keen to work with donors and clients to extend our current research and meet you where you are.
“Giving Green’s review helped us expand and solidify our perspective both on the forestry space and the specific charity, allowing us to more confidently engage and advise our donors on high-impact giving opportunities at the nexus of climate and nature.”
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Sebastian Schienle, Director of Research at Effektiv Spenden
The challenge
Conduct an in-depth analysis of the Australian philanthropic landscape and generate a list of the top recommended climate nonprofits in the market.
The Australian Ethical Foundation tasked Giving Green with developing donation recommendations for the top Australian nonprofits tackling global climate mitigation.
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The foundation had seen Giving Green’s research on the top nonprofits globally and saw an opportunity to provide a similar, market-specific list of well-vetted, high-impact giving recommendations for Australian funders.
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Thus, they enlisted the help of Giving Green to generate a list of Australia-based organizations with the highest potential for global philanthropic impact.
The Giving Green Approach
A dynamic approach to evaluating Australia’s top philanthropic strategies, using our signature Scale, Feasibility, and Room for More Funding framework. All with a focus on uncovering interventions with the greatest potential to shift global systems to lower greenhouse gas emissions.
Giving Green conducted its first analysis of the Australian philanthropic landscape in 2021. In 2023, the Australian Ethical Foundation approached us with a request to revisit this research in partnership with Effective Altruism Australia and reevaluate this list given the dramatically different climate ecosystem and political context.
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No stranger to the living, breathing, ever-evolving nature of this body of research, we were up to the challenge. The team underwent a second round of research into Australia’s unique role in combating the climate crisis and the top philanthropic strategy for global impact.
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For this evaluation, we brought on an Australian researcher with deep knowledge of the country’s climate policy landscape. Together, the team honed in on five impact indicators with particular relevance to the Australian market: systems change, global impact, comparative advantage, neglectedness, and tractability.
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​We then used these impact indicators to inform assessments of high-level climate mitigation strategies. The team then identified the top philanthropic sub-strategies and used our Scale, Feasibility, and Room for More Funding framework to evaluate each, finally leading to the selection of the top climate nonprofits in the market.
The Results
Giving Green finds that Australian philanthropists hold the power to decarbonize 7% of global emissions by focusing on one high-impact funding opportunity: decarbonizing industrial exports.
After research into the country’s global comparative advantages and opportunities for systemic change, our team honed in on the decarbonization of industrial exports as a key leverage point by which Australian philanthropists could contribute to global decarbonization efforts. Decarbonizing Australia’s industrial exports could eliminate up to 7% of global emissions, more than double Australia’s domestic emissions. The country is currently the top global producer and exporter of iron, aluminum, and lithium, which, once processed abroad, emit immense amounts of carbon. With its abundance of renewable resources, Australia has the potential to decarbonize these efforts and do so at a lower cost than almost any other country in the world.
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The findings were released in a public, non-partisan report on high-impact climate philanthropy in Australia, followed by a list of top climate charity recommendations within Australia:
“Giving Green’s work was instrumental in refining our Foundation’s focus areas and identifying some key high impact nonprofits working on climate change solutions in Australia”
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Kate Saunders, Head of Foundation, Australian Ethical Investment
For businesses
Corporate climate strategy consulting
In light of increasing scrutiny on carbon offsets, businesses face growing pressure to develop and implement genuine net-zero strategies.
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​We believe that companies can drive future decarbonization, not just offset past emissions. Our consulting services help businesses identify and act on opportunities for maximum climate impact.
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Drawing on our extensive research into effective corporate climate action and the principles laid out in our white paper, How To Think Beyond Net Zero, we offer expert guidance and actionable recommendations on:
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Engaging in climate policy.
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Contributing to or creating a climate action fund.
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Supporting high-quality carbon removal projects.
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Purchasing vetted carbon offset.
Case studies and testimonials
The challenge
We collaborated with Mapbox, a provider of online maps, to create a comprehensive corporate climate strategy. We advised the company on strategic climate philanthropy, carbon offset purchases, and carbon removal investments.
The results
Our consultation sessions helped Mapbox formulate a robust portfolio approach to achieving its sustainability goals.
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