Our 2023 giving season in the news

As our team looks back on our fourth giving season, here's a roundup of some of our recent conversations about effective climate giving:

We spoke to Hothouse about the shifts in the climate landscape and why we have turned towards international, technological solutions to climate change:

Short of asking developing countries to dramatically restrict their consumption of goods that much of the developed world has enjoyed abundantly for decades, Stein points out there aren’t very many high-impact options to offer developing countries equitable access to resources while still adhering to the road to sub-2C.

“I think everything has to be done [through] the lens of massive energy demand increases in poor countries,” says Stein. “What’s scary about shipping and aviation—it’s about 6 percent [of greenhouse gas emissions] right now. Projections in the future you see almost all other industries going down… All that’s supposed to happen in aviation is demand goes up and we have no way to make it cleaner… Maybe [you could] argue we shouldn’t be flying, [but that’s] tough from equity perspectives.”

This is where Stein theorizes technological innovations will need to come in.

Our research was used by Doneer Effectief and the University of Amsterdam to develop their "champions league of charities":

The University of Amsterdam and the Doneer Effective Foundation joined forces to make a selection of the most effective charities worldwide. 'This way we can help Dutch donors donate as impactfully as possible,' Smeets explains. “A thoughtful donation can have a major positive impact,” Schaper adds. 'The social challenges we now face, such as climate change and inequality, do not respect national borders. With this international selection we offer something unique for Dutch donors who want to help solve major world problems.'

We spoke to Cardrate about the research process behind our top recommendations:

“We look for initiatives that impact the leverage points within the system,” Stein said. “The organizations that make our final list can make a big difference with some extra funding.”

And we celebrated the holiday spirit, with Thanksgiving gratitudes, an evidence-backed Giving Tuesday, and ways to not be an environmental Grinch!