A new report shows that allocating £600 every year to climate not-for-profits is at least 100 times more effective at reducing atmospheric carbon dioxide levels than any other individual climate action considered in the study.
At the start of Good Money Week, the Global Returns Project, the sole initiative of the Climate Crisis Foundation, offers a compelling answer to the question of how we can do the most good with our money when it comes to climate change.
The findings of its latest report show that allocating £600 annually to climate not-for-profits is at least 100 times more effective at reducing atmospheric carbon dioxide levels than any other individual action considered in the study. These actions include living car-free for a year, switching to green energy and switching to a plant-based diet.
It also identifies a linear relationship between such an allocation and its effectiveness compared to other individual actions. A £60 donation, for example, would be 10 times more effective than the other climate actions considered.
Yan Swiderski, Executive Trustee and Co-Founder, comments: “People are increasingly asking themselves what they can do about the Climate Crisis. Our study clearly shows that allocating a small amount to the best climate not-for-profits is one of the most effective actions an individual can take.
Of course, any climate action is important and should be encouraged. But allocating a small amount to the best climate not-for-profits should be on any list of effective actions.”
The report analyses the effectiveness of contributing to the Global Returns Fund: a portfolio assembled by the Global Returns Project comprising a selection of the most effective not-for-profits tackling the Climate Crisis. The report compares the effectiveness of a £600 annual allocation to the Fund with the effectiveness of the other common individual climate actions.
The Global Returns Project currently has a diverse set of six Portfolio Partners: Ashden, ClientEarth, Global Canopy, Rainforest Trust UK, Trillion Trees and Whale and Dolphin Conservation.
Good Money Weekdraws particular attention to the effectiveness of not-for-profits in comparison with sustainable investing. Climate not-for-profits solve problems that markets alone cannot address. No market mechanism exists for suing polluters, protecting rainforests, or accelerating clean energy to the billion people currently living without it.
Swiderski added: “Supporting the best not-for-profits is often an underappreciated individual climate action. While climate apps, websites and articles often discuss the most effective individual actions, they almost never mention support for not-for-profits.”
According to the report’s estimates, allocating to the Global Returns Fund is:
- 100 times more effective in tonnes of carbon dioxide averted per year than living car free for a year.
- 130 times more effective in tonnes of carbon dioxide averted per year than switching to green energy.
- 143 times more effective in tonnes of carbon dioxide averted per year than avoiding one long-haul round-trip flight.
- 192 times more effective in tonnes of carbon dioxide averted per year than switching to an electric car.
- 278 times more effective in tonnes of carbon dioxide averted per year than switching to a plant-based diet.
The Global Returns Fund deploys investment fund logic to measure and manage the most effective not-for-profits tackling the Climate Crisis. Doing so allows investors to easily incorporate such not-for-profits into their normal investment activity – adopting what the Global Returns Project terms ‘Symbiotic Wealth Management’.
