Green Philanthropy Under-Funded - New Report
7 November 2007 at 2:03 pm
Charities play a vital role in tackling environment problems but are under-funded by both private and corporate givers according to a new report.
Only a tiny proportion of giving in the UK goes to environmental charities despite growing public concern about the natural world, according to a new report by New Philanthropy Capital (NPC).
The report, Green Philanthropy, estimates that less than 2% of charitable grants in the UK are directed to environmental charities and less than 5% of the £8bn of private donations in the UK go to environmental causes.
NPC says that donors would like to give more but lack information about charities working in this area.
The report warns that climate change is only part of the problem and that there are other pressing issues, such as over exploitation of natural resources, that require attention too.
Martin Brookes, Director of Research at NPC says the growing concern for the state of the environment is at odds with the apparent lack of funding for charities working in the field.
Brookes says the puzzling lack of interest amongst donors and funders spurred NPC to carry out it’s Green Philanthropy research.
He says feedback from both funders and charities highlighted a range of challenges that the report addresses: the overwhelming scale of many environment problems; the enduring resistance of many people to scientific projections about the consequences of our way of life; and the lack of information and guidance available to those donors and funders who really are interested in environment issues.
Download the full report at http://www.philanthropycapital.org/
(It requires a log in which is free)
