During Brazil’s G20 presidency, the tragic floods in Rio Grande do Sul have become a symbol of the bold action urgently needed to address the multiple crises the world is facing.

To respond to such crises, the G20 must unlock not just more finance, but also better finance – through catalysing higher-risk investments and ensuring the funds reach those on the frontlines. Leveraging the catalytic role of philanthropy is one important step towards this.

This year, the Civil 20 (C20) – the body representing civil society engagement within the G20 – features its first working group focused on philanthropy. The C20 working group 9 on philanthropy and sustainable development is co-chaired by IIED alongside global philanthropy network WINGS and Brazilian philanthropy network GIFE.

We have convened over 400 organisations to understand how philanthropies contribute to G20 countries’ commitment to improve the multilateral system and sustainable development. This process, and our participation in both the F20 Climate Solutions Forum and the C20 mid-term meeting, has provided useful insights on the contribution philanthropy can make to climate and social justice.

Philanthropy: a diverse sector going beyond funding

The C20’s general recommendations (PDF) presented to the G20 Sherpas earlier in July, include a call to the G20 to: “Recognise and support the catalytic role of philanthropy to promote sustainable development…” Underpinning the working group’s input was a clear and encouraging objective for philanthropy to go beyond siloed, fragmented programming.

Throughout the discussions, we were impressed by the diversity of the philanthropic sector. While often associated with large-scale donors, philanthropy takes many forms – from community foundations to philanthropy networks. These are more than just providers of funds.

They act as powerful facilitators between communities and government authorities, produce groundbreaking knowledge and promote innovative experiences. Importantly, their know-how, political capital and flexibility allow them to take risks, better adapt financing schemes to the needs and capacities of local communities, and to support policy areas that might be overlooked or contentious for traditional actors.

Towards inclusive governance and accountability

The representatives with whom we engaged during discussions demonstrated a commitment to improving democratic and inclusive governance, both across society and within their own sectors.

Participants did not call for philanthropy to replace the public sector, but instead to align its actions with public policies that respond to demands for broader systemic change and inclusive, sustainable development. This, in their eyes, required both broader measures such as international tax cooperation, as well as a common regulatory framework to guide philanthropic action and ensure transparency of philanthropy itself.

The Brazilian presidency has also allowed reflection on philanthropy in the global South, often closer to the communities at the frontline of the polycrisis. During the C20 meetings, participants explored how this unique position could enable them to tackle persistent inequalities, while grappling with their own histories of colonialism and discrimination, such as by supporting wealth taxation.

They also spoke of the need to increase South-South cooperation – including through the South African G20 presidency in 2025 – and to leverage their position as funders, conveners and capacity builders to improve the adequacy and accessibility of financing streams both in the global North and South.

An encouraging moment for an ambitious agenda

The changes demanded also reflect a powerful drive for change. The C20 recommendations speak to many of today’s most pressing issues, such as a just transition, international tax cooperation and wealth redistribution, and the imperative to combat the shrinking of civic space.

This year’s G20 focus on poverty and hunger, the climate crisis and global governance reform represents a unique opportunity to advance these goals, and a growing number of world leaders are embracing them. In our conversations, we were encouraged by the ambition within the philanthropic sector to be part of these efforts to bring about systemic change and advance equity, justice and sustainability in its own programming.

Catalytic areas of action

As different actors, such as philanthropic organisations, offer their networks, resources and knowledge to advance transformational change through the G20, there are various areas of action that require further attention in these spaces.

In recent months, IIED has been working with Southern partners on a range of issues where the G20 has the potential to drive policy changes that can support global sustainable development. The role of philanthropy is one of these issues. Others include addressing the debt crisis through the use of innovative debt for climate and nature swaps, and the need for an ambitious replenishment of the International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank’s concessional finance window for the poorest countries.

A crucial agenda

Housing justice is an example of a crucial agenda that speaks to the intersections of climate, inequalities and exclusion, but that is nevertheless absent from these conversations. As our work at IIED shows, the predominant housing model in most countries reproduces social and environmental injustices that jeopardise our ability to address the climate crisis, tackle colonial and racist legacies in public policy, and respond to the rising cost of living.

Highlighting alternative, usually grassroots-led pathways towards housing justice and urban equality in spaces like the G20 – but also COP negotiations and the UN Summit of the Future – can improve policy coherence and mobilise finance for housing policy efforts that prioritise people and nature over profit.