Environment, climate and justice took centre stage at the conference. Throughout the time I was there, I was so pleased to see how environmental issues and importantly environmental justice is being woven into the work of the Community Foundations across the UK.

Across keynote sessions, informal conversations and workshops, I saw a strong desire from attendees to really understand environmental issues and in particular to find the sweet spots where their work would be most impactful. Community foundations from Scotland, Kent and Tyne and Wear and Northumberland shared insights from their current investments and grants funding. Their work is a great blueprint for other community foundations, allowing them to avoid having to ‘reinvent the wheel’. As Mercedes Jones from Foundation Scotland said ‘every grant we make is linked to climate’ and therefore it is something community foundations have to consider going forward. 

I was particularly struck by comments made by Indy Johar from Dark Matters Lab. He clearly explained the trajectory we are on with the current degrees of warming and connected the dots between how this will impact communities locally and globally. He shared that community foundations have a vital role in building resilient communities, which will be absolutely essential in the UK’s adaptation to the impacts of climate change – hopefully bringing to life the key role attendees can play going forward. 

There was a general acknowledgement that climate change affects everyone, but not equally, and that the most marginalised in our society are the most affected. Many speakers and attendees noted how this impact was already being seen in the communities they serve. There was also much discussion of how community foundations can address challenges and barriers to environmental grant-making and bring climate into their work. 

Celia McKeon, the chief executive of the Two Ridings Community Foundation, articulated these challenges really clearly. Two Ridings includes Harrogate, an ‘attractive and affluent town’, yet one that still faces a myriad of social issues, such as lack of affordable housing, fuel poverty, and rural isolation in the surrounding area. How do community foundations respond to the urgent needs of the community right now, whilst balancing future needs? We know environmental issues so often fall into a future, less immediate concern. Community foundations can sometimes lack the time, resources and funding to effectively address environmental issues, whilst simultaneously providing emergency and caring services.

Having reflected on the conference and these challenges, I wanted to offer a few actions and ideas that community foundations may find helpful:

• Visit EFN’s new website – this includes new pages that can help community foundations see how to start giving, how the environment intersects with other causes and what the impact of environmental funding is.
• Join a community – there is no need to work alone. The Funder Commitment on Climate Change was mentioned many times at the conference and is an excellent place for funders to start, providing a structure for how to take action and practical next steps. Of course, EFN is another community you are very welcome to join (sign up for our membership on our website). NPC’s Everyone’s Environment programme has brilliant resources about how climate change affects different social groups, as well as a Funder Learning Group.

Three ways you can start funding the environment quickly:

1. Support your current grantees to be more sustainable. For example, you can offer bolt-on grants for energy audits or sustainability training for staff and volunteers.
2. Widen current grant criteria to recognise the co-benefits of addressing climate change for the goals you have. For example if you fund health, widen to include green spaces (vital for mental health and wellbeing), or tackling air pollution.
3. Put in place new funding streams that directly support environmental action. For example the Oxfordshire Community Foundation launched their Thriving in Nature Fund earlier this year, which improves wellbeing and nurtures work opportunities by connecting people with nature. 

Finally, the most important message I shared most with those at the conference was: don’t worry about getting everything right and don’t take too long to get started! Many foundations have learnt, grown and developed their environmental programmes just by ‘giving it a go’ and simply starting to fund the issues that matter most to them and their community. Funding spent now will have much more impact than in years to come, when environmental problems are even more entrenched.

Thank you to the UKCF and the wider community for a fantastic, inspiring couple of days – and for putting the environment, people and our planet at the centre of your future work!

Jane Cabutti is the Growing Philanthropy Director at Environmental Funders Network (EFN).