Twelve local philanthropic funders have now signed South Africa’s pioneering Climate Philanthropy Pledge — a significant show of collective commitment across the pledge’s eight pillars1 of action, including education and learning, influence and advocacy, and the responsible use of endowments and assets amongst others — at a time of global uncertainty for sustainable development. The latest independent funders to join include the Cyril Ramaphosa Foundation and The Harry Crossley Foundation.

Launched earlier this year as Africa’s first Climate Philanthropy Pledge, the initiative recognises the urgent need to respond to climate change as an issue that cuts across all funding focus areas and SDGs, and which is impacting on all sectors and facets of society. Perpetual climate change has indeed become the context in which development work takes place. With traditional development funding under pressure and with climate change negatively impacting on all development goals, private philanthropy is increasingly stepping in to help fill the gap and drive sustainable impact.

A first for Africa, the South African Climate Philanthropy Pledge is the tenth regional philanthropy pledge to be formalised by the global philanthropic community, seeking ways to better coordinate resources towards more sustainable development outcomes. South Africa’s Climate Philanthropy Pledge was developed in 2024 after months of consultation and dialogue between partners and key experts and is being steered by IPASA (Independent Philanthropy Association South Africa), a membership organisation of 65 philanthropic funding organisations in South Africa.

Louise Driver, Executive Director of IPASA says now that members have signalled their willingness to unite behind climate action, the next pivotal step will be to develop an implementation guide that will assist members in embedding climate as a key risk and consideration in all their funding decisions.

“We’re excited by the uptake so far, because it shows how climate change is increasingly being viewed as a critical issue.”

The Climate Philanthropy Pledge is a blueprint for how the philanthropic community can act collectively across eight focus areas. These include members promoting education on the intersection of climate change with funders ‘initiatives, integration of climate considerations into funders’ work, commitment of resources to climate initiatives, responsible investing of endowments and assets, responding to the unique positioning of South African reality in relation to the climate agenda, and promoting advocacy for climate action and transparency. The goal of the Climate Pledge is to foster collaboration and knowledge sharing and promote sustainability through supporting adaptation and systems change investments to ultimately achieve climate resilience.

Not all independent funders from the Southern Africa region are new to climate philanthropy. The African Climate Foundation, now in its fifth year, has been a pioneering partner for the pledge by providing seed funding for its consultation and development and can now reflect on the efficacy of climate finance on development outcomes, based on its track record of grant making.

“What we have learned is that as long as climate change is viewed as an external shock, rather than an issue that has to be integrated into everything we do, we will be eroding our development gains in health, food security and education,” explains Saliem Fakir, ACF founder and Executive Director.

This recognition of the need to embed climate into development is now being translated into practice by several IPASA members. The Oppenheimer Memorial Trust has launched the Climate Justice in Education Project in partnership with UNESCO and the University of Pretoria, aiming to better prepare South Africa’s school system for the climate crisis by addressing the right to education. Implemented through the University’s Chair for Education in Law in Africa, the initiative reflects a growing shift among philanthropic organisations towards embedding climate considerations into core development work.

Similarly, the Grindrod Family Centenary Trust — long committed to early childhood development in KwaZulu-Natal — has taken on an advocacy role by convening stakeholders in the province to explore the intersection of climate change and ECD. The gathering focused on sharing innovative tools and strategies, and building partnerships to support climate-resilient ECD programmes. As part of the event, IPASA also presented its practical climate action entry points for funders who focus on the early years and ECD. These efforts reflect a broader commitment among IPASA members, who are now integrating a climate lens across their long standing focus areas such as education, health, food security, livelihoods and biodiversity.

Ground-Up Climate Action

Taking a more grassroots approach, the Environmental Justice Fund, another IPASA member, is focusing on strengthening community-based organisations who they see as the first responders to climate disasters in local communities. The work is also exploring indigenous knowledge systems and tapping into how communities have been adapting for centuries to cycles of flood and drought.

During a recent G20 event – the F20 Climate Solutions Forum IPASA co-hosted a side event where members shared that climate action must be driven from the ground up – elevating local voices, youth activism and indigenous knowledge systems. Philanthropy should not only address technical challenges but be rooted in the moral imperatives of justice and equity. Alan Wallis of the Ford Foundation emphasised the need for philanthropy to act as catalytic capital — not merely to fill gaps left by government, but to unlock larger funding streams through innovation and risk-taking.

As convenor of this year’s G20 Summit, South Africa will host a series of stakeholder meetings for governments, business and civil society under the theme, ‘Solidarity, Equality and Sustainability’. While Africa is warming at twice the rate of the global north, there are many shared experiences that South Africa can draw on. Climate change has led to fiercer and more frequent wildfires, where Cape Town, California and the Mediterranean are bearing the brunt and can all benefit from exchanging ideas. In this spirit of global exchange, IPASA recently participated in the European Philanthropy Coalition’s Climate session at the Philanthropy Europe Association conference in Portugal, on “Leveraging commitments to advance just and equitable climate outcomes.”

The networking and knowledge sharing between IPASA members has emerged as an important drawcard to join the pledge. Melanie Spencer of the Cyril Ramaphosa Foundation concludes that the Climate Pledge is providing their organisation with a timely opportunity to commit and contribute to climate action in solidarity with others.