The Superpower of Philanthropy

Climate and nature solutions often require significant funding. To reach net zero, reverse nature loss, and restore biodiversity by 2050, the world needs more than US$3 trillion in new capital each year. So how can we fill this urgent financing gap?

In this illustrated comic strip, we break down the ways in which philanthropy is uniquely placed as a key to unlock financing for impact. Philanthropic capital — which tends to be risk tolerant, flexible, nimble, and equitable — can be a powerful catalyst for attracting additional support from governments and the private sector to accelerate climate action.

This is the first in our explainer series about philanthropy and impact, created in partnership with The Weird and Wild. To view the comic strip as a PDF, click here.

Let me tell you about one important key that can unlock the money we need to tackle the climate crisis. Climate solutions often require significant funding, to hire people, to do research and experiments, to innovate and build, and to rent space or buy materials.

We need to increase funding for nature and climate by more than US$3 trillion a year, to decarbonise our energy and transport systems, to carve out protected areas and maintain biodiverse spaces, and more. This is urgent, but progress is slow. Both the public and private sectors are major sources of funding for climate solutions, but there are limitations.

This is where philanthropy comes in. Philanthropic capital is risk tolerant, flexible, nimble, and equitable. It de-risks projects, is able to adapt to different funding needs, and can be moved quickly to where it is most needed. This is important because some climate projects take time to develop.

This means your investors will only see returns many years after funding your climate project. That can be too long a timeframe or too risky for public and private funders. Philanthropic funding can come in to tide you over for the first few years, which gives you what you need to research and implement your project. You can now get more funding to scale it. A real-life example of public-private-philanthropic partnerships is the project by Equatic, supported by Temasek Foundation and PUB, Singapore's National Water Agency, to develop the pilot.

That's the superpower of philanthropy. Philanthropy is uniquely placed as a key to unlock financing for impact. Stay tuned to learn more about philanthropy and impact.

To view the comic strip as a PDF, click here.

Stay tuned for more explainers coming up in this series. For the latest updates on Temasek Trust and our ecosystem, follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.

The Superpower of Philanthropy

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