Forging a Resilient Caribbean: The Role of Philanthropy | CLASP Series

In this introductory episode of the CLASP podcast series, host Derval Barzey discusses the intersection of climate action and philanthropy in the Caribbean with Erica Miller, Head of Climate at WINGS and Anthea McLaughlin, CEO of The Caribbean Philanthropic Alliance (CariPhil). They explore the transformative potential of the CLASP initiative, the role of philanthropy in enhancing climate resilience, and the importance of strategic partnerships. 

The conversation highlights the Caribbean's vulnerability to climate change and the need for a coordinated philanthropic response, especially in light of recent disasters like Hurricane Beryl. The episode emphasizes the mission of the Caribbean Philanthropic Alliance and the global Philanthropy for Climate movement, aiming to mobilize resources and foster collaboration for sustainable development in the region. 

This conversation highlights the role of initiatives like CLASP and the Philanthropy for Climate framework. The speakers discuss the importance of collaboration among funders, the innovative climate solutions emerging from the region, and the structured approach to integrating climate strategies into philanthropic efforts. They also outline key activities and future directions for funders in addressing climate challenges, emphasizing the need for transparency and sharing of outcomes to inspire collective action.

Key Takeaways

• The Caribbean Philanthropic Alliance connects global and regional philanthropy.
• CLASP seeks to unite diverse stakeholders to forge a resilient Caribbean through climate philanthropy. 
• Philanthropy must be strategic and collaborative for long-term impact.
• The Caribbean region remains underfunded in global philanthropy despite its vulnerability. 
• Philanthropy for Climate offers a structured framework for funders to align with climate action.
• Foundations can leverage the seven-pillar framework to impact climate change.
• The commitment to climate action must be tailored to local contexts.
• Technical assistance will help integrate climate strategies into funding.
• The CLASP podcast series will share commitments and strategies of funders and other stakeholders.

 To learn more visit cariphilalliance.org/events-programs/clasp/

Transcript

Welcome to the CLASP Podcast Series, where climate action meets philanthropy in the Caribbean and beyond. I am your host, Derval Barzey, and today I'm joined by two incredible leaders driving climate philanthropy. Erika Miller, Head of Climate at WINGS, a global network strengthening philanthropy worldwide. And Anthea McLaughlin, CEO of the Caribbean Philanthropic Alliance, CARIPHIL, a champion for regional philanthropy and climate resilience. 

From funding renewable energy projects to supporting disaster risk management, philanthropists play a vital role in boosting climate resilience and promoting sustainable development in the Caribbean. 

Now let's hear from Anthea. Welcome, Anthea. Tell us a bit about yourself. Hello, Derval.

It's a pleasure to be with you today. I'm Anthea McLaughlin, and I'm the CEO of Caribbean Philanthropic Alliance. And I'm here with Erika Miller, Head of Climate at WINGS, to tell you about CLASP.

The Climate Conscious Podcast is thrilled to be part of the CLASP initiative. But before we get more into it, please tell us about the Caribbean Philanthropic Alliance and its mission. 

Sure. The Caribbean Philanthropic Alliance, also known as CARIPHIL, our mission is to transform philanthropy and to empower Caribbean communities for a sustainable and equitable future. We operate as a philanthropic serving organization. And what that means is that our role is to strengthen the philanthropic ecosystem across the Caribbean by providing support, resources and advocacy and providing knowledge sharing and best practices within the giving community across the region.

We also operate as a convener. We've created a dedicated space for philanthropy to come together. And we are seen also as a trusted navigator or guide within the region where we spend time helping to bridge the gap between global philanthropic interest and this very specific, often nuanced needs of Caribbean communities to ensure that investments are responsive, are regionally informed and aligned with local priorities.

And as a hub, we connect global and regional funders to maximize impact and identify investment gaps. We track philanthropy funding flows, we support innovative grant making and provide technical assistance to both funders and grantees. And of course, we spend time working across sectors like climate resilience, we'll talk about today, education, social equity, economic empowerment, arts and culture and more. And we champion equity, especially for women and marginalized groups. And we actively engage the Caribbean diaspora as critical partners in philanthropy and driving innovation, investments and solutions.

We've been around since 2019, as a recognized partner of the United Nations, creating a platform that fosters trust based philanthropy practices and ensuring that our philanthropy partners engage in community led approaches. And we ensure that Caribbean Voices are represented in global funding conversations. 

Yes, CARIPHIL has been doing some amazing work in the region. And I can recall that during Hurricane Beryl, CarIphil activated its network of vetted organizations to ensure effective and transparent relief effort via its trusted partners initiative. So Anthea, we're here on the CLASP podcast series, but our listeners may be wondering, what is this CLASP initiative we're talking about? Tell us, what is CLASP and how does it connect to Cariphil's broader mission? 

Well, thank you for asking. CLASP stands for Forging a Resilient Caribbean Through Climate Philanthropy and Strategic Partnerships. The CLASP project is a transformative effort that unites funders and multi-stakeholders to commit to climate action and drives innovative solutions to build a resilient Caribbean. It's also considered a call to action that joins the Philanthropy for Climate, which is a global movement of foundations committed to taking urgent action on climate change.

Our goal at CLASP is for all funders, whether large or small community foundations, donors or traditional funders to make clear, tangible commitments to climate action in the Caribbean, addressing the climate change crisis in the region and ensuring that the region receives the dedicated support it needs to build resilience and drive sustainable solutions.

Cariphil operates as a host for this initiative, for the Philanthropy for Climate initiative. And our key focus is to ensure that Caribbean participation is counted in the global community of over 800 plus philanthropic organizations that already have signed on to the commitment. And so over the next nine months, we'll be actively engaging funders, understanding their levels of commitment, facilitating knowledge sharing and aligning resources to maximize impact for climate action in the Caribbean. And we hope that through this initiative, we aim to strengthen climate philanthropy in the region, connect Caribbean funders to the global movement and drive sustained and strategic support for climate solutions. 

Thank you, Anthea, for those insights. We know that philanthropy is not just about giving money. It's about empowering communities to lead the change themselves. Now, let's hear from Erika, who brings another important perspective on climate philanthropy. 

Welcome, Erika. Can you tell us about the Philanthropy for Climate movement and why it's so important? 

So as Anthea kind of briefly mentioned before, Philanthropy for Climate is a global movement and it's encouraging all foundations, regardless of geographic location, size or thematic focus, to integrate climate action across their work from governance all the way to grant making. And this movement really started back in 2019 when a group of UK based funders made a public commitment to tackle climate change and called on their peers, on other funders to join. And what this call highlighted were a few things in the sector.

So first, the absence of a platform that facilitated collective action among foundations on climate. Second, it highlighted the absence of a common framework that includes resources, tools that helps foundations and encourages them, regardless of their mission, to consider climate, to take a climate lens. And then third, it highlighted the reality that there was and continues to be a lot of sector fragmentation.

And because of that, we miss out on the collective power that we have of a sector. And so fragmentation in terms of the fact that we work in diverse mission areas, which is great, but we still do that in silos, both within and across geographies. And so how do we kind of break down that fragmentation so that we can harness the collective power of our sector? And so this call launched the UK Funder Commitment on Climate Change, which is led by the Association of Charitable Foundations in the UK.

And this honestly just kind of created a snowball effect where different organizations were coming on board. And so the movement really centers on impact and the gaps that need to be filled to ensure that it's driven from the ground up. And what we've seen since 2019 is really an unprecedented level of collaboration among philanthropy support organizations and foundations from across the world.

So just last month, we celebrated the launch of the South African Commitment, which is actually the 10th commitment under Philanthropy for Climate. So we've grown quite considerably. And today, the community includes more than 850 foundations from across the world in over 22 countries.

But there's still no representation from the Caribbean region, which is why we're super eager to be working with Anthea and Cariphil to see how we can elevate the voice of Caribbean philanthropy within this growing global movement. You know, we know that climate change is one of the most pressing issues of our time. We continue to see the consequences at accelerated pace and even more in small island developing states and the Caribbean region being kind of one of the hot spots facing climate crisis.

And that's really what's at the crux of Philanthropy for Climate is that all foundations have a role to play and we can't continue kind of business as usual. But we really need to scale up and deepen the efforts of philanthropy on the climate crisis. 

So what we do through Philanthropy for Climate, we do storytelling. So case studies are a key piece of the work that we do, really showing examples of how foundations are transforming how they look at climate, how they integrate climate into their work. We produce data to communicate what's been working and what the sector is doing and what we're achieving. And there's also an implementation guide that accompanies the framework.

And the implementation guide really helps foundations implement their commitment and catalyze kind of their climate action. The most important piece about Philanthropy for Climate is that it's national commitment hosts who mobilize their local sector, given their expertise and understanding of the broader context. So the hosts, like Cariphil in this case, are all of the other hosts of the 10 commitments.

They are the powerful mobilizers and catalysts of this movement. And actually of the 850 signatories, we see 90% are linked to national or regional commitments. And so we continue to build and grow a really strong network of philanthropy support organizations that are leading on transforming what climate philanthropy looks like in their geographies.

So again, very excited to kind of be supporting Anthea and the Cariphil Alliance as they champion this kind of climate philanthropy transformation within the Caribbean. 

Yes, we are all very eager for the Caribbean to join the movement so that we can unlock new funding streams and ensure coordinated action. So Erika, tell us about the Philanthropy for Climate seven pillar framework and how it benefits philanthropic organizations.

So Philanthropy for Climate takes a unique approach to climate philanthropy by primarily encouraging foundations to think about two things. So first is an integrated lens, really exploring how the climate emergency impacts and is impacted by their existing areas of work. And two is a multi-pillared approach.

So exploring the various levers for change that's available to a foundation for more systemic and transformative action. And so our framework, as you mentioned, is a seven pillared framework. And these pillars represent the seven levers that we believe foundations can use to have an impact on climate change going beyond just the allocation of funding.

And so I'll walk you through the pillars and give you a brief overview of kind of what they mean. So the first pillar is education and learning. And this is really about building up the climate literacy of the organizations that are part of the community.

And this in terms of building up the literacy of the organizations, we talk about, of course, staff, but also senior leadership, foundation boards, investment committees, really everyone that works within the organization to have them really understand how climate is intersecting with their areas of work and is impacting their work. The commitment of resources is pillar two. And so, of course, this is talking about the commitment to financial resources in the form of grants.

But here we also talk about committing internal resources to implement the commitment. So, for example, a foundation allocating staff to coordinate the work around climate action. Pillar three is around integration.

And this looks at integrating a climate lens into existing programs and upcoming strategies. So how are you taking a climate lens? How are foundations applying a climate lens into existing programs, but also in how they strategize and create new programming and new and new opportunities? The fourth pillar is on endowments and assets. And this pillar really highlights the importance for foundations as stewards of significant wealth to show leadership and shifting our financial systems.

And that includes aligning investment strategies with global climate goals. So how are we having more mission aligned investments, what it means to divest from fossil fuels? Those things go into pillar four. Under pillar five, the fifth pillar is operations.

And I like to call this kind of our walking the talk pillar and getting your own house in order as a foundation. So how do foundations practice what they preach in the sense that when it comes to daily operations of their foundation, how are they considering the climate impact in their travel policies and the buildings that they work in, in their procurement policies as well? So that's really the day to day. And then pillar six is influence and advocacy.

And so this is around how philanthropic organizations are often well placed to bridge across different sectors. So, you know, public, private, different groups as well and different countries and how they can provide a platform for people that are otherwise excluded from decision making. So, you know, philanthropy does hold certain levels of power.

And so how do we best use that power to share space to promote the voices of grantee partners and traditionally kind of marginalized voices in some of the spaces that foundations have access to? And then the last pillar is pillar seven. And this is a transparency pillar. And so this pillar, I mean, it's meant to provide additional incentive for foundations to deliver on the commitment.

But it's also an important way for us to share successes and learnings from the community and allows us to develop important data on what's happening, how the community is taking action and share out what we're seeing. So with Philanthropy for Climate, while, of course, foundations that join the community are encouraged to work on all of the pillars, they do choose which ones they want to prioritize and are encouraged to increase engagement across all of them as they progress. And the implementation guide that I kind of alluded to and mentioned before is really there to help suggest what actions foundations can take under each pillar, depending on where they are at in their climate journey.

So we really recognize and value that each foundation is on a different journey, but that all of their experience is very crucial and important to the success of the community overall. And so by leveraging these different experiences of philanthropic organizations based on where they are in their journey, we're creating an inclusive community of peers where really everything, everyone has something to offer. 

And we kind of categorize three levels of engagement of the foundations. And the first one is just getting started. The second group is really around building momentum and then lastly, demonstrating leadership. And, you know, a key piece of philanthropy for climate and the pillars is that it's really giving non-climate foundations an entry point while leveraging seasoned climate foundations as allies and supporting others in their journey.

A key piece about the commitment is that it is tailored to each of its contexts in the national and regional geographies where it exists. So, of course, while there are certain key principles that remain the same, you know, bringing the sector together, providing an entry point to engage, identifying and addressing barriers to entry, the commitments do kind of look and feel different everywhere. 

So, for example, the Brazilian and South African commitments, they have an eighth pillar that really talks about their unique context and identity. The Arab commitment, throughout the commitment, they speak a lot about climate injustice versus climate change. The Canadian commitment, for example, focuses on indigenous rights and acts of reciprocity. And then the UK commitment only has six pillars.

So, it really does look and feel different based on the group that's leading the commitment. And I think similarly with the Caribbean and with Cariphil, it'll be tailored, the commitment will be tailored to the local context, the shared priorities and really what philanthropy currently looks like in the Caribbean context. I can really see how embracing these seven pillars will strengthen philanthropic organizations by allowing for greater alignment, better governance and more efficient operations.

Thank you, Erika and the team at WINGS for your incredible work across the globe and for supporting the Caribbean region in accessing the resources it needs to develop its resilience to the effects of climate change. Back to you, Anthea. So, CLASP is connecting Caribbean philanthropy to global movements.

Yes. 

Can you give us a rundown of the key activities under the CLASP initiative? 

Sure. CLASP has a few activities which are simple and streamlined.

It includes four major components. Firstly, we are going to be launching our CLASP podcast series with you, in collaboration with Climate Conscious Podcast to engage funders and multi-sector stakeholders who will share their best practices and innovations in addressing climate change. Secondly, we'll conduct high-impact technical assistance with our partner at WINGS.

It will be training sessions to help foundations to integrate climate strategies into their funding and provide hands-on support to integrate the seven pillars of climate action developed by the International Philanthropic Commitment on Climate Change. We're very excited about that. In these sessions, participants and funders in particular will learn from other funders through case studies, reviewing case studies.

They'll be introduced to philanthropic climate strategies using an implementation guide which will offer tips and tools on how to start or amplify their climate journey and how to access capacity building resources for climate action. Thirdly, we will facilitate climate briefings. We will meet with funders over the nine months to review their commitments, particularly to review their commitment language for the region, to encourage funders to participate in their climate journey, to participate in the surveys that will show the different levels of their commitment.

And we will also collect information to gather a collective understanding of how funders commit to climate philanthropy. And of course, we will spend time with our funders to identify collaborative potential projects to demonstrate their commitment. And after we have met with our funders, we will also create a digital space to share data, success stories, philanthropy trends, and best practices to amplify climate philanthropy initiatives.

We also, in phase two, will include gathering more funder commitments and accessing funding for collaborative projects collectively identified in phase one. And what can we look forward to in the CLASS podcast series? In the podcast series, we're going to have three episodes. We are going to feature funders who are a part of our CARIFILM membership and network.

They will share their commitment to climate and strategies that they're undertaking within their respective foundations. For example, our chair of Cariphl Alliance, who is also CEO of Lasko Chin, will share how her foundation supports their commitment to climate. And we'll spend some time with us to explain how her foundation has responded to Hurricane Beryl by supporting small and medium-sized businesses post-Hurricane Beryl and could be a potential model for replication.

We'll also hear from other foundations who are also committed to funding conservation initiatives and protecting marine ecosystems in Jamaica or elsewhere to showcase their commitment to climate. And we hope that this podcast will inspire other foundations to share their commitment, again, no matter how large or small, and to motivate them to sign the International Philanthropic Commitment on Climate Change. 

Other podcasts will explore the role of national development banks in supporting climate action and resilience, highlighting how partnerships between banks, governments and philanthropies can drive meaningful impact across the Caribbean, as well as focus on organizations that are already building environmental resilience through community-led action.

And so we are looking forward to the podcast. They will not necessarily just be a discussion. It will be focused on action-oriented, measurable initiatives built on long-term success and climate resilience in the Caribbean.

Thank you, Anthea. 

Thank you. Thank you so much.

It's clear that Cariphil is making a difference in the Caribbean by bringing together donors, foundations, non-profit organizations and local communities to fund and implement climate action projects. The CLASP initiative is an opportunity to create a stronger response to the climate crisis. We call on all funders to step up and take action by supporting local communities and investing in regional climate solutions.

Join Cariphil and become part of a powerful network of changemakers. Visit cariphilalliance.org and philanthropyforclimate.org for more info. Subscribe to the Climate Conscious Podcast and stay tuned for the CLASP series.