Press release
Berlin/Hamburg, 05/30/2017

According to a newly established global platform of foundations, the F20, ‘the G7 summit in Italy has set the stage for the upcoming G20 summit in Hamburg’. ‘Six of the seven Heads of State have demonstrated their determination to implement the Paris Agreement despite the reluctance of the US administration. It is now up to the most powerful economies to lead in turning the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement into reality’, they said in a joint statement.
On 7th and 8th July 2017 the most influential 20 industrialised countries and emerging economies will meet in Hamburg for the next G20 summit. On this occasion, the F20 group of more than 35 foundations and philanthropic organisations from nine countries – the first group of its kind – have joined forces to further advance action on climate change and the global energy transformation.
‘The German G20 presidency can rely on the support of businesses, think tanks, civil society, faith leaders and progressive countries when it comes to climate change. It is these groups that are driving global climate action, investing in sustainable infrastructure and helping create the jobs of the future in Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia and the Americas. The goals of the Paris Agreement have global support and are cemented every day as the low-carbon transition gathers pace’, said Laurence Tubiana, CEO of the European Climate Foundation.
Michael Northrop from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund said: ‘The low-carbon transition offers business opportunities, jobs and economic development, and a whole range of co-benefits like cleaner air, and a healthier environment. But the flows of investment necessary to leverage these opportunities and co-benefits at scale must accelerate. Growing numbers of foundations, pension funds, cities, and insurance companies are showing the way by divesting their capital from fossil fuels and by pioneering investment in clean energy solutions.’
In 2014, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund announced its decision to divest its more than $800 million fund from fossil fuels and reinvest in clean energy opportunities. Since 2014 more than $5 trillion of managed assets have elected to divest from coal and fossil fuels.
Ramiro Fernández, from Argentina and Climate Change Director at Fundación Avina, underlined the important role civil society needs to play within this transformation. ‘Civil society groups have always been a key driver of transformative change. The importance of civil society’s engagement in the name of preserving natural resources and in the global struggle for social justice – be it on an international, national or local level – cannot be overstated. The voices of civil society from all over the world need to be heard throughout the G20 process.’
Fundación Avina is a Latin American organisation working in Argentina where it hosts several projects on fostering democracy, environmental protection and sustainable development.
The F20 Foundations Platform will support the implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda, climate action, and the deployment of renewable energies around future G20 summits. Furthermore, the Foundations Platform objective aims to highlight the strong role civil society is playing in this transformation. Among the participating foundations are the Rockefeller Brothers Fund (US), the Wallace Global Fund (US), Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation (India), the Tata Trusts (India), Avina Foundation (Latin America), FARN (Argentina), SEE Foundation (China), C Team (China), Instituto Arapyaú (Brasil), European Climate Foundation (Netherlands), Stiftung Zukunftsfähigkeit, Stiftung Mercator, Foundation 2° – German CEOs for Climate Protection, Michael Otto Foundation for Environmental Protection, WWF, German Federal Environmental Foundation (DBU), the ZEIT-Stiftung Ebelin und Gerd Bucerius and the World Future Council (all Germany). In total, the foundations represent a capital in the double-digit billion range (US dollars).
On 4th July, a few days before the G20 summit, the Foundations Platform will gather leaders from civil society, business, science and politics at an event in Hamburg. The aim is to demonstrate strong support for the global climate agenda as well as to discuss how to leverage the opportunities and benefits arising from transformational processes.
Among the speakers are the economist Lord Nicholas Stern, the sociologist Auma Obama, the author and former advisor to the US government Amory B. Lovins, the Chinese entrepreneur Wang Shi and Kurt Bock, Chair of the B20 Energy, Climate & Resource Efficiency Taskforce and CEO of BASF SE.
For more Information on the F20-Platform, visit www.foundations-20.org/
Media contact:
Katrin Riegger,
Katrin Riegger, Head of Communications, European Climate
Katrin.Riegger@europeanclimate.org,
T: +49 (0) 30 847 12 11 96,
M: +49 (0) 157 71 33 57 96