We believe in solutions

It all star­ted on 1 March 2021. Not even a year old yet, the Clima Now foun­da­tion differs signi­fi­cantly from conven­tio­nal, tradi­tio­nal support models thanks to its support concept.

Three go-getters have joined forces. Natha­lie Moral and the two brot­hers Martin and Daniel Meili have been working toge­ther for many years. The idea was to create an orga­ni­sa­tion that takes action against climate change, and take action against it now. What resul­ted was a two-pager with the vision of some sort of phil­an­thropy 3.0 concept. They were quickly joined by Tobias Rihs, Ruedi Gerber, Sabine von Stockar and Patrick Tobler, who all count among the first members of the group. It was only after the foun­da­tion launch that the orga­ni­sa­tio­nal struc­ture gradu­ally emer­ged – who is on the Board of Trus­tees and who should be respon­si­ble for opera­ti­ons. ‘We were very open right from the begin­ning. We didn’t want to do anything unneces­sary,’ says Natha­lie Moral. ‘We didn’t even have a name when we star­ted at the WWF premi­ses, where we wanted to contri­bute to the ecosys­tem in a comple­men­tary way.’

Not a support programme in the tradi­tio­nal sense

The Spot­light compe­ti­tion emer­ged as a result of an exch­ange with the WWF. Shining the spot­light on areas that haven’t yet attrac­ted much inte­rest from others, it aims to involve as many people as possi­ble in the casting process and to get them to parti­ci­pate. The first time around, 189 teams and indi­vi­du­als respon­ded to the call to submit a project idea. A jury narro­wed down the submis­si­ons to 33 projects and presen­ted them on the ‘Wall of Fame’. ‘We wanted as many people as possi­ble to visit the plat­form,’ Ms Moral says. ‘We want the world to see what cool projects are out there.’ The commu­nity was able vote for the projects on the plat­form, and 17,000 votes were cast. Seven teams were ulti­m­ately nomi­na­ted for the grand finale, and were invi­ted to parti­ci­pate in the first Clima Now Pitch Night. Three teams ended up winning and, in addi­tion to the prize money, will receive access to the Spot­light Support Programme so that they can put their idea into action.

Posi­tive tipping point

Die Initi­an­tin­nen und Initi­an­ten von
The initia­tors of Clima Now would like to see a society that cares for the envi­ron­ment. The foun­da­tion ther­e­fore focu­ses on the Sustainable Deve­lo­p­ment Goal (SDG) 13 estab­lished by the United Nati­ons, which stands for sustainable deve­lo­p­ment and action to combat climate change. ‘In our commu­ni­ca­tion, we talk about the so-called tipping points at which rever­sal beco­mes diffi­cult,’ explains Ms Moral. ‘We want to bring about a posi­tive tipping point, where society expe­ri­en­ces a mind shift.’ To this end, the foun­da­tion works in three areas: it funds solu­ti­ons, it crea­tes visi­bi­lity by provi­ding a plat­form and it brings the ideas toge­ther in a large commu­nity. The initia­tors know that money alone won’t solve the problem; there needs to be a change of menta­lity. ‘We want to inspire people by provi­ding solu­ti­ons and by encou­ra­ging them to think for them­sel­ves, to vote, to have their say and to donate.’ The foun­da­tion wants to give people a wake-up call and get them to take action. ‘We believe in solu­ti­ons,’ says Ms Moral. ‘We want to show that ever­yone can do their bit.’

Streng­then climate networks

The deve­lo­p­ment of a climate coali­tion is an important matter to Ms Moral. Her idea is to bring foun­da­ti­ons and other funding bodies toge­ther to share projects on a low-thres­hold plat­form, to learn toge­ther through special focus topics and to have a stron­ger voice in the ecosys­tem. She aims to enable peer-to-peer exch­ange. The Center for Phil­an­thropy Studies (CEPS) is curr­ently conduc­ting a survey among climate foun­da­ti­ons. Compared to other areas, the number of envi­ron­ment-focu­sed foun­da­ti­ons laun­ched has increased at an above-average rate over the last ten years, as the CEPS Annual Report 2020 has shown.

Get 100,000 people to take action in five years

In Switz­er­land, 100,000 signa­tures are needed to submit a popu­lar initia­tive. ‘If we can inspire 100,000 people with our cause, we will have the power to make an impact in society,’ says Ms Moral. ‘We’re still right at the begin­ning, but we believe that we will achieve this goal.’ The 17,000 votes cast during Spot­light has made the CEO confi­dent. It shows that there is a considera­ble number of people who want to take action and do some­thing about climate change, right here and right now.