Climate Change : Enlarging the Toolbox

This paper analyzes philanthropic strategies to engage climate change. Since the turn of the millennium there has been growing venture capital interest in the broad area of clean technology. Much of that investment - over 50% - has been directed towards the energy sector on technology for energy efficiency, renewable energy, and alternative fuels. The deployment of such innovations can directly help combat the cause of climate change - human caused greenhouse gas emissions. From the venture philanthropist's perspective the goal of cleantech investment is to obtain financial returns and simultaneously leverage technology to address the many social impacts of climate change. The current approach to cleantech - which focuses mostly on energy - misses several opportunities for impact. The paper explores a more ambitious approach by venture philanthropists and social investors to limiting the impact of climate change, viewing intervention as a portfolio of three different strategies - mitigation, adaptation, and insurance. Expanding the scope of intervention in this manner allows for a comprehensive response to climate change, which will become important and financially viable as the irreversible impacts of climate change - water scarcity, migration and extreme weather events - intensify