Scaling Domestic Climate Philanthropy in India
AVPN Climate Pathfinders Programme
AVPN Climate pathfinders programme
Integrating a Climate Lens into your Organisation
The AVPN Climate Action Platform will be launching its first climate capacity building programme for decision-makers of philanthropic organisations and other grant-making bodies. The programme will aim to cross pollinate regionally relevant ideas and concepts from like-minded individuals to develop learning opportunities and foster a shared understanding of climate action in India.
This pioneer cohort of AVPN Climate Pathfinders will be equipped with the tools and knowledge required to demystify the intricacies of climate intersectionality in the region and effectively incorporate climate action into their theory of change.
Utilising AVPN's resources and reputuation, participants will also be given the opportunity to propel progress in critical areas to reshape the regional policy agenda and enable the more effective deployment of capital towards climate action.
OUR GOAL
Through this programme participants will be able to
Improve their understanding of climate action
Gain a better understanding of climate intersectionality
Reimagine climate funding using climate intersectionality lens
SCHEDULE
Programme timeline
Webinar - 29th November 2022, 1500hrs - 1630hrs (GMT +5:30)
Information Session 1
This session will apprise participants on the Climate Pathfinder Workshop Series. Participants will be made aware on the purpose, timeline and duration of the workshop series.
Webinar - 1st December 2022, 1200HRS - 1330HRS (GMT +5:30)
Information Session 2
This session will apprise participants on the Climate Pathfinder Workshop Series. Participants will be made aware on the purpose, timeline and duration of the workshop series.
IN PERSON - 17th JANUARY 2023
Workshop Day 1: Breaking Climate Silos & Understanding Intersectionality
Day 1 of the workshop, will consist of two sessions, that aim to help participants understand and visualise climate intersectionality. This session will address questions on climate intersectionality, the importance of endogenizing it into the current funding landscape, and how an intersectional lens could strengthen climate action by moving beyond silos of climate and non-climate focused work.
Session 1: Understanding Intersectionality
Through the analysis of case studies, projects, and regional trends, participants will be appraised on the climate intersectionality of various social, environmental, and economic goals. The participants will also be invited to help fill in gaps by sharing their knowledge and experiences related to climate intersectionality.
Session Activities:
- To understand the key trends, case studies, and indicators of climate intersectional areas.
- To share and discuss stories and trends based on participant experiences.
- To reflect and review on how participants see the importance and relevance of climate intersectionality. Along with key variables they can identify that highlight intersectionality.
Session 2: Visualising Intersectionality
This session will use the learnings from earlier in the day and aim to apply them towards developing a visual understanding of climate intersectionality. Group activities will be conducted using interactive learning tools and systems
Session Activities:
- Connecting the Dots - A group exercise using interactive learning tools
- Interpreting climate intersectionality in current organisation projects
- Reflections and Closing
IN PERSON - 18th JANUARY 2023
Workshop Day 2: Reimagining Climate Funding Landscape
Day 2 of the workshop will focus on the understanding of the existing climate funding landscape and the existing areas of funding through an expert-guided session. Using the realisation and materials from Day 1, the session will invite participants to map the existing funding landscape using an intersectionality lens. This exercise will seek to answer how much of the existing funding is going into climate intersectional areas. A reflection and mapping exercise will also be conducted where participants will be asked to reimagine the funding landscape they want to strengthen and focus on.
Session 1: Understanding the Climate Funding landscape in India
The first part of the day will involve an expert-led session that will share knowledge of the state of philanthropic funding in India in the climate sector. Participants will then discuss and fill in gaps through their own experiences. At the end of the session, participants would have developed their learning and materials from Day 1 by superimposing details on the present state of funding.
Session Activities:
- To understand the existing funding landscape
- To jointly review the current state of climate funding in the region
- Reflection and Review
Session 2: Reimagining the Existing Landscape using the Intersectionality Lens
Participants will use the materials and visualisations to map how and where the nature of ffunding can be reviewed and re-assessed to enhance the climate outcomes when applying a climate lens to give. This session will be driven by participants, via brainstorming activities, to identify ways of bringing climate intersectionality into their field of funding. Participants will be encouraged to share their ideas on pragmatic ways of enhancing climate funding, and the type of collaborations they could seek to achieve their goal. Each group will also be asked to come up with one pledge on how they would encourage climate funding through an intersectional lens.
Session Activities:
- Groups brainstorm on identifying pragmatic ways of enhancing climate intersectionality in their funding
- Presentations of ideas and their pledges
- Closing and Way Forward
Webinar - February 2023
Knowledge Session 1: Understanding Strategic Climate Philanthropy in India
Against the backdrop of the pandemic, and with Asia facing some of the harshest effects of climate change around issues such as heat stress, energy access, and sustainable livelihoods, philanthropists around the world are taking it in their stride to drive the climate agenda forward. Philanthropy in India has increased exponentially, especially in education, healthcare, agriculture, and livelihoods. However, with less than 2% of philanthropy focused on climate mitigation and even less so on adaptation and resilience, a great deal more is required for India to achieve its net-zero target by 2070.
Given the developmental requirements of India and the quickly changing climate scenario, there is a need:
- For philanthropist to realign their social impact investments and work to make the climate resilient,
- To increase the pool of philanthropists to accelerate development in tandem with climate change
This session will shed light on how philanthropists can incorporate climate action into their current portfolio of work. The session will further try to elaborate on the challenges faced by philanthropic organisations while incorporating a climate lens in their work.
Key Takeaways:
- Highlighting the rising need for philanthropic communities to include a climate strategy across their work
- Bring forward the challenges organisations face while integrating a climate lens in their work
- Discuss how philanthropy can incorporate a climate strategy through discussion of successful case studies, and help improve philanthropic action in the climate sector
Webinar - MArch 2023 (TBC)
Knowledge Session 2: Shedding Light on Energy Transition in India
Energy serves as a great enabler to uplift people out of poverty and helps the downtrodden become economically and socially mobile. As an essential component, energy helps power other developmental causes – from cooling needs for healthcare facilities to preventing women from using polluting firewood to powering manufacturing industries that generate employment and help sustain livelihoods.
Steady economic growth in India, accompanied by climate change and its adverse effects such as heat stress, will require the creation of additional capacity to keep up with the energy demand. However, transitioning from fossil fuel-based energy to more efficient and sustainable sources will require transitions across various sectors, such as electricity, transportation, and infrastructure. This ‘Just’ transition will have to ensure that energy is accessible and affordable.
Some of the strategies that have been adopted to ensure a transition to cleaner energy include – diversifying the mix of energy to include renewable sources such as solar and wind energy and decarbonising the transportation sector via the use of electric vehicles. These initiatives need to be strengthened alongside other policy measures that help make energy transitions ‘just’.
This session will shed light on the scope of incorporating clean energy services across varied developmental areas. Furthermore, the session will enable a discussion on how philanthropic efforts can aid in decarbonising the Indian economy.
Key Takeaways
- Help map the interdependent sectors/ causes where decarbonisation strategies and energy-efficient technologies can be deployed.
- Enable an understanding of the scope of philanthropic contributions and investments that can help transition to clean energy.
- Understand the incorporation of energy transition initiatives into existing philanthropic contributions/initiatives.
WEbinar - April 2023 (TBC)
Knowledge Session 3: Sustainable Livelihoods for Resilient Futures
Climate change is increasingly impacting economies across the world. From rising sea levels to the increasing occurrence of disasters such as cyclones to the rising intensity of wet and dry spells – India’s vulnerability to climate change remains equally high. This vulnerability will impact the country’s economy and development indicators. Given that more than 50% of India’s total working population, directly and indirectly, is dependent on agriculture and allied nature-based sectors – most impacted by climate change – sustaining the livelihoods of these communities is essential for sustainable poverty alleviation efforts in the country.
Philanthropic organisations’ work across rural and urban localities spans sectors such as agriculture, forestry, integrated water management, healthcare, and education. Increasingly, climate change threatens to undo years of work and time invested by philanthropists in improving the livelihoods and development indices of the country.
To ensure that their efforts remain investible and sustainable, social investors will need to integrate a climate ‘lens’ across their projects. Adapting to climate change is as important as mitigating the phenomenon. Hence, investing in early warning systems, making water usage efficient, and improving crop advisory services are some of the means through which organisations can climate ‘proof’ their work whilst ensuring that their objectives of contributing to the country’s development remain intact.
This session will highlight how climate change ramifications will adversely impact India and country-based philanthropists’ work of contributing to the development of the country. Further, the session will showcase how via an ‘intersectional’ approach, philanthropists can climate-proof their investments, and make them resilient.
Key Takeaways
- Discuss ramifications of climate change across varied economic sectors and development indicators of India
- Understand how ‘intersectional’ lens needs to be adopted across philanthropists’ portfolio to ensure sustainability of their investments
- Understand the importance of incorporating ‘climate’ lens whilst investing in, and funding sectoral developmental projects
WEBINAR - may 2023 (TBC)
Knowledge Session 4: Chilling the Heat Stress Issues in India
With 2022 being recognised as the hottest year on record, the rapid rise in global temperatures has resulted in an increase in heat waves across the world. These fluctuations in temperature have resulted in issues such as heat stress gaining increased concern globally.
Workers dependent on manual and outdoor economic activities such as those in the construction and agriculture sector, and vulnerable groups such as the elderly are most at risk from the ill-health of heat waves. Apart from directly impacting the health of vulnerable workers, heat stress can lead to declining worker productivity – impacting their ability to sustain livelihoods and incomes.
Combating heat stress requires multiple stakeholders to work together, and help ensure that future temperature rises do not adversely lead to public ill-health. Dispensing timely warnings to the public, creating sustained and planned urban neighbourhoods, and ensuring that the cooling needs of the population are adequately taken care of are some of the important initiatives urgently required to combat heat stress. This session will try to reflect on the ways in which heat stress can impact vulnerable populations, and how philanthropic organisations across different sectors can help combat heat stress.
Key Takeaways
- Enable discussion on how heat stress disproportionately affects individuals from marginalised socio-economic groups
- Understand possible short-term and long-term interventions that can be implemented across varied sectors.
- Identify avenues to effectively combat the challenges faced by heat stress and intersectional areas of concern for social investors.
Partners
In collaboration with:
GET IN TOUCH
Unlocking capital into climate action
To find out more about the workshop.
Sharman Pandian
Manager, Climate Action Platform
AVPN
Bhawani Maurya
Product Manager, South Asia
AVPN
