Climateworks Foundation

“The Form 990 is prepared jointly by ClimateWorks Foundation staff and an outside accounting firm. The draft is reviewed by the Vice President of Finance & Administration/Treasurer, President & Chief Executive Officer, and General Counsel. ClimateWorks' financial management and the the accounting firm's tax lead reviews the draft with ClimateWorks' Audit Committee. The Audit Committee recommends approval of the return to the Board, who receives the Form 990 prior to filing with the Internal Revenue Service.”

“Climateworks foundation's policy requires that any apparent or potential conflicts of interest be fully disclosed before a decision is made on the matter involved, and that no director, officer, or staff member participate (other than by providing information) in any decision in which he or she has a conflict of interest. Climateworks' conflict of interest policy is included as part of the formal orientation for all new board of directors, officers, and staff. Additionally, all officers, directors, and staff are required to complete an annual conflict of interest disclosure statement. Potential officer and board member conflicts are reviewed by the chair of the board, who will investigate the facts, seek advice from outside counsel as necessary, and report back to the board at the time it considers the transaction. An interested director or officer will not participate in deliberations or the vote. Potential staff member conflicts are reviewed by the president & chief executive officer, who will investigate the facts, seek advice from outside counsel as necessary, and take appropriate action in accordance with the policy.”

“The Board annually reviews the compensation of the President and Chief Executive Officer and approves changes. Consistent with its conflict of interest policy, the President and Chief Executive Officer, who is also a Director, did not participate in any Board deliberations or votes regarding her compensation. The Board approves changes to the Vice President for Finance & Administration/Treasurer's compensation, unless the change applies to substantially all employees. The Board uses third-party compensation surveys and compensation information of comparable organizations, including other foundations, public charities, and NGOs to benchmark compensation for these positions. ClimateWorks Foundation documents the deliberations regarding compensation in minutes of the meetings of its Board. Compensation for key employees is reviewed annually by direct supervisors, with final review by the President and Chief Executive Officer. Third-party surveys, compiling data from other foundations, publics charities, and NGOs are used to benchmark compensation for each position.”

“ClimateWorks Foundation provides a copy of the Form 990 directly to Guidestar to publish on its website.”

“ClimateWorks makes its governing documents, conflict of interest policy, and audited financial statements available to the public upon request.”

“The organization's Audit Committee for the 2016 tax year was comprised of Susan Tierney, a voting member of the Board of Directors and Board Chair, as well as John Natoli (who served as the Audit Committee Chair) and Diana Mears, both of whom do not have voting rights on the Board of Directors, but served as an advisor in this capacity.”

“ClimateWorks Foundation mobilizes philanthropy to solve the climate crisis and ensure a prosperous future. To do this, we: (i) Provide global analysis and insights--providing data-rich information and analysis to give a global view of the climate field and actionable insights to funders. Our global view includes greenhouse gas mitigation opportunities, funding flows, strategic initiatives, the grantee landscape, and progress tracking. (ii) Facilitate funder coordination and collaboration among influential philanthropic funders by creating opportunities for them to interact with their peers, compare strategies, generate ideas, and coordinate investments that target the biggest drivers of global climate change. (iii) Make strategic grants that support select global and transnational initiatives, with a focus on experimental and emerging strategies and in collaboration with other grantmakers. (iv) Work with partners to expand global climate philanthropy, in keeping with the scale of transformation needed to address climate change.”

“In 2016, ClimateWorks made grants of $53.5 million to support adoption and implementation of policies that promote clean, efficient energy technologies, and land use practices that reduce emissions from human activities. 2016 was a year of significant progress in the climate mitigation field. Some highlights of results from the field are listed below. ClimateWorks' partners, grantees, and other allies influenced these outcomes: (i) The Kigali amendment to the Montreal Protocol: In October 2016, nations reached another historic agreement--a legally binding international accord to phase down the use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), a powerful climate pollutant, used in air conditioners and refrigerators. The Kigali amendment is projected to reduce warming by between 0.2 degrees and 0.5 degrees Celsius by 2100. (ii) After years of negotiation, 191 countries adopted a global market-based measure to address emissions from aviation in October 2016. While more work lies ahead to convert this agreement into emissions reductions, it represents the first global, sectoral measure to address emissions from an entire industry. ClimateWorks supported crucial technical work to address key details of this mechanism, such as developing criteria for allowable offsets and sustainable alternative fuels, which remain high priorities in order to ensure emissions coverage. Additionally, we have begun to identify other opportunities at the regional and national level to move towards stronger emissions reductions. (iii) The International Energy Agency reported that wind and solar accounted for more than half of all the net new power generation capacity installed worldwide the previous year. ClimateWorks supported information exchange among key emitting regions about renewables integration into power grids. (iv) Advocates fought off delays to the 2020 deadline for lower sulfur marine fuel and convinced the International Maritime Organization to convene talks on its "fair share" obligations for long-term climate stabilization. (v) ClimateWorks helped to support the Green Bank Network, as it continued to socialize the green bank model in international fora, with the release of a new paper "How the Green Investment Bank Model Can Play a Role Scaling Up Climate Finance."”

“ClimateWorks Foundation achieved significant program service results in 2016 around our research and cross-cutting initiatives. These programs included $6.5 million in grants in 2016. ClimateWorks analyzes and synthesizes information and generates actionable insights for climate philanthropy. These insights help to ensure that philanthropic investments are directed toward the most effective strategies to drive deep reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Highlights of ClimateWorks-led and supported research activities from 2016 include: (i) In early-November 2016, ClimateWorks Foundation launched the ClimateWorks Tracker--a public website that provides data and allows users to evaluate current progress on GHG emission trends at a glance. The website includes data and trends for over 130 indicators that determine emission pathways for many of the world's major economies. (ii) "The Political Economy of the Circular Economy" report by ClimateWorks, which provides an understanding of the political economy of the circular economy, and highlights how to realize its potential. The report discusses the benefits of the circular economy, policy measures that have been proposed to advance the circular economy, and attributes of organizations that support or oppose this effort. Two case studies, from Europe and India, highlight recent circular economy developments. The report concludes with recommendations for circular economy advocates. (iii) The Carbon Transparency Initiative. ClimateWorks' Carbon Transparency Initiative (CTI) is an analysis tool that provides a transparent, granular, and methodologically consistent way of tracking carbon emissions reductions based on current policies, decarbonization trends, and investments. Analysis and insights from the CTI are used to inform and develop portfolio strategies, as well as regional strategies. ClimateWorks' cross-cutting strategies are focused on international engagement and strategic communications. In 2016, we helped to launch the Initiative for Climate Action Transparency (ICAT), which includes the Children's Investment Fund Foundation, the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety, the Italian Ministry for the Environment, and Land and Sea. ICAT is developing an accountability and transparency framework to help countries track their commitments as part of the Paris Agreement, and is proving valuable in international efforts to monitor progress. We supported other work toward the goals of the Paris climate agreement, facilitated strategy development on international engagement with partners, and established a post-Paris framework. In strategic communications, work across key geographies resulted in significant coverage. ClimateWorks grantees sought to leverage key events in the fall, such as meetings of the G20, ICAO, and Montreal Protocol, for advancing messaging around the importance and urgency to take action on climate. In Brazil, local experts successfully engaged the press to turn attention to climate change during the 2016 Olympic Summer Games.”

“Program Consulting: Program service expenses 13,419,968. Management and general expenses 111,623. Fundraising expenses 0. Total expenses 13,531,591. Program Measurement & Evaluation: Program service expenses 790,496. Management and general expenses 0. Fundraising expenses 0. Total expenses 790,496. Communications: Program service expenses 582,051. Management and general expenses 198,935. Fundraising expenses -250. Total expenses 780,736. Temporary Staffing: Program service expenses 26,098. Management and general expenses 104,775. Fundraising expenses 16,115. Total expenses 146,988. Recruiting: Program service expenses 736. Management and general expenses 161,168. Fundraising expenses 0. Total expenses 161,904.”

“Reversal of Prior Year Pledges -2,000,000. Reversal of Prior Year Grants 80,798. Unrealized Loss on Currency Conversion -5,574.”

“The oversight or selection process of the Audit Committee has not changed since the prior year.”