3rd May 2023
Last week, Prism hosted a conversation around the power of philanthropy to impact climate change. We were joined by an incredible panel that provided insights from across the spectrum of the climate and ecological crisis including innovation in biodiversity, alternative energy sources, and convening climate-vulnerable communities in efforts to reduce and prevent climate change. We were honoured to host Sir Tim Smit, Founder of the Eden Project, to chair the conversation and offer learnings from his own experience and work in the fight against climate change. Please see below to learn more about our panellists, and their contributions to the event discussion.
Sir Tim Smit, Founder of the Eden Project
Having co-founded both the Eden Project and the Lost Gardens of Heligan in Cornwall, Sir Tim Smit is well positioned to chair conversations in the Green Space. The pioneering ecological projects Tim is making possible are excellent examples of how innovative thinking and green investment can contribute to combatting climate change. Tim’s work has provided much education to the public and government on environmental issues.
Holly Crockford, Climate Force UK
Holly set up Climate Force with co-founders Barney Swan and Daniel D’Hortman, an Australian not-for-profit to help reforest one of the world’s oldest rainforests – the Daintree in Northeast Australia. Throughout the panel discussion, Holly highlighted the importance of biodiversity for the planet and their aims to plant over 360,000 native Australian trees in the Daintree before 2025. As we continue to face the many challenges posed by climate change, Holly assured the audience that there are many reasons to be hopeful about the future and the efforts of the next generation to protect the planet. Through storytelling, Holly stressed that through the implementation of the project, they intend to produce a “scalable blueprint for off-grid sustainable development, which can be adopted worldwide” (www.theclimateforce.org/restore/). The Climate Force team have since 2022 been fundraising tax-effectively in the UK through a Collective Fund at Prism.
David Bryon, CFO at First Light Fusion
First Light Fusion is the world’s leading inertial fusion start-up. Inertial fusion is an energy synthesis process which initiates nuclear fusion reactions by heating and compressing targets filled with fuel, as a means of generating electricity. This technology contributes to the alternative energy space, as users progressively turn away from fossil fuels. The more funds invested in researching alternative energies, the more efficient they become, and the more available and accessible they become to users.
Dr Peter Irvine, The Degrees Initiative
Dr Irvine, a specialist solar geoengineering lecturer in the UCL Earth Sciences department, is one of The Degrees Initiative’s Scientific Advisors. The Degrees Initiative are funding research into a pioneering climate change technology, Solar Radiation Modification (SRM), in Global South countries. These regions have typically been left out of the academic conversation on combatting climate change, despite being the regions most impacted by climate change’s damaging effects. SRM is based on the concept of increasing the amount of sunlight that the Earth reflects, in order to reduce the global temperature rise. Over the last year, The Degrees Initiative have been able to distribute funding through their Collective Fund at Prism to over 150 scientists and experts from 26 nations, as they research SRM.
The panellists spoke of how important nurturing scientific thought and new technologies is to the fight against climate change – and the funds that this requires. Examples from the political sphere were also discussed, such as the war in Ukraine, as an example of the power and strength that can be brought by Western nations to certain fights, when they chose to work together, and what can be achieved when mind and capital are focused on a shared cause. If this collective willpower could be brought to the fight against climate change, then we all have reasons to be optimistic.
We all have a responsibility to be involved in the fight, and to stay informed, despite how difficult it can be to hear the ever-negative news. Whilst the internationally agreed targets might seem unrealistic – every notch of progress is positive and with innovative minds working on the cause, such as those who spoke at the event and those who support them, we are taking strides towards these targets.
