The Rockefeller Foundation, the $6 billion endowment created by philanthropist and industrialist John D. Rockefeller, announced it anticipates its endowment will reach net zero of greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
The announcement, which would make the foundation the largest among large U.S. private foundations to implement a net-zero strategy, comes ahead of the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference, which begins Thursday in Dubai. According to the foundation’s announcement, it plans to bring other investors and peers together for an event in 2024 to foster collaboration toward global decarbonization
“We are putting The Rockefeller Foundation’s money where our mission is: investing our endowment in ways that will help lift up people around the world and lower emissions,” said Rajiv J. Shah, president of the Rockefeller Foundation, in a statement. “This change to our endowment strategy aligns with our recent billion-dollar commitment to advance the global climate transition and achieve net zero emissions across our global operations, and it is the final piece of our work to reimagine the foundation’s philanthropy for the climate change era.”
The foundation’s climate transition strategy will focus on five areas:
- Prioritize real-world change by focusing on approaches that can be deployed at scale today, as well as technologies expected to scale in 15 to 20 years, to reduce carbon emissions of the businesses and countries in which the foundation invests;
- Be pragmatic by using an approach that recognizes varied roles for each asset class, investment manager and investment vehicle; prioritizes progress over perfection; and maximizes existing levers of influence in the investment industry to make impact quickly and efficiently;
- Learn continuously by recognizing that there is no single correct approach for an investor, fund manager or company to address net zero and by embracing humility, to learn new ideas and data and to ensure continuous feedback and collaboration with trusted investment partners;
- Maintain accountability by requesting transparency at the portfolio and manager levels, alongside a commitment to regularly share progress; and
- Lead by example by convening key stakeholder groups and by leveraging the foundation’s voice and influence in the investment industry and among philanthropic institutions to align on actions that support global net-zero goals and to build feedback loops from interdisciplinary partnerships.
“Ultimately, this is about more than our endowment; our ultimate objective is to drive real-world changes,” said Chun Lai, the Rockefeller Foundation’s CIO, in a statement. “Because net zero is a collective goal that can be realized only by acting alongside other stakeholders, we will encourage our fund managers to engage with companies on emissions reduction plans, invest in climate solutions, and use our convening power to advance net zero adoption among investors.”
The Rockefeller Foundation began 100 years ago with a $100 million endowment from Rockefeller, the founder of Standard Oil.
In September, the endowment announced it would invest $1 billion into climate solutions over the next five years. The endowment is currently moving toward making all its global offices carbon neutral and began reporting carbon accounting in 2022. In 2020, the foundation announced that it would divest from fossil fuels entirely.
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Tags: Chun Lai, foundations and endowments, Rajiv J. Shah, Rockefeller Foundation