(5 minute read)
Published: 23 March 2026
Written by: Alice Thornton, Head of Research and Impact
John Ellerman Foundation signed the Funder Commitment on Climate Change (FCoCC) when it launched in 2019. Six years on, we have made meaningful progress in implementing the commitments we signed up to, and have reported on this annually via our blog page. In this year’s blog we are sharing the progress we made in 2025 and how these build on previous years’ achievements.
The FCoCC is an important collective statement that, as independent funders, we recognise that the climate emergency is a serious risk to the pursuit of our charitable aims. We agree that there is a special responsibility on foundations like ours, whose assets are held for the public good, to use our resources and independence to rise to the challenge.
There are now 137 signatories to the FCoCC, who have made the following six commitments:
1. To educate and learn;
2. To commit resources;
3. To integrate the commitment in all that we do;
4. To steward our investments for a post-carbon future;
5. To decarbonise our operations; and
6. To report on progress.
In 2025 our progress in implementing these commitments has centred around our new strategy, our grantmaking, our approach to investment, and our operations. Below we share some key highlights.
Centring the climate emergency in our new strategy for 2025-30
In June 2025, we launched our new strategy for 2025-30, A time for bold transitions. The strategy development process provided a good opportunity for our staff and Trustees to take stock of our progress in tackling environmental issues, and learn more about the causes and solutions of climate change. We have chosen to focus on tackling the triple planetary crisis – by mitigating and adapting to climate impacts, reducing pollution, and protecting and restoring nature – as one of our main areas of focus in this crucial period for the planet. We undertook research into current and future trends in funding for the environment, including analysis of our strengths and weaknesses as an environmental funder, the wider political and policy context, and a range of environmental issues including climate change. We also organised a series of engagement sessions with grant-holders, which provided an opportunity for organisations that are expert in tackling the climate emergency to share their insights and learning with us. These provided crucial inputs into the development of our new strategic direction.
Funding work to address the climate emergency
Under our new strategy for 2025-30 we have committed to fund work tackling the triple planetary crisis, including initiatives to combat the causes and effects of climate change. Between January and December 2025, seven grants were made to support climate emergency related work, with a total value of £895k. As of March 2026, our live grants portfolio now comprises 24 climate emergency related grants, with a total value of £2.9m. This represents the largest combined value of live grants committed to tackle the climate emergency than any previous year since we signed the Funder Commitment on Climate Change.
We also continue to champion the need to support environmental work in the UK Overseas Territories (UKOTs), which are vital in responding to the nature and climate crises. In December 2024 we published a review of our UKOTs Fund, An unparalleled opportunity for environmental philanthropy, which called for funders to join us in supporting environmental work in the UKOTs and address the disastrous impact that climate change is already having in these special places. Throughout 2025 we have been actively fundraising and plan to launch round three of the UKOTs Fund in 2026.
Leveraging our influence as an asset owner
Our commitment to tackling the triple planetary crisis also underpins our Investment Policy, which guides the approach we take to investing our £150m endowment. In 2024 we updated our Investment Policy to exclude any investment in thermal coal, tar sands, or new primary market capital for fossil fuel production and infrastructure (this means, for example, we will not buy new shares issued by oil and gas companies). We made these exclusions because we believe these activities can never be compatible with our mission, and providing new investment to fossil fuel production is fundamentally misaligned with the aims of the Paris Agreement, which seeks to keep temperature rises well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels.
Since then, throughout 2025 we have worked closely with our external fund managers to ensure compliance with these exclusions. In particular, we have undertaken a long process of engagement with a ‘fund of funds’ manager, which invests our money with more than 20 underlying fund managers. This provided an opportunity to explain our exclusions policy and rationale to a larger number of fund managers than would usually be possible, and we have so far influenced three funds with combined current assets of c.£215m to no longer provide primary market capital to fossil fuel companies – demonstrating the influence that it is possible to achieve, even as a small asset owner.
Minimising our operational impact
Our publicly available Environmental Sustainability Policy sets out our commitment to align our operations with our charitable aim, by seeking to be environmentally sustainable in all that we do. We promote low carbon travel, and Trustees and staff continue to be discouraged from driving or taking flights when carrying out their duties, where possible. We continue to use a 100% renewable backed energy supplier in our office. We also continue to reduce our meat and dairy consumption at catered events and meetings, opting instead for more vegetarian and vegan options.
Working together to address the climate emergency
Responding to the climate emergency has been well integrated as a key area of concern for our Foundation for many years. We advance our charitable aim by using all of our assets (taking a ‘total assets’ approach) – through our investing, our grantmaking and our wider operations. But we are acutely aware that our resources and influence are limited. We cannot hope to meaningfully address the enormous societal, environmental and human cost of the climate emergency unless we work together. That is why initiatives such as the Funder Commitment on Climate Change are so important in galvanising a shared sense of responsibility and inspiring collective action. We are proud to have been one of the first signatories and we will continue to make progress on our commitments through 2026 and beyond.