Philanthropy, education and climate change: Trends in low- and middle-income countries

Targeted education policies have an untapped potential to promote climate-positive behaviour change across entire communities around the world. That is why a number of international frameworks have been encouraging co-ordinated action between all development finance providers at the education and climate intersection. In that context, this paper explores the role of philanthropy in low- and middle-income countries. It finds that, while evidence remains limited, philanthropic funding at this nexus is growing, increasingly supporting green skills, curriculum integration, teacher training, climate justice and basic child services. The paper also assesses challenges related to data reporting and impact evaluation. It recommends that education foundations scale up their climate integration efforts and further invest in data and reporting to strengthen the evidence base. Further research is needed to track trends and support the development of more multi-stakeholder policies and programmes involving philanthropy at the education and climate intersection.