“Climate change is a serious problem. It will have worldwide impact, but is expected to be worst for the poorest and most vulnerable members of society.”
Climate Change, Giving What We Can
“the challenge we face is not only to decarbonise energy but also to ensure that people in emerging economies have enough high-quality clean energy to meet their growing needs.”
Climate Change Executive Summary, Founders Pledge
Effective climate change charities available on RC Forward
RC Forward is a donation platform run by Rethink Charity, a registered Canadian charity. RC Forward empowers you to support effective climate change charities, while receiving the receipts you need to apply for donation tax credits in Canada. Here are the high-impact climate change charities you can support through RC Forward:
- The RC Forward Climate Change Fund (advised by Founders Pledge)
- The Clean Air Task Force
- Carbon180
- TerraPraxis
- Coalition for Rainforest Nations
- Cool Earth
Want to learn more about these charities, why they are outstanding, and how RC Forward works? Read on!
Why should I donate to address the climate crisis?
Many different actions are needed to address the climate crisis, from decarbonizing our energy systems, to reducing emissions from food production and agriculture. Likewise, there are multiple ways Canadians can participate in these actions: we can change what we consume, how we vote, the conversations we have, where we travel.
And, we can donate! 🇨🇦
If your goal is to maximize your positive impact on the climate, donating could actually be among the best things you do. That’s because your donation can power the work of charities that are laser-focused on the most effective ways to solve the climate crisis, and have the skills to make real progress.
Here is an example of one way that donating effectively (in this case, by funding effective advocacy) can multiply the impact of your dollar, from evaluator Founders Pledge’s Climate Change Executive Summary:
“We fund organisations that are thought leaders and advocates influencing both the wider climate conversation and how government and private budgets on climate are being spent. This means your dollars can go much much further than through funding projects reducing emissions directly.”
Founders Pledge
As you know, there’s a lot of charities out there. If you’re a Canadian that wants to donate to an outstanding climate change charity and to receive donation tax credits for your gift, we are here to help!
What is RC Forward and why should I care?
RC Forward is a high-impact donation platform run by Rethink Charity, a registered Canadian charity (meet our team). Through RC Forward, you can easily donate to high-impact charities addressing climate change. The RC Forward platform also features high-impact charities working on other important causes, like global health, animal welfare, and the long-term future.
Canadians that donate through RC Forward want to support the best charities globally. Our donor community has had a tremendous impact so far, donating $10 million to high-impact charities around the world since 2017!
All donations made through RC Forward are eligible for official donation receipts, which you can use to apply for Canadian donation tax credits (estimate your credits with our calculator).
Which climate charities are available on RC Forward?
We do not evaluate or rank charities ourselves, because we do not have the expertise. We rely on the research and recommendations of charity evaluators and experts when we decide which charities to feature on RC Forward. As of 2021, we primarily rely on the research of Founders Pledge to determine which climate charities to list on our platform.
The charities on our platform are evaluated through the lens of effective altruism and effective giving. This evaluation investigates whether the charity’s work is cost effective, tractable, neglected, and important, and whether this work has room for more funding. Vox explains three of these metrics in “Want to fight climate change effectively? Here’s where to donate your money”:
“Important targets for change are ones that drive a big portion of global emissions. Tractable problems are ones where we can actually make progress right now. And neglected problems are ones that aren’t already getting a big influx of cash from other sources like the government or philanthropy, and hence could really use money from people like us.”
Vox
RC Forward is run by four people, and we work hard to give our donor community a great donation experience. Our donors are curious, engaged, and informed, and we encourage you to dive into the research and recommendations on these charities, which we share below.
This article introduces our five current featured climate change charities, and our high-impact fund in this cause area.
Climate change charities you can support via RC Forward
RC Forward Climate Change Fund
If you’re wanting to donate effectively to address climate change, but you aren’t sure which charity to support, we believe our fund is an excellent choice. Your donations will be regranted quarterly to high-impact climate change charities, based on recommendations from the Founders Pledge researchers advising this fund.
Learn more about the climate change research of Founders Pledge
The Clean Air Task Force (CATF)
“Catalyzing solutions scaled to meet the climate crisis”
The Clean Air Task Force (CATF) is an international nonprofit that promotes technical and policy change for the climate. CATF is working to eliminate greenhouse emissions at an affordable cost. To achieve this, it is focused on innovative but under-resourced low-carbon technologies. CATF conducts research, legal work, and outreach to improve climate policy.
CATF was started in 1996 to reduce carbon emissions from United States power plants, but today it works globally, in countries and regions where “it can most effectively promote critical path advances in technologies, programs, and policies that address climate destabilization, as well as on areas that pose the greatest threat to climate stability.”
RC Forward features CATF as a partner charity based on recent recommendations from Founders Pledge.
Visit Clean Air Task Force’s website
Explore Founders Pledge’s report on CATF
Carbon180
“Zero. Then negative.”
Carbon180 is a climate policy NGO in Washington, D.C., that works solely on carbon removal. Its mission is “to champion carbon removal solutions through science and innovation,” through three pillars: research, policy, and business.
Over the past five years, Carbon180 has “moved carbon removal into the mainstream and catalyzed its potential through increased funding for innovative technologies, new federal laws, and coalition funding.” Carbon180’s vision is “to build a prosperous, carbon-conscious economy that removes more carbon from the atmosphere than we emit.”
RC Forward features Carbon180 as a partner charity based on recent recommendations from Founders Pledge.
Learn more or donate through RC Forward
Explore Founders Pledge’s report on Carbon180
TerraPraxis
“Energy innovation for a prosperous planet”
TerraPraxis is a small, brand-new organization that has a special focus on speeding up progress on crucial–but neglected–clean energy technologies. It works to solve climate change while ensuring that people in growing economies have enough energy to meet their needs.
The team at TerraPraxis researches and advocates for the expansion of energy innovation, and has a particular focus on advanced nuclear power. This is a form of nuclear power that is much safer and potentially cheaper than existing nuclear plants. TerraPraxis combines high-quality technical analysis with advocacy in energy policy circles.
RC Forward features TerraPraxis as a partner charity based on recent recommendations from Founders Pledge.
Explore Founders Pledge’s report on TerraPraxis
Coalition for Rainforest Nations (CfRN)
“We assist tropical governments, communities and peoples responsibly manage their rainforests.”
The Coalition for Rainforest Nations (CfRN) is an intergovernmental organisation of more than 50 rainforest nations which works to promote environmental sustainability while creating opportunities for economic advancement within tropically forested developing countries. It was founded in 2004 by the Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea and the President of Costa Rica.
RC Forward features CfRN as a partner charity based on research conducted in 2018 by Founders Pledge.
Visit Coalition for Rainforest Nation’s website
Explore Founders Pledge’s 2018 research on Coalition for Rainforest Nations
Cool Earth
“Cool Earth works with rainforest communities to halt deforestation and its impact on climate change”
Cool Earth works alongside rainforest communities to halt rainforest destruction. Cool Earth is a UK-based charity that takes a project-based approach to deforestation prevention efforts, and as of 2021 its partnership countries include Ecuador, Peru, Cambodia, Cameroon, Papua New Guinea, Mozambique, and Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
RC Forward features Cool Earth as a partner charity based on research conducted in 2016 and earlier by Giving What We Can.
Explore Giving What We Can’s research on Cool Earth
Don’t want to make a donation right now?
If you prefer making your donations at the end of the year, we can remind you later about RC Forward.
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