The climate emergency is the greatest challenge of our time, and the need for solutions is immediate. The Lemelson Foundation believes that invention and innovation are essential to addressing this crisis. Earlier this year, the Foundation launched a $50M Climate Initiative with a focus on supporting innovative approaches to decarbonize the global economy and remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.
As part of that work, the Foundation is committed to collaboration with other partners and addressing issues of justice and equity, ensuring that all communities benefit from the transition to a clean energy economy.
“We have an inventive team that will prioritize the support of frontline communities, foster innovation at scale, and bring together key partners to help make change,” says Foundation Senior Program Officer Joel Clement, who leads the Climate Initiative.
This fall, the Foundation’s Board approved its first slate of targeted climate grants, investing $5.5M to support the following organizations: Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), ClearPath, Sustainable Energy for All, Instituto Clima e Sociedade, and Climate Breakthrough.
Read below to learn more about each organization and their grant, and to hear from Joel Clement about the significance of their approaches. And learn more about the Foundation’s Climate Initiative here.
Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) – to source, select, support, and scale 15 to 30 promising startups through its Third Derivative and Climate-Aligned Industries programs focused on decarbonizing three heavy industries: cement and concrete, petrochemicals, and steel.
“High-temperature industrial processes will be America’s number one source of emission soon if we don’t find ways to decarbonize steel, cement, and petrochemical processes this decade. RMI is working hard to identify new technological game-changers and foster the startups necessary to get this done.”
ClearPath – to establish a fund that will bring crucial partners to the Clean Industrial Technology Campaign table and foster the policy reform necessary to accelerate the decarbonization of hard-to-abate industrial sectors.
“Decarbonizing industry is a heavy lift — these are called hard-to-abate sectors for a reason. In addition to fostering potential technology game-changers, it’s essential to address the many policy barriers to innovation in these sectors. ClearPath and Clean Air Task Force are leading a campaign to do just that.”
Sustainable Energy for All (SEforAll) – for general operating support of its mission to drive faster action towards the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG7) – access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all by 2030.
“SEforAll is setting the agenda for addressing energy poverty and paving the way for the renewable energy transition in the Global South. As we explore the way forward for our strategy in Africa, there is no better organization from which to learn.”
Instituto Clima e Sociedade – to bring internet connectivity to the guardians of the Amazon and develop a roadmap for industrial decarbonization and climate justice in northeast Brazil.
“Climate success demands that the carbon-rich forests of the Amazon remain vertical. For the past several years, rapid illegal deforestation has been happening in the dark – the Indigenous guardians of the Amazon have had little to no access to the internet to alert authorities when these incursions happen. The Amazon Connectivity project will amplify the voices of remote villages to slow illegal deforestation.”
Climate Breakthrough – for general operating support of its mission to find and fund novel, high-ambition, high-gain initiatives that can rapidly reduce emissions on a large scale in a timeframe that matters.
“The urgency of the climate crisis demands that we experiment with big, bold ideas. Climate Breakthrough has invented a new way to supercharge strong leaders and their game-changing ideas, and this fits right into The Lemelson Foundation’s history of supporting the innovators and big thinkers.”