Investment Grows in Overlooked Climate Solutions

WWF Wins $10 Million to Scale Renewable Thermal Energy

Meaningful progress on climate change requires us all to do our part. Thankfully, philanthropic leaders see themselves as part of the solution, and they are stepping up—alongside individuals, businesses, and governments—to tackle the climate crisis and reduce the emissions that drive climate change.

In 2021, Lever for Change, a nonprofit affiliate of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, launched the 2030 Climate Challenge to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the buildings, industry, and/or transportation sectors. The competition attracted 68 innovative ideas to help the US move towards a resilient, low-carbon economy. 

WWF is honored that the Renewable Thermal Collaborative (RTC), which WWF co-founded with the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions and David Gardner and Associates, was the first winner of the challenge. Importantly, this brings $10 million to the Collaborative to help it achieve a singular goal: slashing industrial thermal energy greenhouse gas emissions by 30% by 2030. This is critical as industrial and thermal emissions constitute the third-largest piece of the emissions reduction puzzle in the US and there is simply no credible pathway to achieving America's Paris Agreement targets without addressing them. 

Together, grantees, governments, communities, and the private sector can catalyze new energy and investment in the renewable thermal energy space, and help bring us closer to the net-zero emissions future that science and our children's future demands.

Projects

Machinery inside a blast furnace with very hot materials© Shutterstock / zhangyang13576997233

The Renewable Thermal Collaborative
The Renewable Thermal Collaborative (RTC) is the global coalition for companies, institutions, and governments committed to scaling up renewable energy for their thermal footprint, dramatically cutting carbon emissions. RTC members recognize the growing demand and need for renewable thermal energy solutions and the urgent need to meet this demand in a manner that delivers sustainable, cost-competitive options at scale.

Learn more h

 

Stories