Mullingar, 23rd October 2024
As your partner on climate and nature, Community Foundation Ireland welcomes you to Mullingar for what we hope will be fruitful discussions and knowledge sharing.
We gather under the theme ‘Climate Goals and Community Roles’. A reminder of the importance of bottom-up action in helping to secure a sustainable future for our communities, our country and our planet.
Each of you come with your unique perspective. We have in the room communities, expert researchers, ecologists and scientists as well as Ireland’s top advocates and of course people who support all this work.
Over the next day or so we have a busy schedule. Purposefully in-built and scheduled so that there are times for socialising and networking. I encourage each of you to avail of these moments to knowledge share and learn from each other.
At the outset I should explain our role as a Community Foundation.
Established in 2000 we are a philanthropic hub for Ireland which together with our donors and supporters is on a mission to achieve ‘Equality For All in Thriving Communities’.
We do this through strategic and impactful interventions and partnerships.
Philanthropy gives us plenty of scope to be pioneering, forward looking and to take a longer-term view than others.
With that in mind it is not surprising that we do find ourselves working with communities, experts and advocates in the space of climate and nature.
Communities which are facing climate or natural disasters cannot be equal or thriving.
The emergency we face requires interventions which do take a longer-term view and have an eye on that bigger picture. This is something which philanthropy if leveraged correctly can deliver.
Our mission connects us with 5,000 voluntary, community and charitable organisations.
So, it is perhaps not surprising that this community approach marked some of our early work in this area.
Working with expert ecologists as well as the National Parks and Wildlife Service we identified ways to empower and motivate communities to take action to protect and support local plants and wildlife.
Together we provide the expertise and the support to allow communities to work with ecologists to develop local Biodiversity Action Plans. Upon completion of the plan, we then open up new opportunities to access further supports to implement the actions.
The response has been phenomenal. Almost 220 communities from Cork to Derry, from the Aran Islands to Skerries all now are taking action.
Native plants are being protected, bats, bees, butterflies and many other animals are being given a lifeline. It is a network that continues to grow with the latest grant round about to close for applications on Friday.
We know too that protecting the climate requires an upscaling of efforts to end the throw away society.
From ending fast-fashion, to giving old furniture new life to developing carbon neutral areas we are leaders in promoting the circular economy.
It is a growing area and we can be particularly encouraged by the numbers of young people motivated to take up the challenge.
Community organisations and groups are not only taking action but are creating awareness and education.
We can take great encouragement in the work in communities. People are being motivated though there is a challenge of pace and scale.
As a Foundation we too agree that speed and scope must be stepped up and we are committed to continue working with experts, researchers and most importantly even more communities to bring Ireland to the level of actions needed to offset this crisis.
In this discourse, you will hear a lot about the need for systemic change.
While the actions of the individual and communities are growing and look set to continue to grow what about the big polluters, all sectors of industry, our transport, communications, how we keep the lights and the heat on.
We all know about the rogue countries ignoring or downplaying the problem and continuing with high polluting business as usual.
The nations who put commerce over survival are not alone. We don’t have to look very far to see countries who make well-meaning commitments but then fall short on delivery. Ireland is not guilt free in this regard.
Holding the powerful to account is important.
Those businesses and countries which fall short must be held accountable.
Advocacy is essential but is perhaps a less attractive proposition for funding for a variety of interests – Government for example is slow to support its critics.
Community Foundation Ireland is a partner of the leading advocates on climate.
This work is essential to ensure that Government holds true to its policies and commitments – and when it comes to climate does not simply talk the talk.
An annual report card through Friends of the Earth is now measuring whether the Government is holding true to its word. It identifies short-falls and highlights when we as a country are slipping or delaying when the need for urgency is paramount.
In addition, we have put in place the ability to measure the climate commitments in election manifestos – something that will become increasingly important in the weeks ahead and even more so in any negotiations for a Programme for Government.
Thanks to philanthropy and our partnership, campaigners have been given desperately needed resources to do more and to make strategic and impactful interventions.
Expertise and research is crucial to climate action. The steps we take must be informed by best-in-class studies. Science is under-attack and challenged like never before, but it is essential in guiding our work.
At Trinity College, we have partnered with researchers grappling with the big issues. What does the future of energy look like, how will we feed ourselves without causing more damage and how will we ensure the nature we all grew up will survive for others to enjoy.
We also invest in the future with donors coming forward to fund and make possible access to programmes to educate the brightest and the best and arm them with the knowledge to continue the work already underway.
I have given you a flavour of our work.
It is broad. It is impactful. Above all it is strategic.
It is also completed rooted in a partnership approach. Partnership with communities, the best researchers and scientists, the advocates and when it is aligned with and serves our equality mission also with Government and its agencies.
As a philanthropic hub it is important to us that we are an active contributing partner. That we offer knowledge, know how and insights. All of you feed into that gathering of information.
This is essential to ensure we are taking the right steps. What we will discuss during our time here in Mullingar is part of that information and knowledge sharing exercise.
As a Community Foundation we are proud to have bucked a global trend – whereby currently just 2% of philanthropy supports action on climate and nature.
This year both will account for over 14% of our grant-making.
We know too that so much more is needed so while our direction is correct, we must also be mindful of the urgent need for more pace and greater up-scaling.
I look forward to our time together.
Community Foundation Ireland has brought a strong team to meet you and I encourage you to include them as part of your networking.
Lets make our time together count and leave here with new thoughts, new ideas and new plans.
Thank You.
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Company Registration No: 338427 Charity No: CHY 13967 Registered Charity Number (RCN): 20044886
