Climate Advisers is a for-profit group based in Washington, D.C. that consults with governments and businesses on climate change-related issues. In 2023, the company came under criticism from the Norwegian government for allegedly receiving Norwegian government money to work on reducing deforestation in low-income countries while failing to deliver its promised results. ¹

The Norwegian government also criticized the company for taking Norwegian government money to develop an online deforestation tool and never completing the project. ²

Background

Nigel Purvis, a former U.S. State Department official, founded Climate Advisers in 2008 to consult on climate change-related issues. ³

The company has a U.S.-based nonprofit affiliate, Climate Advisers Trust, and a U.K.-based nonprofit affiliate, Climate Advisers United Kingdom. ⁴

Advocacy

COP 21 Conference

In December 2015, Climate Advisers CEO Nigel Purvis wrote an op-ed for The Guardian in support of then-U.S. President Barack Obama’s goals at the COP 21 climate conference in Paris, France. Purvis claimed that the reason why the Obama administration proposed a legally-binding agreement at the conference without binding emissions targets was that the then-Republican controlled U.S. Senate would not approve any climate deal. Purvis argued that U.S. law allowed the Obama administration to make an executive agreement, but it would have to be consistent with existing law, which did allow a president to manage the U.S. economy to set climate targets. Finally, Purvis claimed the American people would not support a legally binding agreement on the U.S. but not binding on India and China. ⁵

Climate Change and Economic Growth

In October 2016, Climate Advisers CEO Nigel Purvis co-authored an op-ed for U.S. News and World Report with British environmentalist Nick Mabey arguing that combating climate change could go hand-in-hand with reducing poverty and increasing economic growth. The two men wrote that there could be no long-term poverty reduction without stopping climate change and stable and sustainable economic growth was impossible with rising inequality. The men claimed that low-income people and people of color were bearing the brunt of climate change. The men claimed that solving climate change is not a throwback to “statist economic policies of the 1970s” but that with creativity it could minimize costs and maximize benefits transitioning to a low-carbon economy. ⁶

Support For Climate Disclosure Rule

In June 2022, Climate Advisers released a report calling for stricter rules for companies disclosing their greenhouse gas emissions. The company claimed that the proposed Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rule that required disclosure of greenhouse gas emissions had a loophole that allowed companies reliant on the forest, food, and land sectors to conceal 90 percent of their greenhouse gas emissions. ⁷

Criticism

In April 2023, the Norwegian publication Panorama Nyheter criticized a deal Climate Advisers and its related nonprofits made with the Norwegian government to combat deforestation in low-income countries. The Norwegian government paid Climate Advisers and Climate Advisers Trust at least 177 million Norwegian kroner ($16,705,260) over a roughly decade-long partnership. The Norwegian government accused Climate Advisers of “breach of agreement, lack of transparency regarding salaries and profits, invoicing for several thousands of hours with no documentation as to how they were spent, confusing company structures, and purchases worth several millions from ‘closely related’ companies.” In 2021, the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation stopped payments to Climate Advisers Trust and demanded a refund of 1.6 million Norwegian kroner ($151,040) for “significant breaches of the agreements.” But the Norwegian Ministry of Climate and the Environment continued to pay Climate Advisers millions of Norwegian kroner due to an agreement. In addition, the Norwegian government found that Climate Advisers did not deliver the intended results on its projects. ⁸

Also in April 2023, Panorama Nyheter reported that the Norwegian government paid 20 million Norwegian krone ($1,888,600) to Climate Advisers to develop an online tool against deforestation. The tool was never developed, and Climate Advisers spent most of the money on consultancy services in the United States. ⁹

Funding

Since 2012, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation has awarded Climate Advisers $1,445,900 in grants. ¹⁰

Leadership

The Climate Advisers CEO is Nigel Purvis. He is a former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans, Environment, and Science. He is also a former senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, an international affairs fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, and a former vice president for policy and external affairs at the Nature Conservancy. ¹¹

1. Bolle, Tor Aksel, and Tarjei Leer-Salvesen. “Collaboration Ended in a Multimillion Dollar Dispute.” Panorama nyheter, April 4, 2023. https://www.panoramanyheter.no/climate-advisers-climate-aid/collaboration-ended-in-a-multimillion-dollar-dispute/333206.
2. Bolle, Tor Aksel. “Norway Paid NOK 20 Million for an Online Tool against Deforestation – Was Never Completed.” Panorama nyheter, April 4, 2023. https://www.panoramanyheter.no/climate-advisers-climate-aid/norway-paid-nok-20-million-for-an-online-tool-against-deforestation-was-never-completed/333267.
3. Climate Advisers .” Crunchbase. Accessed September 2, 2024. https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/climate-advisers.
4. “Home – Climate Advisers.” Climate Advisers . Accessed September 2, 2024. https://www.climateadvisers.org/.
5. Purvis, Nigel. “The White House’s Cop 21 Goals: Less Climate Idealism, More Political Realism .” The Guardian, December 10, 2015. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/dec/10/white-house-cop-21-goals-less-climate-idealism-more-political-realism.
6. Purvis, Nigel, and Nick Mabey. “The Climate Challenge Trio.” US News and World Report, October 28, 2016. https://www.usnews.com/opinion/op-ed/articles/2016-10-28/deal-with-climate-change-poverty-and-economic-growth-at-the-same-time.
7. “SEC Proposed Disclosure Rules Are a Major Step towards Protecting Investors, but Some Sectors Could Still Hide over 90 Percent of Emissions without Additional Clarity.” Climate Advisers , June 7, 2022. https://www.climateadvisers.org/newsfeed/press-release-sec-scope-3/.
8. Bolle, Tor Aksel, and Tarjei Leer-Salvesen. “Collaboration Ended in a Multimillion Dollar Dispute.” Panorama nyheter, April 4, 2023. https://www.panoramanyheter.no/climate-advisers-climate-aid/collaboration-ended-in-a-multimillion-dollar-dispute/333206.
9. Bolle, Tor Aksel. “Norway Paid NOK 20 Million for an Online Tool against Deforestation – Was Never Completed.” Panorama nyheter, April 4, 2023. https://www.panoramanyheter.no/climate-advisers-climate-aid/norway-paid-nok-20-million-for-an-online-tool-against-deforestation-was-never-completed/333267.
10. “Climate Advisers.” Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. Accessed September 2, 2024. https://www.moore.org/grantee-detail?granteeId=1690.
11. “Nigel Purvis .” Climate Advisers. Accessed September 2, 2024. https://www.climateadvisers.org/people/nigel-purvis/.