Climate Imperative Foundation is a San Francisco-based environmentalist advocacy group focused on climate change. It is a charitable organization that survives off donations. Its major donors include the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, which gave it a $20,000,000 grant in 2021.

As of 2023, the Foundation’s president was Hal Harvey, a longtime climate activist and philanthropist.

Background

Climate Imperative Foundation is based in San Francisco, California. ¹ It is a climate change policy advocacy organization that provides funds to groups seeking to significantly reduce carbon emissions. ² It was formed in 2020. ³

Activities

Climate Imperative Foundation’s self-proclaimed values include “ambition,” “service,” “discipline,” and the left-of-center concept of “equity.” The Foundation claims all its grantmaking is in service to these ends. ⁴ Its stated mission is to “cut global carbon emissions at speed and scale” by advocating for left-of-center energy policies and environmental regulations in “the world’s major emitting countries over the next decade.” ⁵

Climate Imperative Foundation makes the claim that its anti-traditional energy policies will “save money” and “create new jobs” because weather-dependent energy, it alleges, can easily replace fossil fuels at a lower cost. Beyond these utilitarian arguments, it also claims that scientists cite the 2020 decade as the last chance to save the planet and that it is therefore an “imperative we all face” to “secure a safe climate future” in the immediate near-term. ⁶

Funding

In 2020, Climate Imperative Foundation raised $82,761,821 and spent $67,496,579, according to its tax returns. ⁷ While it redacted its which organizations received its grants, it is known that Climate Imperative gave $26,490,000 to Europe-based groups, $8,600,000 to groups based in East Asia and the Pacific, and $58,500 to groups based in South Asia. ⁸

In 2021, Climate Imperative Foundation raised $221,533,652, spent $109,719,308, and finished the year with $127,078,852 in net assets, according to its tax returns. ⁹

Climate Imperative Foundation has given grants to the American Lung Association, Building Decarbonization Coalition, Energy Foundation China, European Federation for Transport and Environment, and WE ACT for Environmental Justice. ¹⁰

In 2022, Lukas Walton, an heir to the Walmart fortune and founder of the philanthropic Builders Initiative, told Inside Philanthropy he had pledged to give Climate Imperative Foundation $20,000,000 a year over the course of five years. Sam Walton, another member of the family, is also a supporter of Climate Imperative. ¹¹

In 2021, Climate Imperative Foundation received $20,000,000 from Silicon Valley Community Foundation. ¹² Silicon Valley Community Foundation’s chief value is the left-of-center concept of “equity” and claims all its grantmaking is in service to this end. ¹³ SVCF’s “Core Impact Areas” of funding include , housing, “California Black Freedom,” “Movement- and Power- Building,” environment, “noEquity Forward,” immigration, journalism, and “LatinXCEL Fund.” ^{14 15} As of 2023, the president and CEO of SVCF was Nicole Taylor, the former CEO of Thrive Foundation for Youth in Silicon Valley as well as the East Bay Community Foundation who as of 2023 was a board member for Common Sense Media and Joint Venture Silicon Valley. ¹⁶

Leadership

In 2023, Hal Harvey was the president of the Climate Imperative Foundation. Harvey is also the CEO of Energy Innovation: Policy and Technology LLC, an environmental policy firm. He is the founder and former CEO of Energy Foundation and was involved with the creation of Energy Foundation China, European Climate Foundation, and the Indian Sustainable Energy Foundation. He worked as the environment program director at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation from 2002 to 2008. ¹⁷

Climate Imperative Foundation’s board of directors include Anita Bekenstein, John Doerr, Sanjeev Krishnan, Greg Nelson, and George Pavlov. ¹⁸ In 2021, Sam Walton was on the board of directors, as was Laurene Powell Jobs (widow of Apple founder Steve Jobs), Ross Jensen, Ryan Panchadsaram, and treasurer Christina Fernandes. ¹⁹

Its advisory council includes CEO & co-founder of Opportunity@Work Bryon Auguste; Anumita Roy Chowdhury, executive director of Research and Advocacy at the Centre for Science and Environment in New Delhi; president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Mariano Florentino Ceullar; professor at Tsinghua University He Kebin; the global leader for climate strategy at Deloitte Bernhard Lorentz; former director of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s Office of Transportation and Air Quality Margo Oge; and executive director of the Center for the New Energy Economy at Colorado State University Bill Ritter, former governor of Colorado. ²⁰

1. “Contact Us.” Climate Imperative. Accessed March 18, 2023. https://climateimperative.org/contact-us/.
2. “Mission & Values.” Climate Imperative. Accessed March 18, 2023. https://climateimperative.org/mission-values/
3. Determination Letter for Organization Exempt from Income Tax. Climate Imperative Foundation. March 2, 2021.
4. “Mission & Values.” Climate Imperative. Accessed March 18, 2023. https://climateimperative.org/mission-values/.
5. “Mission & Values.” Climate Imperative. Accessed March 18, 2023. https://climateimperative.org/mission-values/.
6. “Mission & Values.” Climate Imperative. Accessed March 18, 2023. https://climateimperative.org/mission-values/.
7. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990-F). Climate Imperative Foundation. 2020. Part I. Lines 12, 18.
8. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990-F). Climate Imperative Foundation. 2020. Schedule F, Part I.
9. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990-F). Climate Imperative Foundation. 2021. Part I. Lines 12, 18.
10. “Programs & Grantees.” Climate Imperative. Accessed March 18, 2023. https://climateimperative.org/programs-grantees/.
11. Kavate, Michael. “Who’s Getting the Latest Checks from Lukas Walton’s Green Grantmaking Shop?” InsidePhilanthropy, March 21, 2022. Accessed March 18, 2023. https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/2022/3/21/whos-getting-the-latest-checks-from-lukas-waltons-green-grantmaking-shop.
12. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). Silicon Valley Community Foundation. 2021. Schedule I, Part II – Grants and Other Assistance to Governments and Organizations in the United States.
13. “Apply for a Grant.” SVCF. Accessed March 18, 2023. https://www.siliconvalleycf.org/apply-for-a-grant.
14. “Apply for a Grant.” SVCF. Accessed March 18, 2023. https://www.siliconvalleycf.org/apply-for-a-grant.
15. “Discretionary Grantmaking.” SVCF. Accessed March 18, 2023. https://www.siliconvalleycf.org/nonprofits/grants.
16. “Meet the Team.” SVCF. Accessed March 18, 2023. https://www.siliconvalleycf.org/about/meet-the-team.
17. “Hal Harvey.” Climate Imperative. Accessed March 18, 2023. https://climateimperative.org/team/hal-harvey/.
18. “Meet the Team.” SVCF. Accessed March 18, 2023. https://www.siliconvalleycf.org/about/meet-the-team.
19. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). Silicon Valley Community Foundation. 2021. Part VII, Section A – Officers, Directors, Trustees, Key Employees, and Highest Compensated Employees.
20. ^[1] “Directors & Advisors.” Climate Imperative. Accessed March 18, 2023. https://climateimperative.org/directors-advisors/.