The Institute for Climate and Society (ICS) is a left-of-center organization in Brazil founded in 2015 that promotes carbon-emission reductions and other environmentalist policies within Brazil. The group was founded in part due to the Paris Climate Agreement and seeks to “finance and catalyze the climate agenda in Brazil.” The group acts as a financial intermediary to provide funding to environment-related advocacy campaigns and projects while also funding actions of “resistance and mobilization,” particularly in relation to the Amazon. The group has been funded by left-of-center United States-based donors including Oxfam America and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. ^{1 2}

Background

The Institute for Climate and Society started its activity in 2015 partially due to the approval of the Paris Climate Agreement. It participated in the debate over the United Nation’s 2030 Agenda and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). After the group was formed it organized its programming into three main areas: energy, urban mobility, and climate policies. It has received programmatic funding from agencies and foreign governments. In 2017 the group partnered with the German Embassy to create events called “Sustainable Future Dialogues” which it describes as “international meetings about key subjects for the exchange of experiences, practices and knowledge involving local and global goals related to the climate.” ²

Activities

The Institute for Climate and Society operates campaigns centered around environmental themes and promotes international environmental protocols within Brazil. In 2018, the group launched the E+ Institute with the objective of “identifying barriers and seeking trends for the consolidation of an energy sector with low greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Brazil.” The group also started a Kigali project to lobby Brazil for the ratification of the Kigali Amendment, an environmental treaty, and to encourage the adoption of stricter energy consumption standards for air conditioners. ²

In 2019, the group increased its activity in the Amazon, stating that it has remained active in “several actions of resistance and mobilization” while expanding the group’s programming areas of land use and food and climate and law. At COP 25 in Madrid, the group acted as the de facto Brazilian representation as Brazil did not send an official delegation. ²  

In 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, the group provided over R$ 1.1 million (approximately $203,000 USD) in funding to local organizations to run campaigns “in order to guarantee food security and health preservation through 35 organizations that work in peripheral and socially vulnerable communities in Rio de Janeiro and in the Amazon region.” ²

Funding

The Institute for Climate and Society has received funding from  left-of-center U.S.-based foundations and funders. The group evolved from the Latin America Regional Climate Initiative in Brazil, which was a result of collaboration among the ClimateWorks Foundation, the Oak Foundation, and the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation. ³

In 2016 the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation gave a $1 million grant to the ICS, stating that the “Institute has established itself as a country convener, coordinator, and re-granter for climate mitigation efforts around clean energy in Brazil.” The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation further stated that its grant to the organization would “support grant seeks to improve the Institute’s capacity, strategies, and grantees to achieve their goals. One of the areas of emphasis in the coming year is the implementation of Brazil’s Intended Nationally Determined Contributions with low-carbon mobility and clean energy.” ³

1. “Full Text Search: Institute for Climate and Society.” Nonprofit Explorer. Query Conducted July 8, 2024. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/full_text_search?q=%22Institute+for+Climate+and+Society%22
2. “Who We Are.” Institute for Climate and Society. https://climaesociedade.org/en/who-we-are/
3. “Institute for Climate and Society.” Hewlett Foundation. Accessed July 8, 2024. https://hewlett.org/grants/institute-for-climate-and-society-for-general-operating-support/