Movements Trust is a United Kingdom-based charity that makes grants and provides support to organizations that engage in left-leaning environmental policies and activism, particularly climate change activism.

Activities and Grantmaking

Movements Trust supports and provides funding for environmental activism, particularly focused on climate change. The goal of the Trust is to support a loosely organized movement of environmentalist organizations ¹ that collaborate with each other and act with urgency against what it claims is a “humanitarian, climate, and ecological emergency. ² Movements Trust does this by putting unincorporated organizations under its charitable umbrella to access its funding and legal support, providing grant making, and connecting activist organizations with donors and support systems. ³

According to Margarat Klein Salamon, executive director of the Climate Emergency Fund, Movements Trust operates as an intermediary allowing donors to fund climate activism anonymously and free from legal or reputational risk. ⁴ Salamon argued that groups like Movements Trust could be used to secretly support radical environmental publicity stunts, such as when a climate protestor glued his bare feet to the floor at the 2023 U.S. Open tennis tournament. ⁵

Movements Trust has worked with a variety of left-leaning organizations, especially in Europe and Africa. This includes Aurora, a Swedish youth movement suing the Swedish government to enact more stringent climate change measures; Council Climate League, which supports lawmakers in the UK with information and best practices on climate change; Fridays for Future Africa coalition, which promotes minority voices in climate activism; GM Freeze, an organization that argues against genetic modification in food; The Green Protector, a youth climate movement in Rwanda; Letters to Earth, a group that urges children as young as three to engage in climate activism; Patriotic Millionaires UK, a network of high-worth Britons advocating for an end to what they call “extreme wealth”; Switch It, a nonprofit devoted to shaming banks, energy providers, and pension providers that it believes contribute to climate change; UBI Lab Network, a network of activists devoted to promoting universal basic income; and others. ⁶

People

The chair of Movements Trust is Tarek Hasan, the head of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) at Daiwa Capital Markets Europe, a branch of Japanese investment bank Daiwa Securities Group. ⁷ Hasan was previously an ESG expert at Green Bee Insights, a talent marketplace focused on the green economy, as well as the director of ESG for MUFG, a Japanese financial group. ⁸

The treasurer of Movements Trust is Chris Mills, an environmental activist and formerly a managing director at City Group. ⁹ Mills was also a financial director of Climate 2025, an organization providing capacity building and funding for environmental activist groups. ¹⁰

A trustee of Movements Trust is Debra Hay. ¹¹ Hay is simultaneously a senior manager on ESG reporting and strategic initiatives at the law firm Hogan Lovells. ¹²

The second trustee of Movements Trust is Ian Merrill, leader of the charity Shannon Trust. ¹³

Funding

In 2022, Movements Trust received £16,020 (roughly $19,500) and had expenses of £13,510 (roughly $16,500). ¹⁴

Movements Trust donors include Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, Gower St., and We Have the Power. ¹⁵

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4. Salamon, Margaret Klein. “Coco Gauff Won. So Did Climate-Change Protestors.” Chronicle of Philanthropy. September 12, 2023. Accessed September 26, 2023. https://www.philanthropy.com/article/coco-gauff-won-so-did-climate-change-protestors.
5. Salamon, Margaret Klein. “Coco Gauff Won. So Did Climate-Change Protestors.” Chronicle of Philanthropy. September 12, 2023. Accessed September 26, 2023. https://www.philanthropy.com/article/coco-gauff-won-so-did-climate-change-protestors.
6. “Just some of the movements we have worked with.” Movements Trust. Accessed September 26, 2023. https://www.themovementstrust.org/_files/ugd/853732_5d8a306a7c3a416881630de34cf5fbe0.pdf
7. “Who We Are.” Movements Trust.” Accessed September 26, 2023. https://www.themovementstrust.org/who-we-are.
8. “Tarek Hasan.” LinkedIn. Accessed September 26, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/tarek-hasan/.
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10. “Christopher Mills.” LinkedIn. Accessed September 26, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopher-mills-87250b137/.
11. “Who We Are.” Movements Trust.” Accessed September 26, 2023. https://www.themovementstrust.org/who-we-are.
12. “Debra Hays (FICRS) (she/her).” LinkedIn. Accessed September 26, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/debrahay/.
13.  “Who We Are.” Movements Trust.” Accessed September 26, 2023. https://www.themovementstrust.org/who-we-are.
14. “The Movements Trust Limited.” Charity Commission for England and Wales. Accessed September 26, 2023. https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/charity-search/-/charity-details/5169089/financial-history.
15. “Who We Are.” Movements Trust.” Accessed September 26, 2023. https://www.themovementstrust.org/who-we-are.