This need for government intervention


is among the PR problems climate change has, particularly among the ultra-wealthy, Grantham says, some of whom actively work to spread misinformation, where fortunes are reliant on fossil fuels. “What the fossil fuel interests have


done is created a world of doubt. They have paid good money for 30 years now to foundations, institutes, and so-called think tanks to propagandise that there is doubt. There is 97% agreement [on human- induced climate change], but the 3% are not nearly as highly qualified on average. Science teachers in red states—high school teachers—are the backbone of the 3%.”


He also co-founded the Environmental Funders Network in 2003, which aims to encourage more environmental philanthropy, particularly among the wealthy. Goldsmith says there has never been a more exciting time to


be working on such issues. “Awareness and concern about these issues is soaring.


Solutions abound, and are going mainstream,” he says. And despite being seen as complex and overwhelming,


environmental philanthropy provides some of the best bang for your buck in terms of impact. “The key to tackling many environmental issues is often to


find a way to get a law changed, to persuade companies in a given market to change the way they do things, or to mobilise a change in public behaviour,” Goldsmith says. “In this way, if you find the right advocates and campaigners to support, the environment offers an almost unique


If you leave a corporation free, it will


pollute to save money, even if


they know it is disastrous


Ben Goldsmith, who chairs the Goldsmith


family’s environment-focused JMG Foundation, says little money is given to environmental causes as the problems are seen as “huge and global—the breakdown of the climate, the destruction of rainforests, worldwide overfishing, oceans jammed with plastic, and so on”. “These kinds of problems seem too big for


any one individual to tackle—better fixed by governments or international agencies,” Goldsmith says. “So people choose to give to causes closer


to home instead, the local hospital or educational trust.” The son of UK financier James Goldsmith


and Lady Annabel Goldsmith is the founder of investment firm Menhaden Capital, which focused on energy and resource efficiency.


PHOTOGRAPHY: STR/AFP/GETTY IMAGES


Top left: Rubbish-strewn beach along the sea coast in Anquan village, south China’s Hainan province. China suffers from widespread water pollution after years of unbridled economic growth. According to government data, more than 200


million Chinese currently do not have access to safe drinking water


Top right: Jeremy Grantham


opportunity for leveraging resources in a way that creates significant change.” Gregg is similarly optimistic, but says it is “sad” to see


people who could make major contributions “instead choose not to do anything”. Grantham says he likes to frame progress addressing


environmental issues as “the race of our lives”. “We have accelerating technology on solar, wind, batteries,


storage, electric cars, all these things are doing splendidly, and agricultural improvements are not bad either. On the other side, the climate is deteriorating at an accelerating rate and we are electing crazy dude presidents who try and disrupt progress.” He says the trick lies in closing the gap between what we can


do, and what we actually do. “Homo sapiens on paper have all the skills and potential


wisdom to completely get us out of this trouble… If [we] went hell-for-leather on climate change, it would be a trivial problem to solve.”


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