The Rockefeller Foundation has announced that it will target net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for its $6bn endowment by 2050.

The Rockefeller Foundation aims to contribute to the global decarbonisation effort, accelerating the work needed to meet the goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement. Along with regular reporting of progress, The Rockefeller Foundation will also convene investors, peers, and experts to advance broader collaboration towards net-zero, with the first event to take place in early 2024.

“We are putting The Rockefeller Foundation’s money where our mission is: investing our endowment in ways that will help lift up people around the world and lower emissions,” said Dr Rajiv Shah, president of The Rockefeller Foundation. “This change to our endowment strategy aligns with our recent billion-dollar commitment to advance the global climate transition and achieve net-zero emissions across our global operations, and it is the final piece of our work to reimagine the Foundation’s philanthropy for the climate change era.”

This new net-zero endowment policy aligns The Rockefeller Foundation’s internal investment strategy with its external commitment to spend more than $1bn over the next five years to advance the global climate transition. Announced in September, The Rockefeller Foundation’s comprehensive climate strategy also includes taking steps toward reaching a net-zero standard for its facilities, which include a headquarters in New York City and locations in Washington, DC; Nairobi, Kenya; Bangkok, Thailand; and Bellagio, Italy, and across all other areas of its operations worldwide. As part of this process, The Rockefeller Foundation completed the accounting of its carbon footprint for the 2022 baseline year, which found the philanthropic organisation emits an estimated 12,000 metric tonnes of greenhouse gases annually across its operations

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