How the Association of Charitable Foundations Is Shaping the Transition: a CAFA Member Spotlight.

Integrating climate action and adaptation is a challenge that industries are increasingly facing both because of stakeholder demand and strategic necessity. UK charitable foundations – grant-makers specifically supporting organisations and projects with high social value – are no exception: in 2021, ClimateWorks Foundation reported that less than 2% of global philanthropic spending was dedicated to climate change mitigation. This gap between the funding needed and the actual amount given is being increasingly called out by the public and charities themselves, recognising that climate change is a direct threat to the pursuit of charitable goals. As such, six years ago, the Funder Commitment on Climate Change (FCCC) was launched at the Annual Conference of the Association of Charitable Foundations (ACF) to meet that challenge.

The FCCC aims to embed climate into how charities fund projects and organisations, invest their reserves, and operate internally. Initially a voluntary commitment, the FCCC has grown into a structured framework that incorporates both internal and external climate action. It offers a valuable example for any sector, including trade associations and membership bodies, dealing with the same question: how do you move from ambition to measurable, sector-wide progress? 

What is the ACF?

The Association of Charitable Foundations (ACF) is the representative body for foundations and independent grant-makers in the UK. Founded in 1989 and a CAFA member since 2023, ACF represents 430 members who collectively represent £75 billion worth of assets and give £4.4 billion annually.

In ACF’s 2023-2027 strategy, they recognise the immense responsibility that charities hold: “At this time of acute social and economic challenge, when inequalities in our society, and the impact of climate crisis are increasingly evident, foundations have a vital role to play in identifying and responding to need, and using their resources wisely to make the biggest difference possible.”

What is the FCCC?

The FCCC is both a commitment for UK charitable foundations to address climate change and a framework built on six pillars:

1. Educate and learn: create opportunities for employees and trustees to learn about the impact of climate change on foundations’ work.  

2. Commit resources: commit resources to work that address the causes and impacts of climate change.

3. Integrate: Seek opportunities within existing programmes, priorities, and processes that contribute to a just transition.

4. Steward investment for a post-carbon future: Recognise climate change as a high-level risk to investments, and therefore the charities’ mission. Adapt investments strategies to climate change risks and opportunities.

5. Decarbonise operations: minimise the carbon footprint of operations.

6. Report on progress: Report progress across all pillars annually.

The FCCC has so far collected 134 signatories since 2019, with 105 having reported on their progress across all pillars for 2025. This shows that climate action is becoming a core part of charities’ strategies. With the experts at the Emergency Briefing - held in November 2025 – making abundantly clear that the UK is built for a climate that no longer exists, charities play a pivotal role in redirecting funding where it is needed most.

By doing so, foundations can help accelerate a system-wide transition and help communities adapt to climate change. The ACF explains how charities put the FCCC in practice. Some of the key findings include:

• 80% of signatories are increasingly redirecting their funding toward climate programmes.

• 61% have made progress or are at advanced stage in terms of integrating climate into existing programmes, governance, and strategy.

• 83% have made progress or are at an advanced stage in taking practical steps in reducing their carbon footprint across procurement, travel, waste, and more.

Why Charities’ Investments Matter.

Funding has direct impact. Every grant a foundation makes and every pound sitting in its endowment makes a direct climate impact from backing a community-based renewable energy project to simply sitting in a fund invested in fossil fuel extraction. Foundations are increasingly recognising this – in this case under pillar 4 of the FCCC. Two of the biggest levers they have in their disposal include redirecting grant funding toward climate-aligned projects and reviewing where their reserves are invested. The choice of where capital is invested and sits is a decision of what gets built, financed, and grown. As such, charities, philanthropies, and foundations have a direct influence on global emissions and climate adaptation.

In this context, the FCCC is an essential initiative to ensure charities adopt the right climate-aligned investment-management practices, and it has produced results to back up its ambition. The framework is therefore an example that many other industries can replicate – especially organisations that hold a financial portfolio.

What can trade associations learn from this?

For trade associations and membership bodies, the same logic applies. Commitment matters: signing up to a clear, shared framework gives direction and accountability, both to members and to the wider industry, and helps future-proof the sector against tightening regulation and stakeholder expectations. Put simply, it shifts the status quo and redefines what is expected of organisations.

Membership bodies are uniquely positioned to shape the transition for their sectors instead of waiting for the transition to shape them.  CAFA exists to make that happen. By joining CAFA’s free membership, organisations can access a wide range of resources, peer-to-peer network, and technical support. Join CAFA today.