Decarbonizing Europe
We believe that Europe has an important role to play in advancing climate solutions. As a major emitter and as a major importer of fossil fuels, its efforts to reduce emissions can have significant benefit and global reach. Our work supports Europe’s globally leading ambition to more than halve emissions by 2030, while also recognizing the importance of how Europe achieves it. We back climate solutions that yield good jobs, cleaner air, land, and water, better energy security, and better quality of life for all, and that set an example for others to follow.
We support initiatives which:
Demonstrate technically feasible pathways to reduce emissions
We support work to showcase the technical feasibility of low-carbon pathways to enable national and broader EU adoption of solutions that can advance 2030 goals. This work consistently pushes the frontiers, with a current focus on hard-to-decarbonize sectors such as heavy industry, or difficult transitions, such as switching from coal-powered to renewable energy-powered district heating.
Develop policy recommendations to realize emission reductions
The pace and effectiveness of policy and legislative measures enacted at the European Union and national levels impact climate ambition and the realization of climate targets on the ground, such as the adoption of renewable energy, the transition to electric vehicles, and improvements in building efficiency. We support work to advance robust policies, regulations and incentives, and financing mechanisms at the Union and national levels, acknowledging the need for synergy between the two for overall progress.
Ensure that climate action has multi-fold benefits for communities
Our work seeks to support solutions that are not only good for the planet but provide broader societal benefits through building resilient economies, benefitting livelihoods, improving quality of life, and positively impacting human health and wellbeing. We believe solutions must work for all – across industries, sectors, and regions.
What We Support:
- More than 15 years of driving action in Europe: Since 2007, the McCall MacBain Foundation’s climate efforts have included work in Europe. In 2008, the Foundation along with a small group of allied funders co-founded the European Climate Foundation, which has been a core partner in this work. Over the years, the ECF network has achieved many successes in pushing for energy transition and policy change, including discouraging new coal production, pursuing the adoption of globally leading regulations on energy efficiency, and assuming a leading role in developing a taxonomy for sustainable finance. It has now become a dominant organization for funders to pool resources strategically and effectively, working with over 700 organizations across Europe to drive just climate action.
