Open Society Foundations pledges $400m for climate, economic resilience in Global South

Business a.m.

The Open Society Foundations, the world’s largest private grant-making network, has committed $400 million over eight years to support the development of green industrial policies that contribute to economic growth in the Global South—significantly scaling up its support of economic development.

The new economic and climate prosperity programme is expected to fund efforts in the Americas, Africa, the Middle East and North Africa region and Southeast Asia to promote policies that advance economic prosperity for all while addressing the climate emergency. The work will include supporting civil society organisations and independent economic think tanks working on policy issues in countries including Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, Senegal, Malaysia and Indonesia. The first grants are expected to be made later this year.

The initiative will support green and equitable economic agendas that aim to create jobs and reduce inequalities in developing countries. It will also explore the impact of international taxation and financing on developing countries’ investment in green initiatives.

This is the first major new programme to be announced following a two-year organisational transformation at Open Society that was completed earlier this year.

Binaifer Nowrojee, president of Open Society Foundations, said: “The current economic system is failing developing countries. It stops them from being able to grow economically and fight climate change at the same time. We need new ideas to create fairer, more just societies. That’s why Open Society is committing $400 million to help achieve this goal.”  

Laura Carvalho, director, economic and climate prosperity at Open Society Foundations, and based in Rio de Janeiro, said: “Developing countries are constrained by top-down international systems that enforce climate change agendas at the expense of prosperity. We will encourage and promote new models of green economic growth that are shaped by the Global South.”

The new programme will foster new approaches to address the developmental challenges posed by the reliance on fossil fuels and land use, as well as the opportunities to move up the value chain through the use of critical minerals and the transition to new green sectors.

Open Society’s previous work has included advocating for a more just system of global economic governance and fairer international taxation, and funding economic consultancy and advisory services. The new programme represents a significant, more focused, expansion of this work, reflecting both the deepening economic and political challenges facing lower- and middle-income countries, and the urgency posed by the need to reconcile climate transition and socioeconomic development.