The World Economic Forum launched an initiative that could drum up USD 3 tn for climate action by leveraging global philanthropic capital, according to a statement. The Giving to Amplify Earth Action (GAEA) initiative aims to finance public, private, and philanthropic partnerships (PPPPs) and expand on existing ones to achieve net zero targets by 2050. GAEA has garnered support from 45 partners including academic and philanthropic institutions, individuals and governments including Egypt.

How will that happen? GAEA will convene public and private stakeholders to agree on specific climate targets where they can influence positive change, pilot new funding models, and amend existing ones to accommodate PPPP participation, and scale up and emulate best practices.

Why is this important? The climate finance gap is huge with the need for private capital to drive efficient climate action topping the COP27 agenda last November. The world currently needs USD 100 tn to plug the deficiency, according to WEF. Other proponents of climate action think the outlook is bleak, with Egypt’s UN high-level climate champion Mahmoud Mohieldin telling Enterprise Climate in an interview last month that “USD 100 bn is less than 3% of what’s needed.”

… but the money is there: Philanthropic donations accounted for over USD 800 bn in 2021, but only 2% of that amount went to climate and nature-focused efforts, WEF says. GAEA intends to wield philanthropy as a driving force to advance capital mobilization beyond private funds and take advantage of PPPPs to plug the gap.