Will the war in Ukraine lead to more fossil fuel infrastructure or a faster transition towards clean energy?

Since Russia invaded Ukraine, two major climate reports have been released by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Published on February 28, the first report assessed the effects of climate change, such as extreme weather, droughts, floods, and temperature rises, and how humanity can adapt to these changes. The other report, released on April 4, provided an overview of how we can reduce emissions and stay below 1.5 degrees of global warming.
 
The conclusion derived from these two reports is that it is ‘now or never’ to drastically increase ambition and action on climate change, if we are to avoid devastating consequences. This puts additional pressure on decision makers across the globe to shed the shackles of fossil fuel dependency and rapidly scale sustainable energy solutions. KR Foundation grantee Global Strategic Communication Council has been working tirelessly to expand and guide the coverage of these two important reports.
 
Read some of the key takeaways from the reports here:
 
The Guardian - IPCC report: ‘now or never’ if world is to stave off climate disaster
 
Financial Times – Landmark UN report on global warming solutions delayed by top polluters
 
The Indian Express – Running out of time, climate action feasible and affordable, says IPCC
 

South Korea is key to Asia’s energy transition. The country remains the third-largest public fossil fuel financier among the G20 and has yet to sufficiently accelerate the transition from coal to clean energy.
 
South Korean NGO, Solutions for Our Climate (SFOC), has set out to change this. The organization collaborates with domestic and international civil society organizations to advice and pressure South Korean policymakers and financiers to phase out fossil fuels. They do this by providing sound financial analysis, engaging with decision-makers, and conducting media and communications activities targeted towards key financial institutions.
 
KR Foundation has supported SFOC since 2020. In 2021, the South Korean government committed to end their international coal financing, a decision that SFOC played a key role in facilitating. KR Foundation has just renewed its support for SFOC for another two years.
 
Read more about Solution for Our Climate here.
 

Global investments by governments and large financial institutions continue to flow into projects that accelerate climate change, lock the world into continued fossil fuel dependence, and wreak environmental havoc.
 
Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) works to demonstrate to investors, communities, and regulators that the legal and financial risks associated with oil and gas production substantially outweigh any potential benefits. They do this through supporting targeted legal opposition to industry expansion, corporate accountability campaigns against the largest carbon producers, and analysis highlighting the interwoven financial and legal risks of new fossil fuel investments.
 
CIEL has throughout the years played a critical role in developing evidence, refining legal theories, guiding strategy, and magnifying the impact of the growing climate accountability movement globally. KR Foundation has supported CIEL since 2015 and has just approved a grant that will continue support for the next two years.

Read more about CIEL here.

Mis- and disinformation about climate change is a massive threat to ambitious climate action – both systemically and individually. As people increasingly turn to social media for news, information and debate, the big tech platforms need to take responsibility for whether the information people receive is true or not, and for their role in amplifying mis- and disinformation.
 
The Climate Disinformation Coalition (CAAD) is a 35+ organization strong group of NGOs that are working to limit mis- and disinformation about climate change on social media, primarily by monitoring, targeting, and engaging with the major tech platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Google, and pushing for policy reforms at the domestic and international level. 
 
The Coalition is spearheaded by Friends of the Earth and includes Climate Nexus, the Union of Concerned Scientists, InfluenceMap, Media Matters, and Environmental Defense Fund to name a few.

KR Foundation first supported CAAD’s work in 2021 and have just approved funding for another two years.

Companies are facing increasing pressure from the public, governments, and investors to make commitments around sustainability and climate change. Unfortunately, this can often end in ‘greenwashing’ where action does not follow the high-spirited declarations about reducing CO2 emissions. 

ClientEarth is using the power of law to challenge greenwashing, so that corporate advertising does not mislead the public or investors about their impact on the environment, and so that the public is informed, supported, and protected on key climate issues. They do this by combining direct legal interventions (e.g., targeted litigation against companies responsible for greenwashing) with strategic communications and campaigns that explain greenwashing to the public, and target and expose companies that do not live up to their climate pledges. With support from KR Foundation, ClientEarth will carry out this work in a number of different jurisdictions over the next two years. 

This is the first time that KR Foundation supports a project by ClientEarth. 

Read more about ClientEarth here.

Comms Declare was founded in early 2020 as a response to the fact that public relations (PR), marketing and advertising agencies are often aiding and promoting the corporations that are creating the climate emergency. Comms Declare is a volunteer industry association that has more than 330 members, including over 80 agencies and five environmental organisations, who have declared they will not support any activities, organisations, or individuals that promote: 1) the growth of fossil fuels, 2) greenhouse gas pollution as ‘business as usual’, and 3) deception, distraction or spin around climate science or climate actions.
 
Comms Declare has now set a clear goal: Get fossil fuel ads banned in Austrialia. To achieve this, they are launching a massive public campaign that aims to expose the negative impacts of fossil fuel advertising and mobilise large parts of the public to put pressure on politicians.
 
This is the first time that KR Foundation is supporting Comms Declare. They have received funding for a three-year period. 
 
Read more about Comms Declare here.

The media plays a key role in shaping public opinion, and quality journalism is necessary to help raise citizens' awareness, create political debate, and provide science-based and nuanced coverage of climate change.

To increase the level of climate change reporting, the journalism school at the University of Southern Denmark (SDU) is launching an extensive course on climate change communication. The course is targeted towards professional journalists and will initially be available to 60 journalists. The course will then be developed into an online format where the reach is substantially larger.

The project will be implemented in 2022. This is the first time that KR Foundation supports SDU.  
 

We are very happy to welcome Nina Jensen to KR Foundation's Board of Directors. Nina is currently the CEO of REV Ocean, the world’s largest Research and Expedition Vessel (REV). Previously, Nina has worked 15 years at WWF-Norway, where she became CEO in 2012. She holds a master’s degree in Marine Biology from the University of Fishery Science in Tromsø, and has a background in communications and marketing from Ogilvy&Mather. Nina is also a board member of The Business for Peace Foundation, HUB Ocean, The Brain Tumour Association, Ocean Wise, Aker Offshore Wind, Aker CarbonCapture and Project Energy PER-A. She was named Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in 2014. She is also part of Friends of Ocean Action and an advisor to the High-Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy.
 
Nina Jensen will be replacing Dr. Johan Rockström, who has been a tremendous asset to KR Foundation since the foundation was established in 2014. A big thank you to Johan for his contribution over the years!