“It’s a roadmap for how to align our resources with our commitment to ensuring a livable, vibrant future for our children and grandchildren – and the planet they will inherit.”
Dear friends,
I grew up in a family with Jewish values and a long history of supporting the Jewish community. I have also always been interested in the natural world and conservation. My first trip to Israel at 18 really strengthened that interest, as I was spending time with the Nature and Parks Authority.
At 32, I sold my first big business. With part of the proceeds, I began building my own foundation. Two of the guiding priorities were to strengthen Jewish life and to protect the natural world. I have been dedicated to both my entire adult life.
The Jewish Climate Trust was founded to improve the performance of Jewish people on climate. In the last two years it has been exciting and meaningful to bring this vision to reality.
Special thanks to Michael Sonnenfeldt, who co-chaired JCT with me in this first phase of its mandate. And kudos to Nigel Savage and his team for producing this guide.
The Jewish Guide to Climate Philanthropy is a resource and a call to action.
It’s a roadmap for how to align our resources with our commitment to ensuring a livable, vibrant future for our children and grandchildren – and the planet they will inherit.
If you have ideas or questions, if there are ways that we can help you align your values, your philanthropy, and a desire to make a difference on climate, please be in touch.
Best wishes,
Stephen Bronfman
Founder, Jewish Climate Trust
Dear friends,
The Jewish community faces many crises today. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the scale of the climate challenge, or to feel that our time and resources are needed elsewhere.
But the climate crisis is real and accelerating. We don’t believe in being deeply pessimistic about the future. But the front cover of this Guide – a photograph after the Palisades fires in 2025 – is a reminder that extreme weather events are increasing in frequency and severity.
So we have an obligation to act – ideally doing more each year than last. At Jewish Climate Trust, we believe climate philanthropy isn’t an “instead of” proposition; it’s an “and” proposition. You can drive climate impact while simultaneously strengthening Jewish life, the State of Israel, or regional cooperation. You can align your balance sheet with your values without sacrificing returns. In both cases there are genuine opportunities for leverage – accomplishing more with each dollar by aligning values rather than disaggregating them.
This Guide is a collaborative effort, and it builds on the work of so many philanthropists and so many organizations and networks that precede us. I am immensely grateful to the JCT board and stakeholders, and to Julian Sinclair and all our staff for their rigorous research and editing.
My deep thanks to the Claudine & Stephen Bronfman Family Foundation, the Leichtag Foundation, and Dan and Sarah Rueven, for sponsoring this Guide.
The world is changing rapidly. Things we’ve written about will change. If you have questions or suggestions, please be in touch. Part of the Jewish experience is striving to be on the right side of history – and punching above our weight to make a difference.
The photograph on our back cover speaks to that. It’s the challenge addressed to all of us, in the name of Jewish tradition, from our young people. They will be alive – we hope – in 2100. What world are we bequeathing to them?
May we be blessed to rise to meet that challenge.
Nigel Savage
CEO, Jewish Climate Trust