Environment

The following materials both from Bridgespan and other sources offer essential reading for those interested in environmental issues, and the challenges faced by nonprofits focused on the environment.

Featured Content

How Philanthropy Can Help Communities Advance Climate
Change Adaptation

Hurricane Sandy elevated nascent interest in climate adaptation and underscored the need for communities to plan for and invest in infrastructure projects that consider the impacts of climate change. It is within this context that philanthropy has a powerful role to play, by helping catalyze and nurture adaptation projects.

A Tree Grows in Chula Vista

Some community leaders are taking steps to incorporate climate impacts into their normal operations, without adding materially to local budgets. In this Stanford Social Innovation Review blog, Bridgespan Partner Bob Searle describes the climate adaptation efforts of the city of Chula Vista, California, and explores the keys to their success.

Disadvantaged Populations Feel the Heat

In this first of Bridgespan’s new Stanford Social Innovation Review blog series on the effects of climate change on disadvantaged populations, Manager Karim Al-Khafaji discusses the connection between global warming and environmental quality, and the predicament disadvantaged populations find themselves in because of it.

The State of Ecosystem Services

The idea of engaging in conservation efforts that address the sustainability of natural assets in the context of how people use those assets is gaining momentum, and there are many diverse efforts underway. This report on the state of ecosystem services discusses the challenges, risks, and potential of ecosystem services conservation.

External Resources

The Environmental Vulnerability Index

A vulnerability index for the natural environment, the basis of all human welfare, has been developed by the South Pacific Applied Geoscience Commission (SOPAC), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and their partners. This index is designed to be used with economic and social vulnerability indices to provide insights into the processes that can negatively influence the sustainable development of countries.

The Living Planet Report

The Living Planet Report from the World Wildlife Fund is the world's leading, science-based analysis on the health of our only planet and the impact of human activity. Its key finding? Humanity's demands exceed our planet's capacity to sustain us.