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Environment Programme

Safeguarding our future by restoring our connection to nature, and changing the ways we feed and fuel our world

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    Environment Programme / Partner story

    From campus to crop fields: regenerative agriculture project launched in Mount Darwin, Zimbabwe

    Agricultural Research Trust will soon launch an exciting project, which aims to regenerate degraded soils in collaboration with local smallholder farmers, transforming the land into a fertile terrain able to support growing food. 

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    Environment Programme / Partner story

    Training the next generation of conservation biologists in Gorongosa, Mozambique

    Goronogosa National Park is home to the world’s only Master’s in Conservation Biology held entirely in a national park. Graduates are international scientists at the forefront of global conservation efforts in Mozambique and beyond. Read our story to 

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    Environment Programme / Partner story

    Global air quality report reveals new hope for green growth

    Exciting news – The Clean Air Fund has just released a new report showing positive shifts in the state of worldwide air quality. Click here to read more. 

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    Environment Programme / Partner story

    “The ship has reached the shore”: New treaty to protect ocean life in the High Seas 

    Thanks to the efforts of Oceans 5 and the High Seas Alliance, in March 2023, UN member states agreed to the High Seas Treaty, which aims to safeguard life in oceans beyond countries’ national waters. Click below to find out more. 

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    Environment Programme / Partner story

    Wildlife rebounds in Mozambique

    Following years of civil war and habitat loss, wildlife numbers in Mozambique declined by 90 per cent. Today, thanks to the collaborative efforts of a range of organisations, these numbers are rebounding. One of the organisations dedicated to wildlif 

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    Environment Programme / Partner story

    Combatting illegal fishing

    More than 520 million people around the world rely on fishing for their livelihoods, and over three billion people depend on fish as a crucial part of their diet. Unfortunately, illegal fishing threatens this source of income. Read more about how Glo 

Overview

We have a responsibility to take care of our planet for future generations. Today, the place we call home is under threat. We face a climate emergency, our natural life support systems are collapsing, and inequality is tearing at our social fabric.

But solutions to these problems exist. Communities often have the knowledge and practice to sustainably care for our oceans, forests, and the lands we need to grow food. Increasingly some businesses are taking important steps to reduce the harm they cause. Indeed, some are driving exciting new innovations in cleaner, safer technologies. But, we are just not moving fast enough.

To safeguard our future, we must rapidly reduce climate pollution from fossil fuels and reverse biodiversity loss. We need to cultivate new food systems based on safe and healthier practices that bring security and sustainability.

To stop polluting our bodies and oceans with plastic, we should eliminate single use products and promote practices of refilling and reusing plastic products. To reverse land degradation and increase prosperity, we can adopt sustainable land use policies and end them trade in endangered species, while promoting policies to sustain biodiversity.

The actions we take today can revive the planet’s health for the future. This will require bold, inspirational leadership. Philanthropy, civil society, business, communities, and political leaders can come together to define a shared vision to repair the damage we have done to our home. This vision should be grounded in the lived experiences and needs of people and communities to ensure that the solutions are inclusive, fair, and lasting. Working together, we can ignite hope and catalyse change that restores our connection to nature and heals our planet’s health.


Our programme grant-making in 2023

We made 67 grants totalling USD 65.74 million

 
Environment Programme / Strategy paper

Programme strategy paper

In this strategy summary paper you can read about the Environment Programme’s five-year strategy (2021-2026) and the focuses on safeguarding our future by restoring our connection to nature, and changing the ways we feed and fuel our world.

 
Environment Programme / Strategy paper

People-centred approach

We place people and communities at the heart of our work, especially those who have been historically marginalised from decision-making, have the expertise, solutions, and power to inspire and foster lasting and durable environmental change. Through the power of people and communities, our partners have the tools to drive broad scale systems change and can help transform and restore our connection to nature, and change how we feed and fuel the world.


Discover our partner stories

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    Environment Programme / Partner story

    Data for change: measuring the contributions of small-scale fisheries

    Small-scale fisheries make crucial contributions to global food security and support sustainable development. Learn more about how our partners are highlighting this impact….

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    Environment Programme / Partner story

    Creating a global network of biodiversity champions

    In a remote corner of land-locked Zimbabwe lies Gonarezhou National Park, 5,053 square kilometres of pristine, protected wilderness known as the “Place of the Elephants.” It is here, among thousan…

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    Environment Programme / Partner story

    From campus to crop fields: regenerative agriculture project launched in Mount Darwin, Zimbabwe

    Agricultural Research Trust will soon launch an exciting project, which aims to regenerate degraded soils in collaboration with local smallholder farmers, transforming the land into a fertile terrain…

  •  
     
    Environment Programme / Partner story

    Training the next generation of conservation biologists in Gorongosa, Mozambique

    Goronogosa National Park is home to the world’s only Master’s in Conservation Biology held entirely in a national park. Graduates are international scientists at the forefront of global conservation e…

  •  
     
    Environment Programme / Partner story

    Global air quality report reveals new hope for green growth

    Exciting news – The Clean Air Fund has just released a new report showing positive shifts in the state of worldwide air quality. Click here to read more….

  •  
     
    Environment Programme / Partner story

    “The ship has reached the shore”: New treaty to protect ocean life in the High Seas 

    Thanks to the efforts of Oceans 5 and the High Seas Alliance, in March 2023, UN member states agreed to the High Seas Treaty, which aims to safeguard life in oceans beyond countries’ national waters…

Would you like to read more stories like this? Please visit our “Stories” page.


Empowering communities can help create climate resilience. That is why the work of the Climate Justice Resilience Fund (CJRF) – an organisation devoted to building voice and power in communities hit first by climate change – helps empower women in India and Inuit in the artic maritime region through knowledge and skills.

Oceana is an international not-for-profit organisation dedicated to protecting and restoring the world’s oceans on a global scale. Operational for 17 years, Oceana has been supported by Oak since the start. Led by CEO Andrew Sharpless, it has an innovative way of working that has proved both efficient and effective, garnering plenty of success over the years.

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