Foreign Billionaires Pour €1.88 Billion into US Climate Extremism
Funds flow to radical activists and elite universities alike.
A new report by Americans for Public Trust (APT) reveals that five European-based foundations have funnelled ~$2 billion (€1.88 billion) into U.S. organizations, pushing extreme climate agendas, including alarmist messaging, lobbying, protests and relentless lawsuits against government and energy companies.
According to Caitlin Sutherland, executive director of Americans for Public Trust (APT), the top donors are five European foundations: Quadrature Climate Foundation, KR Foundation, Oak Foundation, Laudes Foundation, and Children’s Investment Fund Foundation. These groups bankroll U.S. activist networks that run political campaigns, file lawsuits, conduct research, stage protests, and lobby lawmakers. These networks also participate in and influence political debates and activities.
Sutherland adds that the United States is quite vulnerable to externally funded activism, as the laws do not require strict supervision and are often inadequate. Therefore, foreign billionaires and foundations have been able to support radical and dangerous interests in the United States.
Quadrature Climate Foundation Tackles Climate “Emergency”
Among the five European foundations, UK-based Quadrature Climate Foundation (QCF), established in 2019 by Quadrature Capital founders Greg Skinner and Suneil Setiya, is “dedicated to solving the climate emergency.” From 2020 to date, QCF granted $530 million (approx. €498 million) to 41 U.S. organizations, including the ClimateWorks Foundation, Growald Climate Fund, Grantham Foundation, Arabella Advisors’ Windward Fund, and the Sunrise Movement. QCF has also committed $40 million (approx. €37.6 million) over three years to solar geoengineering research – focusing on sunlight reflection techniques – despite its status as one of climate science’s most controversial and uncertain fields.
The largest recipient of QCF funding, according to the report, is the US-based ClimateWorks Foundation, which has received $147 million (approx. €138 million) from QCF. Of this, $25 million (approx. €23.5 million) has been used to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles and $6 million (approx. €5.64 million) to promote financial regulations addressing climate risk. ClimateWorks has also raised foreign funding from other sources: for example, $9.5 million (approx. €8.93 million) from the UK-based Children’s Investment Fund and nearly $187 million (approx. €176 million) from the Swiss-based Oak Foundation. Officially, ClimateWorks states that its goal is to end the climate crisis by increasing the power of philanthropy. In reality, however, APT believes that it is an association that funnels foreign money to self-described progressive climate groups. Since 2008, ClimateWorks has distributed more than 2,800 grants to organizations such as the Center for American Progress (CAP), CERES, the Environmental Defense Fund, and others.
QCF has also funded the Growald Climate Fund, which was founded in 2007 by Eileen Rockefeller Growald, granddaughter of John D. Rockefeller, who has publicly stated that if she could, she would stop fracking and halt the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. The latter is a proposed oil pipeline from Canada to the US, the construction of which was revoked by President Biden in 2021, but targeted for revival by President Trump in 2025. The group focuses on national campaigns because “change happens locally.” QCF has supported the Growald Climate Fund with approximately $80.7 million (approx. €75.9 million), including $75 million (approx. €70.5 million) provided in a single payment in March 2025.
Denmark’s KR Foundation Pushes Rapid Fossil Fuel Phase-Out
The APT report names another foundation, the Danish charity KR Foundation, founded in 2014, which supports the rapid phase-out of fossil fuels. From 2015 to 2024, the KR Foundation has donated more than $36 million (approx. €33.8 million) to 53 groups in the United States. Through these groups, the KR Foundation influences US energy policy via support for climate protests and litigation. For example, the foundation has supported organizations such as the Conservation Law Foundation (CLF), the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL), Stop the Money Pipeline, Fossil Free Media, the Associated Press, and Oil Change International (OCI).
The KR Foundation has funded the U.S.-based Conservation Law Foundation (CLF), for example, with 2,440,700 Danish kroner, equivalent to $399,000 (approx. €376,000). The purpose of the grant was to expand climate liability litigation. Specifically, CLF has pursued aggressive climate lawsuits, such as its actions against ExxonMobil and salmon farmers. It has also challenged Trump-era rollbacks, while advocating for accountability from industries contributing to the emissions. CLF is also an aggressive lobbyist in state and federal politics. Most recently, the organization was involved in the Climate Superfund Act passed in Vermont in 2024, which, according to APT, is based on untested and incomplete science (global emissions are not directly related to Vermont’s losses, and the databases on which the calculations are based are incomplete), but which imposes retroactive “climate change” penalties on energy companies. In other words, under this law, companies would be required to pay for past emissions that were legal at the time.
Since 2015, the KR Foundation has also supported the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL), which has received a total of approximately 9 million Danish kroner (or ~$1.3 million; ~€1.32 million), from the Danish foundation. As per the APT report, CIEL has used foreign funding to organize specific projects, such as “Climate Law, Liability, and Litigation: A New Era in Climate Protection” and “Using Legal and Financial Risks to End the World’s Dependence on Fossil Fuels.” APT notes that the KR Foundation invests in CIEL precisely because of its targeted legal work, such as campaigns on the liability of carbon dioxide producers. In any case, CIEL’s activities focus on climate liability, i.e. the understanding that individuals, companies, or governments should be held responsible for climate change.
Swiss Oak Foundation Positions Itself as Climate Philanthropy Leader
The third foundation mentioned is the Swiss Oak Foundation (OF), which was founded in 1983 by the British billionaire Alan M. Parker and has since become a major player in “climate philanthropy.” OF supports ambitious climate views, extreme net-zero emissions targets, and movements that demand compliance with the Paris Climate Agreement. The foundation’s principle is “climate justice,” using, among other things, “finance as a lever for change” to challenge the fossil fuel sector. According to OF’s 2023 Annual report, the foundation supports efforts that use innovative and disruptive financing strategies to ensure that public money does not support the production or expansion of coal, oil and gas. Between 2014 and 2024, OF has funded 152 organizations in the US with a total of more than $750 million (approx. €705 million). Among the organizations funded are the Environmental Law Institute (ELI), Community Change – Free DC, Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors (RPA), Arabella’s New Venture Fund, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), and Tides Center.
OF has funded the progressive nonprofit Community Change, which aims to support the fight for racial justice and progressive campaigns, for example, with $1.6 million (approx. €1.5 million). Community Change acts as a fiscal sponsor for Free DC, a group that gained more attention in the US in September this year when it organized protests against President Trump’s federal crime crackdown in Washington. Free DC is behind resistance efforts and protest demonstrations, such as “Cop Watch Training.”
One of the largest recipients of OF funds is Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors (RPA), which has received more than $108 million (€101 million) since 2016. RPA in turn channels foreign funds to several left-wing interest groups. For example, in 2023, RPA donated over $400 million (€376 million) to progressive groups, including Arabella Advisors and Tides networks.
Swiss Laudes Foundation Fights Social Inequality
The fourth foundation highlighted in the APT report is the Swiss-based Laudes Foundation, established in 2020 by the Dutch Brenninkmeijer family – owners of the global clothing retailer C&A – in order to advance philanthropic efforts addressing climate change, nature and biodiversity loss, and social inequality. Since its founding, Laudes has directed nearly $20 million (approx. €18.8 million) to 17 U.S.-based organizations, including the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, Ceres, Community Initiatives, and the World Resources Institute (WRI).
The Laudes Foundation has funded the Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting with approximately €3.2 million. The nonprofit supports independent journalism on underreported global crises in the US and has in turn distributed grants to hundreds of journalists. Recipients are encouraged to cover a number of underreported topics, such as climate change, pollution, and the mining industry – in the “right” light, of course. According to APT, journalists supported by the Pulitzer Center have attacked the fossil fuel industry both domestically and internationally. In addition, ahead of the COP30 conference, the center was supporting grants exploring topics like radical activists’ demands for a faster phase-out of fossil fuels and their calls for the $5 trillion (approx. €4.7 trillion) support for climate financing, including studies on the intersections of climate change and environmental justice.
Laudese-funded Ceres, however, stands for the promotion of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) responsibility. The Laudes Foundation has supported Ceres with approx. €1.5 million, and the organization has also received ongoing foreign funding from the KR Foundation and the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation. Ceres reportedly spends hundreds of thousands of dollars a year on lobbying to support radical climate policies and to impose costly climate disclosure requirements on energy companies.
UK’s Children’s Investment Fund Foundation Backs Extinction Rebellion Protests
The fifth foundation in the APT report is the UK’s Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF), established in 2002 by the hedge fund billionaire Sir Christopher Hohn. With a $6 billion endowment, CIFF backs progressive organizations advancing ambitious climate and environmental agendas. Per APT, Hohn is Extinction Rebellion’s largest disclosed donor. In recent years, Extinction Rebellion has staged high-profile, disruptive global protests – often blocking traffic, gluing activists to infrastructure, and halting events – to demand net-zero emissions, drawing criticism for public safety risks and economic impacts.
Between 2014 and 2023, CIFF has provided approximately $553 million (approx. €520 million) to 39 groups in the United States, including Energy Foundation China (EFC), Institute for Governance & Sustainable Development (IGSD), Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), and the Sunrise Project. Following the publication of the APT report, Hohn has reportedly announced that he will stop funding organizations based in the United States.
Among the organizations supported by CIFF there is, for example, the Energy Foundation China (EFC). According to APT, this is a non-profit organization dealing with climate issues, led by former officials of the Chinese Communist Party. Since 2014, the EFC has received more than $70 million (approx. €65.8 million), and according to its own statement, the EFC seeks to address “one of the greatest threats to our world – climate change” by funding U.S. universities (e.g. $350,000; approx. €329,000 to Harvard University for the promotion of clean energy) and left-wing groups (e.g. $3.8 million; €3.57 million to the NRDC for research into gas heating). The aim is to promote the replacement of fossil fuels with so-called green energy.
Amongst others, CIFF supports the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), founded in 1967 as a green organization and claiming to offer bold solutions to reduce pollution. Since 2015, CIFF has supported EDF with nearly $17 million (approx. €16 million). EDF promotes the mandatory use of zero-emission vehicles and has used social media for years to promote progressive narratives on voting rights in the United States. Recently, EDF has also sought to advance radical green policies through the courts and has sued the Trump administration.
Such a shame they have nothing better to spend their money on but to hurt people.
There are many more powerful foundations especially in US, all supporting the use of fossil fuels,like the Cato Institute, the Heritage Foundation etc etc that have the ear of Trump and are overwhelmingly more influential than these institutes mentioned. here. It is good at least some are trying to bring something other than corporate greed to bear.