Who gains from saving nature
Ledger 1 : 33 — For each dollar financing nature-based solutions in 2023, about $33 financed activities harmful to nature. (UNEP)
Cases / Oil, gas and coal operations · United States · 2008–2026

Bloomberg, Steyer and Bezos money shapes coal and nature campaigns

Short record: the main facts, with sources. A full case file has not been prepared.

Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
Not on record
  • The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
What the record lacks: 1 none on record · 3 insufficient · 1 not measured See the gaps

Large donors funded campaigns to close coal plants and to protect 30 per cent of land, often through pooled funds and intermediary foundations. Critics say links to industry are hard to measure because much corporate-linked income is reported as a single line.

What?
Donor-funded campaigns against coal and for protecting 30 per cent of land are presented as philanthropy, while the sources reviewed show pooled funds and industry links that are difficult to measure.
Where?
United States (Bloomberg, Wyss, Bezos and Steyer funding); global campaigns
When?
Bloomberg and Sierra Club since 2011; ClimateWorks founded 2008; Bezos Earth Fund first grants November 2020; SBTi grant ended December 2024
Who?
Gained
  • The Nature Conservancy, NRDC, EDF, WRI and WWF — Each received 100 million dollars from the Bezos Earth Fund's first grants in November 2020 GreenVC (citing CNBC)
  • Conservation International — Received 90 million dollars from GEF-8, which it called a record; CI and WWF-US have been GEF implementing agencies since 2013
Lost
None on record
Harmed
None on record
Why?
The campaigns present themselves as protecting 30 per cent of the planet and building a climate electorate; the donors' own motives are not stated in the sources reviewed.
How?
Money passes through pooled funds and intermediary foundations, so corporate-linked donations cannot be traced; ClimateWorks Foundation, set up in 2008, distributed about 2 billion dollars through donors including Bloomberg and Bezos by 2026. ClimateWorks Foundation
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

The sources reviewed say Michael Bloomberg's foundation has worked with the Sierra Club since 2011 to close coal plants, with 289 plants closed in that period, and that Bloomberg announced 500 million dollars for Beyond Carbon in 2019.

The Federal Election Commission found in 2022 no evidence of abuse by the Wyss-linked groups, but criticised them for not showing restrictive grant agreements; Wyss's foundation had given more than 807 million dollars to US environmental causes since 2016.

GreenVC, citing CNBC, reported that the Bezos Earth Fund distributed its first 791 million dollars in November 2020, with 100 million dollars each to The Nature Conservancy, NRDC, EDF, WRI and WWF; its grant to the Science Based Targets initiative ended in December 2024 and was not renewed.

Tom Steyer and his wife gave more than 75 million dollars in the 2014 election cycle and 70.8 million dollars in 2018, from money earned running the hedge fund Farallon Capital, according to the sources reviewed.

    In court and with insurers

    Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

    Lawsuits and rulings

    No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.

    Insurers

    No insurer decision on record.

    What we don't know

    Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.

    Nature

    • Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.

    Record

    • Insufficient Reported but not verified: that the Sierra Club received more than 26 million dollars from Chesapeake Energy executives in 2007 to 2010 and later declined an extra 30 million dollars.
    • Insufficient Reported but not verified: that The Nature Conservancy received about 10 million dollars in cash and land from BP, per a 2010 Washington Post report, and that Dow pledged 10 million dollars over five years.
    • Insufficient Reported but not verified: that ExxonMobil Foundation, Chiquita, Cemex and JP Morgan Chase are corporate supporters of Conservation International, per GRAIN.
    • None on record Not stated: the donors and amounts behind the corporate income that large groups report as a single line.

    Did the harm stop?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Who paid?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Sources

    Voices on record: — Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations✓ Communities and civil society— Researchers

    Press and investigations

    Communities and civil society

    1. Funding Trends 2026
      ClimateWorks Foundation · 2026

    Connected cases

    Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
    Terms used on this page

    Places and local terms

    Conservancy (Kenya)
    In Kenya, land managed by a community or private owners for wildlife alongside grazing, often with outside partners.

    Bonds and banking

    Guarantee
    A commitment by a third party, often a development bank, to pay if the borrower does not.
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