CLIMATE ACTION AT DALBERG
At Dalberg, our mission is to build a more inclusive and sustainable world where all people, everywhere, can reach their fullest potential. As we strive to bring to life a positive social impact through our work with communities and organizations across the public and private sectors, we recognize that all change starts at home. It is with this in mind that we created our climate commitment.
Dalberg’s Climate Commitment is a response to what we believe are the defining challenges of our time: the climate crisis, environmental degradation, biodiversity loss, and the transition to a low-carbon and climate-resilient economy. At Dalberg, we are especially concerned about the impact on the world’s poorest. The people least responsible for creating the problem will be the ones hardest hit by the consequences.
Dalberg seeks to protect and restore the planet by taking concrete steps to help solve these challenges, recognizing that the solutions we advance must also support greater equity and inclusion.
To learn more about our Climate Commitment see the press release here.
PROJECT SPOTLIGHTS
Tata Trusts – Indian Climate Change Collaborative
Dalberg was engaged by a consortium of philanthropies to assist in establishing a pan-India, climate change collaborative. Dalberg played a dual role – knowledge partner and process facilitator. In its capacity as knowledge partner the Dalberg team i) conducted rapid secondary research, ii) consulted climate change experts and iii) developed content to provide a landscape view of the climate change situation in India, including India’s vulnerability to climate change, the current and future impacts and its relevance to philanthropy.
The ClimateWorks Foundation – Strategy for Climate Mitigation in Africa
While Africa is not currently a major source of carbon emissions globally, the next three to five years represent a window to support sustainable development objectives while heading off potentially large future emissions. ClimateWorks Foundation and Good Energies Foundation commissioned Dalberg to conduct new research and analysis to help the philanthropic community better understand mitigation opportunities in Africa with high decarbonization potential and strong development co-benefits.
World Wildlife Fund – Plastics Eradication Strategy
Dalberg developed an organization-wide plastics strategy for WWF, based on internal and external recommendations and WWF’s comparative market advantage. This included mapping WWF’s existing plastics initiative and conducting a comprehensive landscaping of external organizations working in the space through desk research and consultative interviews. Dalberg developed a presentation outlining the proposed vision, targets and key activities, which was presented at the WWF CEO Annual Conference.
OUR FOOTPRINT AND OFFSETS
Dalberg conducted a baseline assessment of its carbon footprint for 2019 in order to meet our climate commitment of ‘Measuring and Reducing’ our impact on the environment. The firm emitted 6,070 tCO2e in 2019, approximately 12 tCO2e per person. Dalberg offices produced 7.9 tonnes of plastic waste, or 15.7 kg per person. Our carbon and plastic footprints have been offset in line with our climate commitment to Carbon and Plastic Neutrality. In 2019, we supported the following projects and solutions with Natural Capital Partners, Ecometrica and rePurpose.
MEXICO
Afforestation + Mangrove reforestation
This afforestation project creates plantations to obtain high-value, long-lived timber products and to sequester large amounts of carbon dioxide on land that is adjacent to cattle farming. This contributes to climate change mitigation while simultaneously meeting the growing demand for quality wood products from well-managed plantation forests (with Natural Capital Partners).
COLOMBIA
REDD+ (Choco-Darien)
Working with 2,000 people across 33 communities, the project reduces community dependence on unsustainable timber extraction and unsustainable agricultural practices such as cattle ranching, by building governance capacity and developing sustainable production methods (with Natural Capital Partners).
RWANDA
Solar PV (Gigawatt Orphanage)
This project became the largest grid-connected solar park in East Africa following its commissioning in 2014. It is expected to deliver an average of more than 15,000 MWh of clean electricity to the Rwandan grid (with Natural Capital Partners).
KENYA
Water infrastructure + Mangrove reforestation
This Gold Standard project, based primarily in Uganda, Malawi, Rwanda, and Eritrea provides clean drinking water to small rural communities by repairing and drilling new boreholes (with Natural Capital Partners).
KENYA
Recovery and recycling
This project invests in the collection and recycling of polypropylene containers at the first plant of its kind in Kenya. The facility, run by TakaTaka solutions, will ensure that the equivalent waste of all Dalberg’s plastic consumption is collected and recycled instead of dumped in the local environment (with rePurpose).
