Our support for climate and nature
Quartet recognises the growing climate emergency and the need to take positive action at a local level for climate and nature.
In response we are reducing our own carbon footprint, increasing our funding for environmental work and engaging the communities we work with.
We are members of the Bristol Climate and Nature Partnership, and we have signed up to the Association of Charitable Foundation’s Funder Commitment on Climate Change which commits us to action in the following areas:
- Educate and learn
- Commit resources
- Integrate
- Steward our investments for a post-carbon future
- Decarbonise our operations.
Educate and learn
Taking action for climate and nature is a core objective of ours. Our 2021 Vital Signs report ‘Climate and Communities’ set out the urgent need for us all to do more to tackle climate change. It highlighted that many VCSE sector organisations haven’t had much capacity to plan for how climate change might affect their work or the people they support. So one of the ways we’re helping is by offering guidance to groups applying for funding on how they can design their projects to be more environmentally friendly (see here).
Commit resources
We have committed to increasing our support for climate and nature recovery work. This includes the funding we distribute, the time we dedicate to engaging with the issues and the procurement choices we make as an organisation.
Analysis by the Environmental Funders Network shows that environment-related causes received around 8.5% of the total funding distributed by the UK’s charitable foundations in 2021/22 (up from 5.8% in 2018/19).
Our latest figures indicate that around 17% of our grant-making in the West of England area has supported grants that have a positive impact on climate and nature, and we are committed to doing more.
Integrate
It’s important to us that consideration for the environment is fully integrated into all we do at Quartet. We have a climate action plan that spans all areas of our organisation, and we are finding ways to enhance our understanding.
The committees that advise and govern our work are fully engaged with climate change and nature recovery, and we are making good progress at integrating new changes and ideas.
Steward our investments for a post-carbon future
A key point of progress in our commitment has been to review and update our investment policy, so that the funds held in our endowment fund work for climate and nature recovery and not against it. We have a responsibility to get good returns for our fund holders and for community groups in need of support. But this does not mean investing in ways that will harm us all in the long run. Our Board has approved an extension to our investment policy which excludes investment in any company involved directly in the extraction & production of oil & gas, tar sands or oil shale. This supports our investments being fossil fuel free, formalising a direction of travel which has been ongoing for several years.
Decarbonise our operations
An independent audit of the environmental impact of our operations and our building, Royal Oak House, provided us with a series of prioritised changes necessary in order to decarbonise our operations.
Some of these changes are easier to make than others, especially because we are conscious of creating any financial or other burden on the other charity organisations that share our building. But we have already made some important ones, like switching to green energy tariffs, changing our procurement approach, and working with suppliers to understand their supply chains. We have reduced the number of paper copies of the publications we produce, switching to a preference for digital publication.
We are implementing further measures to make best use of resources within our building, for example continuing to install energy efficient lighting as the old units come to the end of their life. Working with WECA’s Green Business Team and the Bristol City Leap project, we have carried out engineering assessments of our building to investigate the potential for Solar PV generation on our roof, and natural gas alternatives for our heating and hot water.
We will keep updating this page as we review our progress and report on our commitments. Do check back here for updates and get in touch if you have ideas for other actions we can take.
Case studies of climate and ecological recovery work we have funded
Re:Work is a charity combatting poverty in South Bristol. They received a grant of £4,000 from the Megawatt Community Energy Fund to develop training and advice sessions for people living in fuel poverty. The sessions are giving residents of Filwood the tools to make their homes more energy efficient and cheaper to heat.
Bath Share and Repair received funding of £4,801 from the Bath & West Community Energy Fund toward their Carbon Footprint Project, helping primary school children learn how to repair, reduce and reuse to decrease their carbon emissions. The project will reach around 1,000 children in schools across South Bath, an area with a high carbon footprint per person.
Bath City Farm is a welcoming urban farm, using its unique setting to boost health and well-being, teach people new skills and improve environmental awareness. The farm received a grant of £5,000 toward a new air source heat pump, replacing an old system that had broken down, putting their operations and services at risk. The air source heat pump is an affordable and reliable energy source that reduces the Farm’s carbon footprint and provides efficient energy for the Farm’s future.