Arbor Day Impact Fund: A New Engine of Innovation to Fight Climate Change

The trees are mighty.

On Arbor Day FoundationWe have spent more than 50 years trying to plant this power in cities and forests around the world. They are withstanding extreme heat, flooding and air pollution. They make our neighbourhoods more livable and maintain habitats for wildlife. Trees are at the forefront of our fight against climate change, absorbing almost 16 billion metric tons of coal each year – that’s equivalent to recycling over 5 billion tons of waste.

Our lives are better with trees. But even as the world’s largest nonprofit tree planting organization, we can admit that trees are not All we need. To future-proof our planet, we need to use every tool at our disposal and look for undiscovered solutions.

Innovation is our greatest ally in the fight against climate change.

With this in mind, the Arbor Day Foundation has launched Arbor Day Impact Fund. This strategic investment initiative will support changemakers developing cutting-edge solutions to accelerate the pace, scale, and quality of climate action. This could include work in land use management, climate and earth science data, forest technology, and other related sectors. Working with a team of trusted advisors, we believe the Arbor Day Impact Fund will act as a coalition of big thinkers and equip startups with the resources they need to bring potentially groundbreaking practices and technologies to life.

As we continue to strive for progress, we need many minds from many disciplines to join us at the table. The Arbor Day Impact Fund is an opportunity to attract innovators and support climate solutions that are not yet known to us. Depending on the growth and success of our portfolio companies, we believe there is potential to implement their newly discovered practices and technologies within our global network of tree-planting partners. By supporting connections between startups and established environmental leaders, the Foundation can further amplify the effectiveness of each innovation and create ripples of impact.

It is important to begin this journey now as communities and ecosystems in all parts of the world grapple with the pressures of a warming planet. Mitigating climate pressures is a complex problem that requires multiple solutions. The Arbor Day Impact Fund is an opportunity to find new answers to persistent challenges and make significant progress.

In this period of great pressure, we must believe in our ability to make a difference, step outside our comfort zone, and take bold steps towards ensuring a resilient future.