Grants and Grantees / Program Statement and Guidelines / Sustainable Development Guidelines

Sustainable Development Guidelines (PDF)

Human activity is causing global warming, rapid loss of biodiversity, and accelerating degradation of Earth's life support systems. These developments threaten the livelihoods, health, and security of people in all nations and cultures as well as the well-being of the greater community of life. The RBF's sustainable development grantmaking endeavors to address these challenges by supporting environmental stewardship that is ecologically based, economically sound, socially just, culturally appropriate, and consistent with intergenerational equity. The Fund encourages government, business, and civil society to work collaboratively on environmental conservation and to make it an integral part of all development planning and activity. Recognizing the global nature of many environmental problems, the Fund also promotes international cooperation in addressing these challenges.

The Fund's sustainable development strategies are pursued at global, national, and local levels. In addition, sustainable development is a theme that may be identified for attention in one or more of the Fund's "pivotal places." In all regions where the RBF is engaged in sustainable development grantmaking, it monitors the social and environmental effects of development programs and fiscal policies that are associated with global economic integration and seeks to integrate activities across geographic areas to promote maximum impact.

Goal: Combating Global Warming                                                                           
In the United States and globally, the Fund supports efforts to combat global warming and seeks to promote international cooperation on this issue through the following strategies:

Strategies:  

• Building public and policymaker understanding of the threat of global warming and support for a range of actions to address this problem.
• Advancing clean and efficient energy development and use.
• Supporting efforts to strengthen and advance coordinated international action and policy.

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Goal: Protecting Ecosystems and Conserving Biodiversity
The Fund seeks to conserve terrestrial and marine biodiversity by protecting and restoring ecosystems and by fostering sustainable communities that pursue locally-appropriate development plans. The Fund promotes this goal through the following strategies:

Strategies:

• Promoting sustainable forest management practices that maintain healthy forest ecosystems and protect communities that are culturally and economically dependent on them.
• Supporting the conservation of remaining intact blocks of coastal temperate rainforest lands.
• Supporting efforts to protect the health of open ocean ecosystems.

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Note: Given limited funding and the very focused nature of our Sustainable Development goals and strategies, the RBF actively works to identify grantees in the field and is therefore only rarely able to support unsolicited proposals.