Hewlett Pledges $600 Million to Develop Renewable Energy

The Hewlett Foundation will devote more than half a billion dollars over the next decade to reducing carbon emissions that contribute to global warming, putting the grant maker at the vanguard of an effort to fulfill the goals of the Paris climate agreement even as U.S. support of the deal has vanished.

The foundation announced its $600 million commitment, which it said is a 20 percent increase over its current climate-change budget, as government, business, and philanthropy leaders were set to meet in Paris at a climate-change summit convened by French President Emmanuel Macron.

To limit global temperature increases, Hewlett plans to make grants to organizations that are working to transition from fossil-fuel-based systems to renewable energy. Groups that receive support could include those that make scientific investigations, develop policy, and advocate for different communities on the effects of a changing climate. Grant money will be directed to organizations in the world’s largest carbon emitters: the United States, China, India and Europe.

Hewlett’s President, Larry Kramer, has been critical of U.S. policies on the environment under President Trump. In an essay in March, before Mr. Trump withdrew the United States from the Paris accords, Mr. Kramer listed the progress that had been made over the past year. Investment in renewable fuels had reached record highs, and nearly 200 nations had reached a market-based agreement on how to address emissions from the aviation industry, among other achievements.

“Then Donald Trump was elected, claiming that climate change is a hoax cooked up by China,” Mr. Kramer wrote.

It is unlikely that other nations will step into the leadership role on climate change previously held by the United States, Mr. Kramer wrote. But philanthropy can play a useful part in helping nations stay on track and adhere to the goals of the Paris accords.

Only 2 percent of philanthropic dollars are devoted to climate change, Mr. Kramer wrote in an opinion piece in The Chronicle in 2015. But Hewlett’s increased commitment and the efforts of other donors, including Michael Bloomberg, who in June pledged $15 million, will help nations meet their goals under the Paris deal.