Foundations 20: Climate Solutions Forum in Brazil

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This year’s F20 Climate Solutions Forum took place from 4 to 6 June in Rio de Janeiro in the run-up to the G20 summit at the end of the year. Beyond the CSF2024, more than 300 delegates, including Svenja Ahlburg, Group Director to Latin America & Caribbean, participated in the Philanthropy Week, a major event which was held at the same time, with more than 150 people watching the livestream.The Climate Solutions Forum, organised each year in the country where the G20 summit is held, is one of the key activities of the international Foundations Platform F20 for environmental and climate issues. Since the summer of 2021, the Wilo-Foundation, too, has been part of this global network.

The F20 brings together more than 80 foundations and philanthropic organisations from different parts of the world that have a clear focus on environmental and climate issues.The large number of delegates from politics, the business sector, academia, think tanks and civil society from Brazil and its neighbouring countries in South America made it clear that the Global South has a strong and confident voice. In line with the F20 motto for the 2024 Climate Solutions Forum, “Accountability in Action: Building Bridges for North and South Partnerships”, the network drafted ten recommendations as a call to action for the governments of the G20, encouraging them to launch targeted and bold measures to fight climate change and build a sustainable future.During the Forum, the Wilo-Foundation also supported a contribution of the global “Plant for the Planet” initiative, an environmental education programme for children and young people in collaboration with local schools.

In the light of the important events in the run-up to the G20 summit, the voice of children was included in the F20 Climate Solutions Forum as well. Around 30 pupils aged 9 to 11 from Rio de Janeiro launched a tree-planting campaign during the Forum and attended training sessions on the climate crisis. On day two of the event, they presented their results and demands to the Forum in a “climate manifest”.