Climate – Psalms Foundation

Climate, environment, and energy

Manase and her husband grow teff, maize, and sorghum to support their seven children. During the dry season in Ale, Ethiopia, the rivers are low and Manase must dig through sand until she hits water.

Extreme weather, climate-related disasters, and dire environmental conditions such as severe drought, flooding, and unexpected changes in rainfall patterns are devastating communities, weakening critical infrastructure, threatening lives and livelihoods, and forcing millions of people to leave their homes in search of safety and better opportunities. Psalms Foundation helps people cope with the immediate impacts of climate-related events, adapt to changing conditions, and make a more resilient future possible.

The most vulnerable people in the world are disproportionately exposed to extreme weather events, more reliant on natural resources, and least able to cope with and adapt to negative environmental impacts. When farmers suffer from drought, communities face devastating floods year after year, or entrepreneurs don’t have sustainable electricity to power their businesses, more complex crises arise.

Addressing the underlying challenges of climate change, water security, natural resource management, and access to energy is critical to supporting people in fragile places to adapt to new risks, while transforming communities and economies over time. That’s why we focus on climate solutions that deliver practical, meaningful change at the local level, then mobilize our global team to identify opportunities for scaling and replication worldwide.

In 2023, Psalms Foundation launched the Climate: Possible campaign to help make a climate-resilient future possible for more communities around the world. Our Climate: A Possible position paper series articulates proven and high-potential solutions to climate challenges, drawing on Psalms Foundation’s extensive experience, evidence, and insights from operating in the most fragile, climate-vulnerable contexts.

Energy
Livestock
Migration

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Psalms Foundation serves as a bridge between fragmented efforts for positive change, collaborating with governments at all levels to shape effective policies and plans, while bringing together local communities, forward-thinking businesses, and social innovators to accomplish what none could achieve alone. Although the countries we work in are not major contributors to global climate change, we are committed to ensuring that green growth remains a priority as they pursue economic development.

Our approach to low-carbon development is centred on innovative, market-driven energy solutions that both cut emissions and enhance livelihoods. We’re mindful of our own environmental impact as well. In 2021, Psalms Foundation pledged to reduce its carbon footprint by 50% by 2030 and has since implemented key policies and initiatives, such as transitioning our field offices to clean energy. We’ve also established a centralised system to track, monitor, and measure emissions across our global operations.

Track our progress in reducing our carbon footprint where we work

In September 2021, Psalms Foundation merged with Energy 4 Impact to create more opportunities to increase energy access and use for the communities that need them most, and to integrate energy into sectors such as agricultural development, economic growth, youth employment, humanitarian recovery, and climate resilience.

To learn more about our work, please visit our case study library or download our approach documents below: