Strategic grants

We’re funding the work of Food Frontier – Australia and New Zealand’s think tank on alternative proteins – to help diversify protein supply with nutritious and sustainable alternatives.

With the world’s population tipped to reach 10 billion by 2050, demand for protein will continue to rise. Global economic, environmental and public health authorities have stressed that a more diverse range of protein sources will be essential to feeding growing populations safely and sustainably into the future.

To grow and galvanise the market for alternative proteins across our region, Food Frontier helps businesses, policymakers and innovators to understand the emergence of plant-based meat, precision fermentation and cultivated meat, and unlock the economic, environmental, and public health benefits they offer.

Impact:

Since 2017, Food Frontier’s research, events and engagements have played an important role in supporting the growth of alternative proteins down under, generating value for businesses, farmers and consumers. Australia’s plant-based meat industry alone has grown considerably:

• Doubling of products in supermarkets in FY20, more than half of which are now made by Australian brands, and a 46% increase in grocery sales
• Doubling of domestic manufacturing revenue and jobs in FY20
• Doubling in the number of Australian plant-based meat brands in the 18 months to December 2020

We’re funding Beyond Zero Emissions (BZE) to support their work establishing Renewable Energy Industrial Precincts (REIP) across Australia: clusters of manufacturers powered by 100% renewable energy. Australian manufacturing is among the most carbon-intensive in the world. It accounts for 21 per cent of national emissions (including the electricity manufacturing uses). Carbon tariffs and the growing popularity of zero-emission supply chains put Australian industry at risk if we do not act soon to repower it with renewable energy.

Each precinct will be located in Renewable Energy Zones or connected to renewable energy generation through high-voltage transmission, have access to clean heat and renewable hydrogen production, skilled workforces, and export infrastructure, including transport.

Beyond Zero Emissions is focused on bringing the recommendation to life in two key regions: the Hunter Valley and Gladstone, with other locations planned for later work. BZE’s objective is to build and showcase industry and community support for REIP’s to drive momentum for an outcome of a national policy, with the federal government committing at least $2 billion over five years.

Potential impact:

BZE have released commissioned research which finds that if REIP’s eventuate in the Hunter and Gladstone regions, they have the potential to¹:

• Create 45,000 new ongoing jobs
• Create an extra $13 billion in annual revenue in the Hunter and Gladstone regions alone
• Attract new industries and tens of billions of investment dollars into regional areas
• Bring high-quality jobs back onshore

Past Project Winner: Renewable Energy Development Trust

The Foundation awarded a grant to the Renewable Energy Development Trust in 2019 to implement an innovative solar energy financing model called ‘Solar pay-as-you-go’ in Timor Leste.

The project sought to install more solar panels in remote areas to improve power supply for local families and also increase the skills, business systems, training and income earning capabilities of local staff.

Solar systems improve the lives of people by:

• reducing indoor fumes, burns, fires and expenditure on kerosene
• increasing lighting levels enhancing the home for study and cottage industry.

Impact²:

• 180+ remote homes now installed with solar panels, benefiting 947 people
• 1,400 hours of extra light availability (for things like homework) over the life of each solar system
• 249 tonnes of CO2-e have been displaced by the solar systems

1. Renewable Energy Industrial Precincts: Economic Analysis Summary Report: 2020 State of the Industry: Australia’s Plant-Based Meat Sector
2. Australian Ethical Foundation annual acquittal reporting

Environmental Justice Australia (EJA) is a leading public interest legal organisation.

Their lawyers act on behalf of people and community organisations to safeguard health; to protect magnificent forests, rivers and wildlife; and to tackle climate change. They partner with communities and other social justice organisations because we are stronger together.

Using innovative approaches, they find the best legal solutions to environmental issues. Their team works inside and outside the courtroom to make the system fair and just for all. EJA work on issues and in areas of Australia where we can have the most impact.

The Foundation is funding specific strategic litigation work with EJA to fight climate change and protect Australia’s environment.

Greenfleet is a leading Australian not-for-profit environmental organisation protecting our climate by restoring our forests. They plant biodiverse native forests to capture carbon emissions on behalf of individuals and businesses and help fight the impacts of climate change.

The Foundation funding is being used to help revegetate a 340-hectare property that forms part of the Wychitella Bio-link in Central Victoria. Greenfleet is working with the Traditional Custodians of the land, the Dja Dja Wurrung people, to revegetate the property with native trees and grasses, creating a vital vegetation link. This project is restoring resilient ecosystems and creating habitat for local wildlife species, including Lace Monitors, Quolls, Shy Heathwrens, Inland Thornbills, and the vulnerable Mallee Fowl.

Impact:

The project will restore 340 hectares of native ecosystem, create landscape connectivity and address critical biodiversity loss, capture carbon emissions to protect our climate, reduce soil erosion, improve water quality and restore critical habitat for wildlife. The forest the Foundation is creating will be legally protected for 100 years.

We are working with the Blue Carbon Lab - a research lab within Deakin University – to fund innovative research into Australia’s coastal vegetated systems (seagrass meadows, tidal marshes, mangrove forests), collectively known as Blue Carbon ecosystems.

These ecosystems act as natural sinks of carbon, effectively reducing atmospheric CO2 concentrations that contribute to climate change. They can trap carbon 30-50 times faster than typical "green" forests (eg. boreal forest, rainforest), where it is locked away for centuries to millennia. Blue Carbon ecosystems also support additional ecosystem services including enhanced biodiversity (eg. sustain migratory birds), support fisheries, provide ecotourism revenues and protect our coast against erosion and extreme weather events.

This collaborative project will generate new knowledge in preparation for, and in response to, climate change. It will enable us to better understand and predict the degree to which the natural process of biosequestration from coastal vegetated systems will help offset anthropogenic emissions.
Specifically, the fully funded PhD project will:

• Determine rates of blue carbon accumulation from restored blue carbon ecosystems (currently data is only available from mature ecosystems),
• Perform a cost benefit analyses from previously restored coastal wetlands (including valuation of blue carbon offsets, biodiversity gains, coastal protection and other social benefits),
• Trial low-cost sensors and techniques for evaluating blue carbon gains from restoration of coastal wetlands.

 Image credit: Blue Carbon Labs

We support the Wilderness Society to protect forests at risk of deforestation.

Across Australia the Wilderness Society works to restore and protect nature and wildlife, to sustain ecosystems and build resilient communities. They're building a grassroots movement pushing to change the destructive thinking of the past for the modern vision we need. One that’s better for all Australians — and for all life on Earth.

Protecting native forests and their carbon stocks from logging and clearing remains a key feature of their overarching campaigns and community organising plan.

We’re supporting the Wilderness Society to train and work with Victorian and Tasmanian communities to protect forests under threat of deforestation. Utilising local training programs, communities and individuals are empowered to campaign for the safe protection of Australia's old growth forests and be better equipped to drive change.

Wildlife of the Central Highlands (WOTCH) is a grassroots organisation working towards the protection of Victoria’s native forests and their flora and fauna through the use of citizen science, advocacy, collaboration and community engagement.

2018

WOTCH was awarded a grant in 2018 to survey and ultimately protect the forests on the southern slopes of Mt Baw Baw – a site of global ecological significance - by identifying threatened-species habitat of animals like the Leadbeater’s possum, spot-tailed quoll, greater and yellow-bellied gliders and sooty owl. A advocacy campaign was also run by WOTCH using digital and grassroots networking.

Impact:

Their work ultimately contributed to the protection of 90,000ha of old-growth forests and 96,000ha of greater glider habitat by the Victorian Government¹.

2020

WOTCH was awarded another grant in 2020 for their ‘Detect and Protect’ project, undertaking citizen science surveys throughout the Central Highlands forest. Using state-of-the-art thermal imaging cameras, remote motion-sensing cameras and on-ground fauna surveys, WOTCH can identify populations of endangered and threatened species. Data from surveys is provided to the Victorian Government to ensure that logging buffer zones and other relevant prescriptions are enacted to safeguard these vulnerable species.

Impact:

Data collected from WOTCH’s survey work has led to strategic litigation being launched against VicForests in the Supreme Court to stop the state-owned agency from logging areas of unburnt habitat for threatened species impacted by the bushfires.

WOTCH are being represented by Environmental Justice Australia (EJA), another grant partner of The Foundation. The WOTCH vs VicForests case is the first of its kind to protect threatened species in the wake of the bushfires.²

1. Australian Ethical Foundation annual acquittal reporting
2. Supreme Court Case: WOTCH vs VicForests

The Orangutan Project is striving for a world where all of Indonesia’s wild species roam safe and free in their protected, natural habitat. To get there, they employ a holistic approach to conservation, supporting the entire ecosystem in which Critically Endangered orangutans live, addressing all the deeply complex issues that have contributed to them becoming Critically Endangered.

The Orangutan Project’s holistic strategy covers four key areas:

• Legally protecting forests
• Securing, restoring and patrolling those forests
• Rescuing, rehabilitating and releasing displaced, orphaned and formerly captive orangutans
• Educating and empowering local communities to protect their areas

We’ve been working with The Orangutan Project since 2015 to support the work of the Wildlife Protection Units, safeguarding 495,00 acres of forest regions in the Bukit Tigapuluh ecosystem, Sumatra, for orangutans, tigers and elephants. Locally employed Wildlife Protection Unit’s aim to stop further destruction and depletion of the globally important flora and fauna of the Bukit Tigapuluh ecosystem through habitat protection and monitoring, anti-poaching patrols, wildlife monitoring and human-wildlife conflict mitigation.

The Australian Ethical Foundation is working with Mimal Land Management Aboriginal Corporation and the Karrkad Kanjdji Trust (KKT) to support Indigenous women rangers in West and Central Arnhem Land.

KKT works with Indigenous Ranger groups in one Australia’s most culturally rich and biodiverse regions - West and Central Arnhem Land. KKT brings together ranger groups, communities and philanthropists to address some of our nation’s most pressing issues, including environmental conservation, education and employment. The work we are supporting is 100 per cent community driven, from concept to implementation.

KKT's six areas of focus are:

1. Biodiversity - native species conservation
2. Women - meaningful ranger employment
3. Culture - management of heritage
4. Education - on country, bicultural programs
5. Community - sustainability of remote ranger bases
6. Climate - carbon abatement and traditional burning

The Karrkad Kanjdji Trust (KKT) was established by the Traditional Owners of Warddeken and Djelk Indigenous Protected Areas (IPAs) in 2010. Their name, Karrkad Kanjdji (pronounced gar-gut gun-jee), refers to the stone country highlands and savanna lowlands of Arnhem Land that they seek to protect.

Impact:

In 2020, Mimal’s Daluk (women) rangers^1,2,

• Grew by 20%, empowering them to have an active role caring and managing their Country
• Conducted 16 bird surveys, identifying 31 bird species for protection
• Conserved 4 fresh-water places on Mimal Country
• 4 training units were offered towards the Cert II in Conservation and Land Management, as well as firearm safety, snake handling and driving training.
• 130 women rangers, Elders and other stakeholders engaged in the Strong Women for Healthy Country Forum
• Ran 26 Learning on Country lessons which were created and taught by the women ranger team
• The entire Mimal Ranger team won the Indigenous Land Management Award at the 2019 Territory Natural Resource Management Conference

Traditional land management practices conducted by Aboriginal ranger groups within the KKT, reduces greenhouse gas emissions and improves the environmental health of country. KKT’s partner, Arnhem Land Fire Abatement (ALFA), is able to sell this abatement as carbon credits. Australian Ethical Investment, the parent entity of The Foundation, purchases all of its carbon offset credits through ALPHA.

1. KKT Annual Report 2020
2. Australian Ethical Foundation reporting

The Fistula Foundation is the global leader in fistula treatment, providing more surgeries to more women than any other organisation. Obstetric fistula occurs when a mother has a prolonged, obstructed labour but lacks access to emergency medical care, such as a C-section. If untreated, a woman will uncontrollably leak urine, stool, or both, for the rest of her life, making this one of humanity’s most disabling injuries.

Australian Ethical Foundation project funding will be directed to Fistula Foundation’s obstetric fistula surgeries in Pakistan. More than 60% of Pakistan’s population live in rural areas with limited access to maternal healthcare, putting women at risk of developing obstetric fistula. Fistula Foundation’s treatment partner, Pakistan National Forum on Women’s Health (PNFWH), estimates there are between 3,000 to 5,000 new cases every year. As the only hospital network in Pakistan offering free fistula treatment, PNFWH’s services are vital to ensuring women have access to care. In addition, because PNFWH is based in the capital city of Karachi and operates a network of regional fistula centres, it is uniquely positioned to reach women across the country.

Impact:

Over the life of the project, over 400 women will be treated for obstetric fistula¹.

1. Australian Ethical Foundation reporting

The Foundation is supporting Living Goods to reliably deliver lifesaving, critical medicines to the doorsteps of millions in Kenya and Uganda, at an affordable price. Living Goods recruits, trains, equips, and manages networks of Community Health Workers (CHW’s) who provide their communities with health education, accurate diagnoses, essential medicines, and health products that save and improve lives.

Living Goods addresses two fundamental barriers to accessing health care in the developing world:

• The significant shortage of frontline health workers; and
• The inadequate distribution of health products and knowledge.

Living Goods works with governments and partners to ensure community health workers have access to the digital technology, medical treatments, supervision and compensation to cost-effectively deliver high quality, impactful health services. At the end of 2019, Living Goods was supporting more than 10,000 CHWs to deliver care to more than 7 million people.

Impact:

In 2020 a total of 21 CHWs were supported by The Foundation. These CHWs¹:

• Supported 6,120 people in their communities,
• Provided 2,552 assessments to children under-five years old,
• Provided 1,760 treatments and positive diagnoses to children under-five years old, and
• Registered 160 pregnancies

1. Australian Ethical Foundation annual acquittal reporting

Pollinate Group empowers women from neglected communities in India and Nepal as entrepreneurs and leaders for change. They recruit, train and support a network of women entrepreneurs to deliver clean, sustainable energy solutions to the communities they live in.

We support Pollinate Group’s work in Nepal as they upskill and support local women to sell products and services that improve quality of life in their communities and ultimately help to lead their communities out of poverty by sourcing high-performing, durable products that reduce carbon emissions and improve quality of life.

In eight years they have empowered over 650 women and reached more than 650,000 individuals with impactful products like solar lanterns, clean and efficient cooking appliances and sanitary products.

We’re working with YGAP to fund their YHER program, YGAP’s female-focussed accelerator program. Operating regionally in Africa and the Pacific Islands, the program provides an effective solution to the lack of support for female entrepreneurs in these emerging markets.

The YHER program has a proven curriculum to help women refine and scale their business. YGAP ensure that yher provides the psychological safety and support to develop the strategies, confidence and business acumen they need to grow their ventures. The program finds the best early-stage female-led social businesses, accelerates them through a proven week-long training program designed for women, by women, and supports them for 6 months post-program with mentorship, small grants, and strategic support.

The Medical Advances Without Animals Trust’s aim is to advance medical science without using animals or animal products for biomedical research.

The MAWA Trust works in partnership with The Australian National University and provides support and funding to universities and medical research institutions throughout Australia. As the only organisation in Australia providing funding to researchers and students in the rapidly developing field of animal replacement in scientific research, MAWA has successfully stimulated broad interest in animal-free alternative approaches within the medical research community.

We’re funding organ-on-chip research work with MAWA at The University of Sydney, specifically the development of lung disease-on-chip. These models will be vital for testing the efficacy of new generation therapeutics to regenerate lungs damaged by disease, including COVID-19. To validate the models, the researchers will investigate the effects of stem cells and stem cell-derived extracellular vesicles on lung structure and functionality. It is expected that this lung disease model will provide accurate representations of physiological responses and allow for testing of lung regeneration thereby replacing the traditional use of animals in this research.