Shaun Seow, who heads the Philanthropy Asia Alliance (PAA), has a theory on why the new generation of Asian philanthropists is more interested in fighting climate change.
“A lot of next-generation leaders are recreational divers; they look at the bleached corals and think it’s not right,” says Seow, whose organization is backed by Singapore state investor Temasek, on the sidelines of the Philanthropy Asia Summit.
Globally, less than 2% of philanthropic giving goes to mitigating climate change. Of that small amount, an even smaller sliver—just 12%—goes to Asia. That’s despite Asia being disproportionately affected by climate change: The region is warming at twice the global average, and 3.7 billion people in Asia, three times the rest of the world, have been affected by climate-related disasters since 2000.
To make matters worse, sources of international aid have dried up. Last July, U.S. President Trump shuttered the U.S. Agency for International Development, eliminating over $40 billion in funding from climate-related development projects around the world. European nations have also been scaling back their commitments to climate aid: France reduced its development aid budget by 40% as part of austerity cuts, while Germany slashed its international aid budget from 6 billion euros to just 4.58 billion in 2025.
“For a long time, people have expected climate leadership to come from the West,” Jamie Choi, the CEO of Singapore-based Tara Climate Foundation, told Fortune. “We have been looking to places like Europe and the U.S. to take leadership, but those days are long gone.”
As the West scales back on climate funding, Asian funders are stepping in to plug the gap. In Asia, an estimated $5.8 trillion is expected to change hands before the end of the decade.
Choi says that the Tara Climate Foundation, which started in 2014 under the European Climate Foundation before spinning off as an independent entity in 2022, had been a “lone wolf” on climate issues, but now other Asian philanthropic organizations are joining it. A 2026 report by the Center for Impact Investing and Practices (CIIP) found that, among 165 Asian funders surveyed, almost half were already investing in climate adaptation and resilience, and another 28% were ready to start investing.
Still, Seow complains that climate causes are “woefully underfunded.” More than $200 billion is required annually to finance climate adaptation and resilience efforts in Asia, yet current flows stand at only around $19 billion, according to the CIIP. By 2030, Asia is expected to account for 75% of the global climate financing gap, while regional firms are projected to bear $336 billion in annual climate mitigation costs.
Asian philanthropy has traditionally leaned more towards areas like education and health. “It’s obvious when there’s a child suffering or a disease outbreak, and it’s very heart-tugging,” said Seow. “But the impacts of climate change are more long-ranging. It’s very natural as humans to look at the here and the now, while neglecting longer-ranging causes.”
Others, like Choi, believe that knowledge gaps are to blame for donor hesitance to get involved. “A lot of people think climate change is a very complex and technical issue, and see it as an accounting problem that needs to be challenged,” she said.
Asian philanthropic organizations are exploring new payment models like blended finance, or the mixing of public funds and private capital, to finance projects in emerging markets. “The funding gap is just so wide,” Seow says. “We’re failing on our 1.5-degree global warming KPIs, so we really need private capital to come in.”
One possibility, suggested by the Center for Asian Philanthropy and Society, is that philanthropic organizations can provide funds as risk capital, which can go towards novel solutions that markets are unable to price, governments are unwilling or unable to fund, and social innovators cannot bear alone.
“Solutions could require government action, but the government will not go for the unproven. They could need big pots of private capital, but their returns profile doesn’t attract private investors,” explained Seow.
He adds that Asian founders are “more patient than we think,” and are prepared to go the long haul. Indonesia’s Tahija Foundation, for example, donated over $17 million over a decade to test the use of Wolbachia bacteria to control dengue fever. “I don’t think anyone would have funded that if not for philanthropic capital,” Seow says.
The PAA, founded in 2023, unites a network of Asian and global philanthropic organizations, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Dalio Philanthropies, and the Tanoto Foundation, to support over 300 climate, health and inclusive development projects in Asia.
The Tara Climate Foundation is part of the Just Energy Transition Community (JETC), an alliance launched in 2025 to advance an inclusive energy transition in Asia. On May 18, the JETC announced that it had committed an initial $2.6 million in catalytic funding to a range of projects across Southeast Asia, including ensuring clean energy access for rural farmers and fishermen, and cooling homes in a warming region.
“Asia is part of the problem, as we are emitting 50% of global emissions. Also, we already hold so many homegrown solutions, but we just need to get over ourselves and start funding them,” said Choi. “In the past, it was very common to see foundations make grant making decisions out of London and New York. But to really make strategic change, you have to have a deep understanding of the local context in which you operate.”
Not every Western organization is pulling back from the region. On May 20, the Nature Conservancy announced that it will fund pilots for its Global Ocean Innovation Challenge in Indonesia’s Savu Sea next month, alongside its longstanding local partner, Yayasan Konservasi Alam Nusantara. These include autonomous surface vessels and solar-powered acoustic listening stations to guard against illegal fishing.
“Indonesia is in the middle of the coral triangle, and has some of the most important ocean coral reefs in the entire world. It’s teeming with biodiversity, but also very challenging and expensive to monitor,” Jennifer Morris, the Nature Conservancy’s CEO, said. Yet Morris doesn’t want to take the lead. “The last thing we want to do is crowd out local organizations,” she said. “When we’re not needed anymore, we can leave.”
And with the West retreating on climate action, Seow thinks the answer will have to come from the rest of the world.“The conversation needs to happen between Asia, South America, and Africa,” he said. “We owe it to ourselves: Global South for Global South.”
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com