Gift of £3.3m to help establish ‘impact team’ to accelerate action on climate and nature
The team will work to turbocharge the application of climate research in business and policy settings. Image: Rawpixel
The University of Exeter has received £3.3 million to fund a new project to mobilise action on the climate and ecological crisis.
The philanthropic gift from André and Rosalie Hoffmann will be announced today at an event at New York Climate Week.
It will fund the work of a new ‘impact team’ at the University of Exeter, which will capitalise on the breadth of the University’s academic expertise to accelerate action on climate change and nature loss among business leaders, policy-makers, citizens and consumers.
The Hoffmann Impact Team for Accelerating Action on Nature and Climate will be led by the University of Exeter Business School’s Professor Gail Whiteman, who has been appointed inaugural Hoffmann Impact Professor for Nature and Climate.
It will build the University’s capacity to develop and implement ‘impact pathways’ for scientific knowledge to turbocharge the practical application of research on climate and environment in business and policy settings.
Professor Whiteman is a social science expert on how decision-makers make sense of systemic global risks from climate change and other environmental threats.
She is the founder of Arctic Basecamp, a registered not-for-profit science outreach platform, which hosts an annual event alongside the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos to raise awareness of polar climate change and its impact beyond the poles.
Professor Whiteman said: “We are very excited to announce the Hoffmann Impact Team for Accelerating Action on Nature and Climate, made possible thanks to the generosity and foresight of André and Rosalie Hoffmann.
“This unique, high-performing and multi-disciplinary team will use scholarly evidence and combine it with innovative communication and engagement plans. We think this strategic combination can contribute to positive action on the climate and biodiversity crisis. Only by more effectively mobilising science-based evidence can we influence decision-making and behaviour.”
Professor Lisa Roberts, President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Exeter, said: “We are immensely grateful to André and Rosalie Hoffmann for this significant philanthropic gift, which will ensure our interdisciplinary research on climate risks and solutions does not stay within the walls of the University but is translated into the type of real-world impact central to our mission to make the world a greener, fairer and healthier place.
“We are also delighted to have appointed Gail as our new Hoffmann Impact Professor, a unique role that underscores our conviction that business needs to drive the solutions that will prevent, mitigate and help us to adapt to climate change.”
In a joint statement, André and Rosalie Hoffmann said: “We are delighted to support the University of Exeter in its mission to address the urgent climate and ecological crisis. Through this new impact team, we believe that the combination of academic excellence and collaborative action will drive the practical, systemic changes needed to protect our planet for future generations. We trust that this initiative will inspire business leaders and policymakers to take decisive action for the wellbeing of nature and humanity.”
André and Rosalie Hoffmann were awarded a joint Honorary Degree in 2022 for their contributions and support to conservation research, and Rosalie Hoffmann is a University of Exeter alumna.
