Programme areas
Human Rights
‘Recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world.’ These words are as true now as when the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted over 60 years ago. Human rights empower individuals to reach their full potential. Zennström Philanthropies envisions a world in which the human rights of every individual are respected and protected, and those who abuse rights are held accountable.
Zennström Philanthropies’ human rights strategy focuses on Europe, the home of its founders. We are truly engaged in the defence of human rights, forging strategic partnerships with the organisations we fund to ensure genuine and durable change at the policy level. We currently have the following strategic funding priorities:
- Human rights defenders: Without human rights defenders, human rights are just empty laws. Throughout Europe, courageous advocates for transparency, justice and fairness hold governments to account. Zennström Philanthropies partners with organisations that provide human rights defenders with the tools to improve their effectiveness and ensure their safety.
- Invisible groups: Those who are least visible in society are most vulnerable to abuse. Zennström Philanthropies works with organisations that draw the attention of policy-makers to Europe’s ‘invisible’ people, ensuring that nobody is deprived of their rights. We are especially interested in ensuring access to justice for undocumented migrants, people with psychosocial disabilities and detainees.
- Addressing historic abuses: Severe abuses of human rights have effects which last for generations. Zennström Philanthropies partners with organisations which ensure accountability for past abuses and conduct research into the most effective methods of building peace for future generations.
Climate Change
With a global focus, Zennström Philanthropies looks to support organisations which work to find solutions to stop climate change. In doing so we focus on supporting new businesses or markets for emerging low carbon technologies, or create new regulatory frameworks that encourage a low carbon path. These organisations leverage not only resources, but networks, research, and innovative ideas to create real action on climate change.
To accomplish this goal, Zennström Philanthropies has the following strategic funding priorities:
- Broad organisations — These groups work globally, have strong relationships with the business community and are linked into various local, national and regional governments. Experts at each group serve as intellectual resources for Zennström Philanthropies as it goes forward and groups that we fund in this area will have a reputation for working well with other groups in the sector.
- Organisations focused on influencing policy or regulatory frameworks — The need to create regulatory environments that encourage the use of renewable energy, energy efficiency and careful stewardship of our environment is critical to addressing climate change by encouraging businesses, individuals and governments to change the way they behave.
- Organisations focused on creating green business solutions or increasing financial resources available to low carbon technologies — The development of low carbon technologies will be a key part of the fight against climate change. Zennström Philanthropies will focus its funding on supporting groups that both encourage the adoption of existing technologies as well as those that make resources available to develop new technologies.
Social Entrepreneurship
In addition to the areas listed above, we believe that social enterprises and social entrepreneurs offer solutions to today’s environmental problems. Through demonstrating new technologies and new markets for tomorrow’s low carbon economy, this emerging area offers another tool in the fight against climate change.
Whilst we do not support individual social entrepreneurs or enterprises at this time, we believe that it is important help develop capacity in this sector, particularly in emerging countries. To do that we focus on in investing in social enterprise funds and programmes that recognize best practice in providing environmentally friendly solutions to pressing energy and livelihood challenges facing the poor.
The Baltic Sea
As part of our commitment to tackle the environmental impacts of climate change and the current economic structure on the world around us, Zennström Philanthropies has instituted a number of grants around the issue of the state of the Baltic Sea. Inspired by our one of our founders, Niklas Zennström’s long standing passion for the sea he grew up on we are working with a number of organisations in the region to look at the issues of overfishing and eutrophication to find solutions to the problem and restore the health of the Sea.
Elective Fund
Whilst human rights and climate change make up the principal funding activities of Zennström Philanthropies, there are other organisations whose work is deeply important, and often complementary, to the work of the principal fund. The elective fund was created to support such initiatives.
