Soros' Open Society Foundations say their restructuring is complete and pledge $400M for green jobs
Open Society Foundations revealed Tuesday its first new commitment after a years-long internal reorganization, pledging $400 million over eight years to support green economic development
NEW YORK — Open Society Foundations, the philanthropic organizations that billionaire investor George Soros has built up since the 1970s, revealed its first new major commitment on Tuesday after a years-long internal reorganization, pledging $400 million over eight years to support green economic development.
In some of her first public remarks since she was named president of OSF in March, Binaifer Nowrojee told The Associated Press the goal of the investment was to produce sustainable jobs and a shift toward clean energy and away from carbon intensive industries in Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, Senegal, Malaysia and Indonesia.
“The idea of free markets cannot solve everything, particularly it cannot solve the climate crisis,” she said speaking from OSF's offices in Washington on Monday. The foundations will support think tanks, governments and civil society groups in these middle-income countries.
“How do you improve regulations so that pollution comes down? How do you create tax breaks for businesses that adopt green technologies? How do you address the whole issue of critical minerals?” Nowrojee said were the types of questions OSF is asking with this new funding. “How do you help governments with building up green infrastructure — solar, wind, hydropower? And then with the nature of work changing, how do you upskill workforces?”
Nowrojee, a human rights lawyer from Kenya who has worked at OSF for 20 years, took the helm of the $25 billion philanthropy after three years of buyouts, layoffs and structural changes that have rippled
Read more on abcnews.go.com
