What's driving The Climatics

Why we’re starting with a pilot

Every movement has a first step. Ours begins with pilot phase starting in September 2025. 

We have a hunch that there are people all across the motu who want to support climate solutions, and are looking for simpler, easier ways to make an impact.

The Climatics is built on people power — the idea that when many of us chip in, even in small ways, together we can create big shifts.

Before we invest in taking The Climatics public, we want to test that hunch. Joining the community now means you’re doing more than just getting your money into the hands of organisations turning it into climate‑positive impact, you’re also kickstarting a movement.

This first phase is about more than donations. It’s a chance for early supporters to help shape what The Climatics will become as we grow and launch publicly in 2026.

That means that we want to hear your thoughts!

Below is an outline of the full selection process for the pilot year, including key functions provided by the core Climatics team. The Climatics team will lead the process throughout, bringing expertise in due diligence and ensuring robust decision‑making.

How we choose who to fund

To make the best decisions about where to deploy the money entrusted to us, we draw upon the expertise of a carefully chosen Curation team. ​​This team has been designed to leverage a diverse set of perspectives on this complex issue and a breadth of expertise. More than just advising, this team works with us to identify system changing climate solutions in Aotearoa that can create outsized results, and holds the responsibility of selecting the portfolio to be funded.

One of our core principles is to make the grant process as respectful of organisations doing the hard mahi of tackling climate change. In a time where charities are increasingly investing huge numbers of hours on uncertain funding applications, we want to prioritise being respectful of their time and not ask them to jump through hoops. That means the burden of due diligence falls more strongly on the Climatics core team, with support from The Gift Trust. For the pilot round, organisations will not know that they are in the running until after we have made our final decision. In future rounds we will have a light touch EOI process and likely some short calls with short listed organisations, before a participatory grant making process that the community can be involved in, with the expert guidance from the Curation Team.