Interviews
Interviews
Podcast
15.2.2024
The moment that fundamentally changed her life once again was some time ago. It was 2007, Felicitas von Peter was sitting on a ship and listening to the ice of a glacier moving, creaking, groaning and roaring. At that moment, she says today, she understood the climate crisis not only with her head, but also with her heart. As a result, she began offering guided tours to Greenland with her non-profit company Active Philanthropy, in addition to knowledge and advice. There, wealthy people and those with great influence on decision-makers in politics and business can learn what climate change actually means in a dialog with scientists and discuss what everyone can do about it. For around six years, the company has focused exclusively on the climate crisis and its effects. Thanks to Peter and her team, hundreds of millions of euros have already flowed into sustainable projects. For the creator, that is one thing above all: too little.
I bought a bright orange jacket from Patagonia, but from the Worn Wear collection. It's been my favorite department ever since I discovered it. You can have the jackets repaired for life, which I think is really cool and of course very sustainable.
I really like the color. It's also practical for my work. With Active Philanthropy, we organize tours to Greenland every year, where we show people with a lot of influence or big wealth what climate change really means. When I accompany our participants there, I don't have a high-visibility vest or a large umbrella with me, but I can be recognized quickly and easily.
I went on such a tour myself in 2007 at the invitation of a foundation from Sweden. I was totally impressed. We were very close to the glacier and could hear it. That's when I fully understood and penetrated the climate crisis. Of course, you can see on paper that something is out of balance, but when you are there, you feel it, you see the ice melting, you hear it cracking, it hits you right in the heart. You also realize that you yourself are just an ant and that nature is much bigger, much more powerful - and will never be tamed. Many of us have lost our connection to nature. We may still know it from skiing in winter and the beach in summer, but this is the tamed nature, not the one that will make our lives hell. If we want the world to be liveable for future generations, we need to do something now.
We are looking for people who can really make a difference. This can mean that they are in a position to move a lot of money, or that they are or will soon be in a decisive position. For example, someone who sits on the supervisory board of a company may be able to achieve much more than some individual donors. A political advisor, on the other hand, has completely different contacts.
Take Bill Gates, who donates 4.5 billion euros every year. If he were to put all this money into the US education sector, he could fund all grades from kindergarten to 12th grade - for exactly one day. This example shows how little one person alone can do. We need a really large network of highly motivated people who can then channel money in the right direction. Because as things stand today, only two percent of all donations go towards the fight against climate change. Yet this is our most existential crisis. Everyone is always talking about how we have to save the planet. That's nonsense. The planet will pass on. We have to save ourselves as a species.
In addition to the tours, we naturally offer a complete portfolio. This starts with the numerous materials on climate protection that we prepare especially for donors and other interested parties. We also offer a complete online course that explains step by step what is needed to steer your investments and donations towards sustainability and a platform that shows good climate projects that you could support immediately with donations. In less than 15 minutes, anyone can find outstanding projects that we have curated together with the world's most important climate foundations. This simplifies effective donations enormously. We also offer individualized and personal advice. I have been working in this sector for over 20 years, so I know the needs of families and family offices very well and we can respond very precisely to very different wishes and circumstances.
I originally wanted to do something else, just like most people probably don't end up in their dream job. I studied politics and philosophy, spent time in France, England and Portugal, completed my doctorate at the age of 26 and wanted to go into journalism. I quickly realized that it wasn't my thing and then joined the Bertelsmann Foundation. There I was able to set up the foundation office in the USA, as well as a joint venture with the Rockefeller Foundation, where we taught donors and benefactors how to donate effectively. In 2006, I went into business for myself and founded Active Philanthropy. Right from the start, I was able to rely on influential families from Hamburg, Munich and Zurich, who also supported me financially in the early years. Since then, Active Philanthropy has supported donors and foundations who have donated hundreds of millions of euros to good, audited projects, and the number is growing all the time.
It would be a dream come true if we managed to avoid permanently exceeding the planet's limits. To achieve this, we need to change the world in the next few years so that at least our grandchildren have the chance to live in a world that is "only" 1.5 degrees hotter. We can still do it! But we have to do something now so that we still have a chance. There are endless possibilities. But we also have to seize them, otherwise the costs will rise immeasurably and we will deprive ourselves and future generations of our livelihood. The most expensive thing we can do is to do nothing. I fight every day to ensure that this is not the case.
About the person:
Felicitas von Peter founded Active Philanthropy in 2006 as a platform for philanthropists, donors and social investors who want to change the world for the better. She previously worked as a director at the Bertelsmann Stiftung and most recently managed the foundation's national and international philanthropy programs.
Interviews
15.2.2024
Nils Wischmeyer
Felicitas von Peter is a thought leader in active philanthropy. Among other things, she and her team bring important people to Greenland to help them understand climate change. In this interview, she talks about colorful jackets, Bill Gates - and the benefits of these tours.
The moment that fundamentally changed her life once again was some time ago. It was 2007, Felicitas von Peter was sitting on a ship and listening to the ice of a glacier moving, creaking, groaning and roaring. At that moment, she says today, she understood the climate crisis not only with her head, but also with her heart. As a result, she began offering guided tours to Greenland with her non-profit company Active Philanthropy, in addition to knowledge and advice. There, wealthy people and those with great influence on decision-makers in politics and business can learn what climate change actually means in a dialog with scientists and discuss what everyone can do about it. For around six years, the company has focused exclusively on the climate crisis and its effects. Thanks to Peter and her team, hundreds of millions of euros have already flowed into sustainable projects. For the creator, that is one thing above all: too little.
I bought a bright orange jacket from Patagonia, but from the Worn Wear collection. It's been my favorite department ever since I discovered it. You can have the jackets repaired for life, which I think is really cool and of course very sustainable.
I really like the color. It's also practical for my work. With Active Philanthropy, we organize tours to Greenland every year, where we show people with a lot of influence or big wealth what climate change really means. When I accompany our participants there, I don't have a high-visibility vest or a large umbrella with me, but I can be recognized quickly and easily.
I went on such a tour myself in 2007 at the invitation of a foundation from Sweden. I was totally impressed. We were very close to the glacier and could hear it. That's when I fully understood and penetrated the climate crisis. Of course, you can see on paper that something is out of balance, but when you are there, you feel it, you see the ice melting, you hear it cracking, it hits you right in the heart. You also realize that you yourself are just an ant and that nature is much bigger, much more powerful - and will never be tamed. Many of us have lost our connection to nature. We may still know it from skiing in winter and the beach in summer, but this is the tamed nature, not the one that will make our lives hell. If we want the world to be liveable for future generations, we need to do something now.
We are looking for people who can really make a difference. This can mean that they are in a position to move a lot of money, or that they are or will soon be in a decisive position. For example, someone who sits on the supervisory board of a company may be able to achieve much more than some individual donors. A political advisor, on the other hand, has completely different contacts.
Take Bill Gates, who donates 4.5 billion euros every year. If he were to put all this money into the US education sector, he could fund all grades from kindergarten to 12th grade - for exactly one day. This example shows how little one person alone can do. We need a really large network of highly motivated people who can then channel money in the right direction. Because as things stand today, only two percent of all donations go towards the fight against climate change. Yet this is our most existential crisis. Everyone is always talking about how we have to save the planet. That's nonsense. The planet will pass on. We have to save ourselves as a species.
In addition to the tours, we naturally offer a complete portfolio. This starts with the numerous materials on climate protection that we prepare especially for donors and other interested parties. We also offer a complete online course that explains step by step what is needed to steer your investments and donations towards sustainability and a platform that shows good climate projects that you could support immediately with donations. In less than 15 minutes, anyone can find outstanding projects that we have curated together with the world's most important climate foundations. This simplifies effective donations enormously. We also offer individualized and personal advice. I have been working in this sector for over 20 years, so I know the needs of families and family offices very well and we can respond very precisely to very different wishes and circumstances.
I originally wanted to do something else, just like most people probably don't end up in their dream job. I studied politics and philosophy, spent time in France, England and Portugal, completed my doctorate at the age of 26 and wanted to go into journalism. I quickly realized that it wasn't my thing and then joined the Bertelsmann Foundation. There I was able to set up the foundation office in the USA, as well as a joint venture with the Rockefeller Foundation, where we taught donors and benefactors how to donate effectively. In 2006, I went into business for myself and founded Active Philanthropy. Right from the start, I was able to rely on influential families from Hamburg, Munich and Zurich, who also supported me financially in the early years. Since then, Active Philanthropy has supported donors and foundations who have donated hundreds of millions of euros to good, audited projects, and the number is growing all the time.
It would be a dream come true if we managed to avoid permanently exceeding the planet's limits. To achieve this, we need to change the world in the next few years so that at least our grandchildren have the chance to live in a world that is "only" 1.5 degrees hotter. We can still do it! But we have to do something now so that we still have a chance. There are endless possibilities. But we also have to seize them, otherwise the costs will rise immeasurably and we will deprive ourselves and future generations of our livelihood. The most expensive thing we can do is to do nothing. I fight every day to ensure that this is not the case.
About the person:
Felicitas von Peter founded Active Philanthropy in 2006 as a platform for philanthropists, donors and social investors who want to change the world for the better. She previously worked as a director at the Bertelsmann Stiftung and most recently managed the foundation's national and international philanthropy programs.
About the author
Nils Wischmeyer
Nils Wischmeyer writes about financial markets, investments, banks, banking regulation and white-collar crime.
