Laudes Foundation

The work of Jan Sahas continues to show why a climate‑positive future must also be a people‑positive one. Migrant workers — who often hold the most precarious roles in our global value chains — are disproportionately affected by climate‑driven health risks. Partners like Jan Sahas demonstrate what a just transition looks like on the ground: protecting rights, strengthening community resilience, and ensuring that those most vulnerable are not left behind. In the short video below, Jan Sahas Founder Ashif Shaikh explains, in his own words, what motivated him to focus on this work after experiencing its impact firsthand. Learn more 👇

With World Wood Day this Saturday, you may wonder how timber and biobased materials are helping to solve the climate crisis. "Our Future: Built by Nature", a new documentary from Built by Nature, explores exactly that. The film highlights how a sector responsible for almost 40% of global emissions can transform itself from within. Through six real-world examples of the Principles for Responsible Timber Construction, it shows how timber and other biobased materials can deliver scalable, affordable, and locally grounded solutions across diverse geographies and building types. One of these examples is the 2025 Built by Nature Prize winner: Appelweg Apartments by Moos — a modular social housing model using cross-laminated timber. By locking carbon into timber and reducing emissions, it offers a practical blueprint for climate-positive, community-focused housing. Premiered at COP30, the film, produced by Open Planet Studios, introduces the Principles for Responsible Timber Construction to a global audience and reflects a movement that is rapidly gaining strength. Throughout 2026, it will tour Built by Nature’s European networks and beyond, engaging actors across the value chain and helping unite this growing community of practice. Learn more and organise a screening here: https://lnkd.in/eFqjwYJy #WorldWoodDay

Accounting for nearly 50% of global emissions and around 60% of the world’s population, Asia is shaping the trajectory of global climate action. Within this landscape, India plays a pivotal role — home to almost one‑sixth of humanity, an urban population projected to reach 590 million by 2030, and strong momentum in renewable energy.   Laudes Foundation attended the first-ever Mumbai Climate Week (MCW) to learn from India’s leading investors, companies, philanthropies, and civil society organisations. The week surfaced three key insights:   🔹 India is emerging as a major market for climate solutions. Discussions throughout #MumbaiClimateWeek were action‑oriented and investment‑focused, underscoring the role of philanthropy in providing catalytic capital, de‑risking innovation, and—most importantly—keeping workers, people and communities at the centre. As Shloka Nath, CEO of the India Climate Collaborative, emphasised, climate and development are inseparable in the Global South; meaningful progress emerges when communities shape their own climate future.   🔹 New leadership is stepping forward. Young voices brought optimism, urgency, and fresh ideas, while also reminding us of the importance of institutional memory, ensuring that hard‑earned lessons guide the next phase of climate action.   🔹 Evolving from dialogue to action #MCW encouraged us to think differently: moving from convening to co‑creating, from ambition to investment, and from roadmaps to implementation on the ground. As we look ahead, several questions will guide our continued engagement: - How do we shift from dialogue to delivery? - How do we match bold ambition with financing that can scale? - How do we ensure roadmaps lead to action, not just discussion? To collaborate more deeply, learn from what works, and support climate action that is bold, measurable, and grounded in reality. Let’s not just build climate plans, but move to climate outcomes.

Our food system is at a pivotal point, but solutions exist for a healthier, fairer and sustainable system. Accounting for a third of global emissions, current practices risk food and economic stability, impact biodiversity, climate, and workers, and affect public health. Transitioning to a green, fair and inclusive food system requires aligned action and a just transition for the workers who keep our food system running. To explore what this transition means for food industry workers in the UK, Europe, and beyond, Laudes Foundation commissioned Dalberg Advisors to produce a report to look at: ✅ Risks like job losses in industrial meat and grain production and rising heat exposure for field workers ✅ Opportunities for high-quality jobs in sustainable agriculture, regional food processing, and alternative proteins If managed well, this transition can deliver better working conditions, greater resilience, and a future-fit food system. It needs all players - Governments, businesses, civil society, and philanthropy to collaborate, invest, innovate responsibly and put people at the heart of change. Learn more about A Just Transition in Food: Impacts on Workers in the Food Supply Chain: https://lnkd.in/eqeSDMWU

How can businesses drive just, people‑centred transitions that build both resilience and competitiveness? In a recent webinar, the Institute for Human Rights and Business (IHRB) brought together corporate practitioners to explore exactly that question. The discussion examined what just transitions look like across diverse sectors, including insights from philanthropy on how early, place‑based investment can unlock private capital and create long‑term, tangible benefits for communities. Alongside the webinar, IHRB launched its new Lessons for Business report, featuring four in‑depth case studies of real-time just transitions in different contexts. The report seeks to help close persistent gaps businesses face when putting just transition principles into practice. Watch the webinar: https://lnkd.in/gmuAWhiN Read the Lessons for Business report: https://lnkd.in/gsygemRA

The extended deadline is approaching! If you have expertise in learning design, UX and philanthropy, make sure to submit your proposal for the Laudes Learning Lab by 30 January. Full RFP and submission details can be found here: https://lnkd.in/eubnQSne

Businesses across sectors increasingly see the opportunity to lead just, people‑centred transitions that strengthen resilience and competitiveness. On 29 January at 16:00 CET, Institute for Human Rights and Business (IHRB) brings together senior practitioners to reflect on emerging signals, from amongst others COP30, and what the next five years demand in the lead up to 2030, sharing practical lessons from early implementation — including how companies are working with workers, suppliers, and communities to reduce risk and accelerate progress. Laudes Foundation’s Director of Programmes, Amol Mehra, will speak of the enabling conditions for action and the role of philanthropy in supporting credible, people‑centred transitions. The event also launches IHRB’s new JUST Stories report "A just agricultural transition taking root in Brazil", spotlighting real‑time case studies from agroforestry to post‑coal economic diversification. A must‑join session for corporate practitioners seeking grounded, applicable insights. Register 👉 https://lnkd.in/euuteFaD

How can innovative materials become more affordable and widely available? How can circular waste become more accessible? And how can proven innovations scale rapidly? Most importantly, what actually works to drive these changes and overcome obstacles? To help answer these questions, Fashion for Good has developed a suite of practical, ready‑to‑use toolkits grounded in real data, real projects, and real industry learnings from 2025, including: 🔹 Scaling Next Gen Materials: Executive Guide A strategic roadmap to bring next‑gen materials to market by overcoming financial, technical, and operational barriers. 🔹 Behind the Break: Microfiber Shedding Study An overview of industry status, testing methods, and root causes across fabric types. 🔹 Fashion Innovation Overview 2025 Five systemic barriers slowing innovation, and insights to move past them. 🔹 And more If you’re shaping sustainability strategies, planning investments, or exploring new technologies for 2026, these are designed to give you a head start. Dive into the full set of toolkits here: https://lnkd.in/d2P7Mw4J

Good news! We've extended the deadline for you to submit your application. You now have until January 30 2026, to share your proposal for the Laudes Learning Lab. For new applicants, we've updated the RFP on our website and included a handy FAQ to help you along the application process 👉 https://lnkd.in/eubnQSne

How do we restore confidence in the future, and in our shared ability to shape it? How do we ensure economic growth goes hand-in-hand with social progress, fairness, and stability? The Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL) explores these questions in its podcast series: What Next? Leadership Conversations for a Better Future. In the latest episode, Leslie Johnston, M.Sc., CEO of Laudes Foundation, joins Peter Bennett, Marc Kahn and Lindsay Hooper to discuss how philanthropy can accelerate the transition to an economy that values people and planet—by supporting ideas and institutions that markets and governments can’t fund alone. Key insights: ▪️ Why philanthropy’s risk appetite is critical for early-stage and long-term innovation ▪️ How shifting incentives and narratives can unlock systemic change ▪️ The role of enduring institutions and leadership that thinks across generations Listen now: https://lnkd.in/egadCg-A