Transparency

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TRANSPARENCY

ECCO is an independent think tank working for the common good to accelerate climate action in Italy, Europe, and the world to achieve climate goals as they are established by international agreements.

The 2015 Paris Agreement calls for every effort to be made to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, as such an increase would significantly reduce the risks and impacts caused by climate change.

There are many interests originating from the challenges brought by the transition. For this reason, ECCO acts according to criteria and principles of intellectual independence and action, not accepting third-party funding arrangements that could affect its founding principles and effectiveness in pursuing its purpose.

Such independence ensures that action is carried out solely for the common interest of climate protection, facilitating the design and implementation of policies based on scientific evidence.

ECCO is registered in the European Transparency Register under number 698596749014-90

GUIDELINES FOR FUNDING OUR ACTIVITIES

Essential precondition

Funding is an essential precondition for the existence of an organisation.

Thereby, ECCO is able to ensure an appropriate insight and analysis capacity in order to:

conduct climate research and studies;
develop related policies;
promote debate, reflection, and the development of a shared awareness and language.

Objective

The objective is that climate be one of the core elements of national as well as global development policies.

To support these activities, we adhere to the following basic principles:

Economic independence from private interests: ECCO receives funding from philanthropic foundations and may enter into conventions and agreements with public sponsors, international organisations, university and research institutes, administrations, and any other Italian or foreign body having similar objectives and/or for the best achievement of the mission.
Transparency: ECCO aims to ensure total transparency of its funding sources, providing access to annual information and budgets. A list of major partners and donors can be found on this page.
Independence from political parties and influences: ECCO has no affiliation to any political parties or movements. In the promotion of knowledge and debate, we cooperate with all political organisations and with all representatives that are to any extent involved in the work of informing and involving stakeholders carried out by ECCO as part of its mission.
Sharing of objectives and risk management: Funding from institutions with links to public or private companies differently involved in the transition (e.g. corporate foundations) is managed within the following obligations:
- Such funding is only possible when sponsors’ mission and objectives are compatible with those of ECCO.
- Funding is in any case limited to supporting specific projects and not the organisation as a whole.
- The funding amount may not exceed 20% of the budget for the year in which the project is carried out.
- All the work carried out by ECCO is completely independent from the funding body.

FUNDERS & PARTNERS

ECCO‘s work is exclusively supported by philanthropic and public resources. These actors recognise the importance of strengthening the ecosystem of active change agents in Italy as well as Italy’s role in the global climate action. This approach ensures that our activities are carried out independently, allowing us to work for the public good and without influence from private interest.