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The Bentley Environmental Foundation

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In our pursuit to be a leader in sustainable luxury mobility, and our long-term commitment to preserve and regenerate our planet for future generations, the Bentley Environmental Foundation aims to help solve some of the most important challenges facing humanity today. In the spirit of Bentley’s longstanding tradition of innovation, we believe in translating commitments into bold and innovative actions alongside our partners. This is why we collaborate with globally renowned NGOs and charities to catalyse environmental change through co-created and transformative environmental projects.

To kickstart the journey, we supported the foundation directly by donating, as a first step, £3 million for environmental projects worldwide. Importantly, however, we invite anybody to donate and join us in being a part of something truly extraordinary.
 

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Please note: The Bentley Foundation is administered by CAF UK, a registered charity, and CAF America, a US 501(c)3. Currently US taxpayers can make a donation that is tax-deductible on donations made through CAF America, UK taxpayers can claim Gift Aid on donations made through CAF UK. All donations to CAF UK will be split equally between Climate Group and The Rivers Trust. All donations to CAF America will be split between Biomimicry Institute , SeaTrees by Sustainable Surf and Project Drawdown.

OUR COMMITMENTS BEYOND NET-ZERO - A STATEMENT FROM THE CEO

"Our Beyond100 strategy is amongst the boldest in the industry, and it is more than an empty promise. We will reinvent Bentley, and create a fully electric car business by 2030, which will already be taking a huge step to reduce our Environmental impact. However, without parallel changes to global renewable energy production, carbon capture and reduction in raw material usage, this benefit will be relatively small – it is not all about the car itself.

For this reason, in addition to our direct investment into products, Crewe site and new technologies, we are committing our support to organisations on the front line of environmental innovation, through a newly formed Bentley Environmental Foundation whose purpose is to fund pioneering, discovery-led initiatives that can make a positive impact beyond our own business needs. We aim to engage customer and innovators to participate with us to seek out and support breakthrough technologies and solutions with the aim to lead the way on reversing the effects of climate change

Like many businesses around the world, we still have much to learn about how we can contribute to a brighter future. But one thing is for certain, most of the technologies needed to reverse the man-made effects on our environment are now affordable and available, and Bentley will lead in their adoption in the luxury sector. And for those challenges that are still un-addressed, the Bentley Environmental Foundation will contribute it’s part to identify, promote, industrialise and adopt new solutions.

The opportunity to act and innovate, has never been more exciting than now."

Adrian Hallmark
CEO, Bentley Motors

 

 

THE CO-CREATED ENVIRONMENTAL PROJECTS

THE RIVERS TRUST

The Rivers Trust is one of the fastest-growing environmental movements in the world with a mission to protect, promote, and enhance our freshwater and estuarine ecosystems for both people and wildlife. They are a collection of conservation experts who work with member trusts in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland, to make its shared vision a reality: wild, healthy, natural rivers, valued by all.

CO-CREATED ENVIRONMENTAL PROJECT: REGENERATING VALLEY BROOK

The River’s Trust has identified Valley Brook, a small urban river local to Bentley’s HQ in Crewe, as failing water quality standards due to upstream inputs of nutrients from sewage and agriculture. Significant local issues such as flooding and air quality have also been identified in relation to the river. The Bentley Environmental Foundation will be supporting the Rivers Trust to safeguard and improve the Valley Brook River in Crewe, whilst also building the capacity, capability and environmental skills required to deliver long-term environmental improvements in the area.

Click here to discover more about The Rivers Trust

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CLIMATE GROUP

Climate Group are a global non-profit, with a mission to drive climate action, fast. They form and run powerful subnational government and business networks to unlock collective action and move whole systems to achieve a world of net zero carbon emissions by 2050. Together, they work to shift global energy, transport, built environment, industry and food systems towards faster reductions in carbon emissions and a cleaner future through a range of climate solutions.  

CO-CREATED ENVIRONMENTAL PROJECT: THE FUTURE FUND

The role of developing and emerging economy regions is fundamental in delivering a net zero world, and the Future Fund enables often underserved states and regions equitable access to global resources, empowering them to accelerate the shift towards a zero-emission world. From the development of air quality monitoring networks and off-grid lighting, to an easily accessible digital platform supporting and encouraging local climate action, the Bentley Environmental Foundation will be supporting the Future Fund through projects in Argentina, South Africa and Brazil

Click here to discover more about Climate Group

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BIOMIMICRY INSTITUTE

The Biomimicry Institute empowers changemakers to create and scale nature-inspired solutions to address our most pressing environmental and social challenges. Its work demonstrates that through the conscious emulation of nature’s time-tested philosophies and processes humans can learn to create transformative solutions for the modern world that are in balance with nature. Inspiring change through original research, education for children of all ages and global innovations programs such as The Ray of Hope Prize, the Biomimicry Institute aims to help humanity use this principle within the fields of education, culture and industry – to address humanity's biggest challenges.

CO-CREATED ENVIRONMENTAL PROJECT: RAY OF HOPE (A BENTLEY SPONSORED FELLOWSHIP)

Changemakers are often met with a deep valley of limited resources as they try to scale their innovations quickly to compete against entrenched, extractive competitors. The Ray of Hope Prize exists so that The Biomimicry Institute can support and amplify the work of changemakers leading us into a nature-inspired future. The Ray of Hope Prize shortens and flattens this valley via programmatic support and content creation, ensuring more nature inspired solutions create impact at scale. The aim is to now transition the Ray of Hope Prize program into a fully-fledged fellowship program that supports between 10 and 30 changemakers per year as well as start-ups that address the systemic climate and societal challenges.

Click here to discover more about Biomimicry Institute

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Sea Trees by Sustainable Surf

SeaTrees is committed to supporting local communities and scientists that plant and protect blue carbon coastal ecosystems. Blue carbon coastal ecosystems can be up to five and ten times more effective at taking carbon from the air than rainforests. SeaTrees aims to help regenerate our ocean planet by planting mangroves, restoring kelp forests, seagrass meadows, coral reefs, and coastal watersheds.

CO-CREATED ENVIRONMENTAL PROJECT: RESTORING BLUE CARBON ECOSYSTEMS 

Mangrove trees, seagrass meadows, and kelp forests have declined drastically due to climate change and human activities. Funding for this project will be used to expand the current programme in Kenya – one that seeks to restore 100+ hectares of degraded mangrove forest within Malindi Watamu National Marine Park and Reserve, whilst also scaling the project into Europe for the first time with seagrass and kelp projects in Portugal and Spain. The projects support the planting and protection of mangrove trees, seagrass meadows, and kelp forests through three local restoration partners.

Click here to discover more about SeaTrees

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PROJECT DRAWDOWN

Founded in 2014 and positioned as the world's leading resource for climate solutions, Project Drawdown aims to help the world reach "drawdown" - a point in the future when the levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere have begun to steadily decline. As the organisation behind the bestselling book Drawdown, the group rigorously assesses climate solutions, partnering with efforts to accelerate climate solutions globally. Ultimately, it's all about avoiding catastrophic climate change as quickly, safely, and equitably as possible. 

CO-CREATED ENVIRONMENTAL PROJECT: LABS CAPITAL ACCELERATOR

Project Drawdown has identified staggering disconnects between today’s climate philanthropy and investing, and the science-based solutions needed to effectively address climate change (including a tangible reduction of GHG emissions and keeping our planet below 1.5C degrees warming). In response, they are building a new Drawdown Labs Capital Accelerator, a first-of-its-kind convening for philanthropists and investors of all types to learn from the world’s leading scientists and engineers, with an open-source plan for far reaching influence and impact.

Click here to discover more about Project Drawdown

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donate via caf uk
donate via caf america
Please note: The Bentley Foundation is administered by CAF UK, a registered charity, and CAF America, a US 501(c)3. Currently US taxpayers can make a donation that is tax-deductible on donations made through CAF America, UK taxpayers can claim Gift Aid on donations made through CAF UK. All donations to CAF UK will be split equally between Climate Group and The Rivers Trust. All donations to CAF America will be split between Biomimicry Institute , SeaTrees by Sustainable Surf and Project Drawdown.

 

A THREE-PRONGED STRATEGY

To achieve our aims, we have partnered with specialist charities/NGOs who not only possess the innovative ideas to deliver long-term solutions, but also have the outreach and infrastructure to assist those making a difference on the ground. When combining these partnerships with our reach and influence within the luxury sector, the exciting potential of the Bentley Environmental Foundation comes to life.
All of our partners can be categorised according to the three key aims of our grant making strategy: Accelerating Decarbonisation (Drawdown), Supporting the Changemakers and Reimagining Luxury.
 

1: WE ARE HELPING ACCELERATE DECARBONISATION (DRAWDOWN)

It is clear that to contain the climate crisis, humanity must remove many gigatons of CO2 – and natural climate solutions will need to do much of the work. Yet their development currently receives a very small proportion of the funding given to combating climate change. This is why we are helping to support projects that focus on nature-based solutions for accelerating the sequestration of CO2 and other greenhouse gases. Projects of this type include the protection and regeneration of natural carbon sinks, for example.

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2: WE ARE SUPPORTING THE CHANGEMAKERS

Changemakers are the people and organisations leading the conversation on the environment – specifically where climate action requires system change. By empowering them to develop their ideas and magnifying their influence, we are providing a springboard for new solutions, while also helping to train a new generation of sustainability pioneers. System change will always be complex, but we know we are making a long-term contribution by supporting and helping educate those with the will to build a more planet-friendly future.

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3: We are Reimagining Luxury

The Bentley Environmental Foundation is about more than simply giving charitable organisations the money they need to succeed. We can improve upon our already impressive track record of making products with long life cycles (90% of all Bentleys ever made are still on the road), working together with our suppliers to design and deliver more sustainable products than ever before. Introducing more sustainable materials, alongside more environmentally friendly production techniques, we will work to create new supply chains that are sustainable from end to end. Through projects that improve the sustainability of current production techniques and processes, combining our craft expertise with the ideas of the most innovative non-profits, we can help transform our sector.

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WORKING WITH THE IMPACT EXPERTS

To ensure The Bentley Environmental Foundation reaches its full potential, we are working with experts in corporate giving: the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF). CAF is a global charity which works with companies on corporate giving programmes, and has more than 2,000 corporate clients and distributed donations to over 100,000 charities in more than 135 countries last year. CAF will undertake a thorough assessment of projects from potential partners and then make the donations to agreed causes, and issue regular impact statements, helping us ensure that all donations make their way to the projects that deserve them most.

Read more
Back to top
donate via caf uk
donate via caf america
Please note: The Bentley Foundation is administered by CAF UK, a registered charity, and CAF America, a US 501(c)3. Currently US taxpayers can make a donation that is tax-deductible on donations made through CAF America, UK taxpayers can claim Gift Aid on donations made through CAF UK. All donations to CAF UK will be split equally between Climate Group and The Rivers Trust. All donations to CAF America will be split between Biomimicry Institute , SeaTrees by Sustainable Surf and Project Drawdown.
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