Prevention, as the saying goes, is better than cure – but when neither of those options is available, resilience often steps up to the plate. That’s the philosophy underpinning Howden Foundation’s support strategy for those people who live in areas highly susceptible to the humanitarian impacts of climate change – already numbering 3.6 billion, according to a 2023 World Health Organization (WHO) estimate.

“We’re devoting our strategy to communities who are on the front lines,” says Claire Harbron CA, who joined the foundation as Chief Executive Officer in May. “What that means in practice is mobilising funds into sub-Saharan Africa, south Asia, south-east Asia and working with partner organisations who are operating in those communities, delivering adaptation and resilience solutions.”

Howden Foundation came into existence 11 years ago as the charity arm of the global insurance group after which it is named, becoming a shareholder in its parent group in 2020. One current partner is the non-profit Climate Resilience for All. Their joint project provides assistance to women in parts of northern India, where temperatures this year have been known to exceed 50°C.

“Extreme heat is deadly – it’s a killer and results in serious health issues,” Harbron explains, referring to the miscarriages, infections, burns and other sometimes fatal outcomes of such searing temperatures. “An inability to work is extremely common, and these women rely on their daily income to support their families.”

Climate Resilience for All is also working with Indian organisation, the Self Employed Women’s Association, to offer women workers a “climate shock” insurance package. “It gives these women access to an early warning system via WhatsApp, and covers their wages if the temperature hits 40°C, allowing them to stay indoors and remain protected. The 225,000 women so far who are part of it also contribute from their own pocket towards it, which is crucial in terms of their buy-in and their agency.”

 “We’re not driven by conventional financial targets. So we have to think about what success is in a way that sits beyond the standard metrics”

Having already made an estimated 340,000 people more resilient to climate change, Howden Foundation – which has donated over £6.5m to charitable partners in the past five years and supported 700-plus employee-nominated charities since its founding in 2014 – is also working on other projects including the J-Adapt toolkit, an initiative of the Environmental Change Institute at Oxford University. This modelling tool collates data concerning a community’s unique vulnerabilities, helping governing bodies and development banks to prioritise investments accordingly.

For Harbron, the urgency of the problem is a prime motivator. “This is happening right now,” she says. “The stats speak for themselves – 40% of the world is facing freshwater scarcity. People are already dying from extreme heat.” Crucially, though, the foundation’s work is not just about alleviation of suffering: in helping communities create sustainable agriculture, water access and resilient infrastructure, it is also, as Harbron puts it, “investing in prosperous futures”.

Force for good

Harbron is no stranger to working with life’s more sobering realities. Before her current position, she spent three and a half years at non-profit organisation BHP Foundation, which addresses sustainability challenges faced by the resources industry. Prior to that she enjoyed a decade at the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, whose remit includes tackling malnutrition, Aids and malaria in young people around the world.

As for her latest job, Harbron – who did her ICAS training during a five-year stint with EY – heard about the opportunity on the grapevine. “I’m privileged to have a good network in the climate philanthropy space,” she explains. “As well as that climate background, they were looking for somebody who had corporate philanthropy experience, so that helped.”

What Harbron hadn’t experienced before was philanthropic endeavour in an insurance-based milieu. But with climate change, there is a natural synergy. “We’re the corporate foundation of a business that is all about risk management, so it really makes sense,” she says. “Being associated with the insurance industry gives us access to cutting-edge expertise and insights that are highly relevant for the work that we do. Howden has 20,000 risk experts all over the world, and a whole team dedicated to climate resilience who are delivering cutting-edge thought leadership on this issue.”

As for the finer brush strokes of accountancy in a corporate foundation, as compared with a conventional profit-making organisation, Harbron emphasises the commonalities. “We run ourselves as a professional organisation, so all of the financial and accounting backbone that you have in a for-profit still exists in a not-for-profit,” she says. “We have a board that expects us to be preparing an annual business plan and delivering on it. We have audit requirements.”

If there is a major variance, it concerns the outcomes being strived for – and how quantifiable those goals are. “We’re not driven by conventional financial targets,” says Harbron. “So we have to think about what success is in a way that sits beyond the standard financial metrics and accounting. Inevitably, when you’re thinking about social impact, you need to be more comfortable in the grey when making judgements. Hard evidence and quantifiable outcomes can be a little bit harder to come by, but on the whole, I don’t think it’s wildly different.”                                                                                 

Spreadsheets vs strategies

When CA magazine last spoke to Harbron four years ago, she made a salient point about the catholic role of accountancy in working life: “Being numerate and financially literate gives you such an insight into the nuts and bolts of any organisation.”

In her new position today, this resonates more than ever. “In a corporate foundation with a corporate donor and a lot of incredibly smart corporate stakeholders to manage – who are used to working in a very numerate, financially focused way – being able to speak their language is really important,” she says. “Both in helping them understand what the foundation is doing, and in building their confidence in our work and my leadership.”

Indeed, Harbron believes that accountancy should permeate every stratum of a business – philanthropic or otherwise. “Ultimately, it’s hard to think of a situation where it doesn’t come back to the numbers and the resources that you have available,” she says. “Strategic choices about how to deploy those should absolutely be informed and supported by the most senior financial stakeholders.”

“We’re all living in a crazy, hectic world, but it’s well documented that burnout in the not-for-profit sector is a real issue. Bringing a sense of levity to work is important”

How well does the existing accountancy training prepare professionals for the nuances she describes? In numerous ways, she says: “First of all, being able to analyse and understand the bigger picture – there’s a huge confidence boost that comes with that which I take for granted a little bit. You often realise that you’re stepping into a space much more confidently than those without that training and background.”

Also important are softer skills: “I often think back to my first few weeks of training, and how you’re thrown into the deep end with senior stakeholders from corporates. You have to learn to be comfortable with that.”

As for young CAs considering pursuing a path with a moral purpose, Harbron – who studied medical ethics as part of her university degree – suggests not holding back. “Just do it. When I made the shift, I wasn’t necessarily seeking to move into philanthropy, but I knew I wanted to work somewhere with a sense of purpose that aligned with my values,” she recalls.

“Look for an organisation delivering something you feel excited about. There are so many different opportunities to do work in a way that is purpose-driven. It doesn’t need to be a charity: there are plenty of businesses out there with a giving-back component to what they do because, frankly, that’s how to do business better.”

The exposure to impressive industry figures is another draw for Harbron. “If you choose corporate philanthropy, you have both your leaders within the charity, then also very senior leaders in the corporate donor realm that you wouldn’t necessarily have had access to otherwise,” she says. With corporate foundations as a whole achieving a 25% increase in grant-making over 2023–2024, bringing the total up to £1bn – a year-on-year growth rate more than double the average for non-corporate trusts and foundations – this particular vehicle for giving back via one’s career seems to be on the crest of the zeitgeist.