The latest scientific data from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change indicates that we need to reduce emissions by 43% by 2030. This is essential if we are to limit the rise in temperatures to 1.5 degrees Celsius by the end of the century and avoid the worst consequences of climate change, including more frequent and severe droughts, heatwaves and floods.
The most effective associations in the field of climate change stand out for their ability to generate significant impacts thanks to their strategic approach. They prioritize political and technological interventions, creating powerful levers for reducing global emissions. Their approach is based on in-depth research and collaboration with various stakeholders to maximize results.
Fossil fuels still account for over 85% of global primary energy consumption[1]. The Clean Air Task Force (CATF) is a nonprofit climate protection organization that promotes policy and technology changes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from electricity generation, oil and gas, industry, and transportation.
Donate €50: Avoid 50 tonnes of carbon (equivalent to growing 2,500 trees for 1 year) [2].
Donate €200: Avoid 200 tonnes of carbon emissions (equivalent to 125 transatlantic flights avoided) [3].
Donate €500: Avoid 500 tonnes of carbon emissions (the equivalent of 208 people going car-free for 1 year) [4].
Livestock farming is already responsible for about 20% of global greenhouse gas emissions [5]. Studies show that the Paris climate goals are unlikely to be met without abandoning conventional livestock farming. The Good Food Institute (GFI) promotes the development of plant-based and cultured meat, fish, eggs and dairy products to make them tasty, affordable and accessible to all. These cruelty-free and environmentally friendly foods are intended to replace animal products.
Donate €50: Avoid 17 tonnes of carbon
(equivalent to the growth of 850 trees for 1 year) [2].
Donate €200: Avoid 67 tonnes of carbon
(equivalent to 42 transatlantic flights avoided) [3].
Donate €500: Avoid 168 tonnes of carbon
(the equivalent of 70 people going without a car for a year) [4].
[1] Global direct primary energy consumption (Our World in Data) [Accessed 11/07/2024]
[2] What is a tonne of CO2? [Accessed 11/07/2024].
One ton for 50 trees is an approximation that can vary depending on location, tree type, weather conditions, etc. According to some calculations, 15 to 83 trees are needed to capture an average of 1 tonne of CO2 per year. Trees grow faster in the tropics, so fewer trees are needed to store a tonne of CO2 than in the northern hemisphere. In our donation calculation, we have chosen an average of 50 trees per year to capture 1 tonne of CO2.
[3] Not the end of the world, Hannah Ritchie (2024)
Each transatlantic flight emits an average of 1.6 tonnes of CO2 equivalent.
[4] Not the end of the world, Hannah Ritchie (2024)
Going without a car for a year reduces CO2 equivalent emissions by 2.4 tonnes.
[5] Global greenhouse gas emissions from animal foods are twice as high as from plant foods (Nature Food) [Accessed 11/07/2024].
Tax deductions in France are currently only available for donations to four of our recommended charities: Against Malaria Foundation, Good Food Institute, Helen Keller International, and Centre pour la Sécurité de l’IA
If you are taxable in France, you will benefit from a tax reduction of 66% of the amount of your donation up to the limit of the tax due or 20% of your taxable income.
In practice, this means that if you were planning to donate €100, you can triple this amount to reach a donation of €300 that you will declare, with a real cost of only €102 after tax reduction. This allows you to multiply the impact of your donation without increasing your planned expenditure.
You can read our full article on tax relief in France for more information.
We are able to offer tax deductibility for this association and all the organisations we recommend through our partners, Effektiv Spenden. If your tax residence is in Switzerland, please make your donations via this link, so that you can receive your tax receipt at the end of the tax year.
We work with partners around the world and can offer tax deductibility in many countries. Please contact us if you would like to make a donation from another country and we will discuss the tax options available to you. If you would like to donate and do not require a tax receipt, you can make a donation via Mieux Donner regardless of your country!
Charities that prioritise the final outcome of their action and not indicators of impact. When talking about impact, it is essential to focus on the desired final outcome, such as improved opportunities and quality of life, rather than focusing on intermediate outcomes such as the number of books distributed.
It’s surprising how few charities measure their impact. Our top recommended charities use scientific methods to evaluate the results of their actions, ensuring that their interventions produce the desired effects.
They save or improve the most lives per euro donated to them. Eg) our top recommended global health charities can save a life for as little as 3,000 euros, our top climate charities can avoid one ton of carbon emissions for just 1 euro and our top animal welfare charities can spare thousands of animals from factory farming for the same price of saving one animal in a refuge.
All of our top charities are independently evaluated by world leading charity evaluators. See more information below.
A life is valuable whether it is based in France or the developing world.
Our top recommended charities are all tax deductible in Switzerland, but not in France. This is because French tax law dictates that a charity must operate from France in order to be tax deductible. We always prioritise the impact of a charity over its tax deductible status.
Some of our charities such as Against Malaria Foundation have very low overhead costs, and some such as Clean Air Task Force – have much higher overhead costs. To explain why we don’t take overhead costs into account in our recommendations, imagine two charities:
In the above examples Charity A saves 1 life for every 10,000 spent on it, whereas Charity B saves 1 life for every 3,300 euros spent on it. In this example – it’s clear to see that it’s not overhead costs that are important – but in fact the ratio of overhead costs to the desired impact. Research suggests that there is not much of a correlation at all between overhead and effectiveness.
Finding the best aid organisations isn’t that easy. That’s why we work closely with experts who have been conducting extensive and in-depth research on the subject for many years. These experts are completely independent and work at the cutting edge of charity evaluation in their respective cause areas. They conduct rigorous tests on hundreds of charities to find out as precisely as possible how much good their programs achieve per euro spent. By comparing the cost effectiveness of so many charities, they are able to short list the most effective charities to donate to in order for your donations to have the biggest impact.
GiveWell is the world’s leading research organisation that studies global health and development charities.
‘We search for the charities that save or improve lives the most per dollar. Our goal is to produce the world’s top research on where to give. Free, for everyone. We recommend a small number of charities that do an incredible amount of good’ (GiveWell)
GiveWell was founded in 2007 by Holden Karnofsky and Elie Hassenfeld, two former hedge fund employees. They wanted to do as much good as possible with their donations and found that there was little solid information available on how to do this. GiveWell invests more than 40,000 hours of research each year and has raised more than €1 billion for high-impact charities, saving an estimated 150,000 lives.
The EA Animal Welfare Fund was rated as the top animal charity evaluator by GWWC’s ‘evaluating the evaluators project’ in 2024. They are therefore the primary charity evaluator we defer to in order to choose our top animal charities. We meet with them every few months to get up to date recommendations. They conduct thorough research into various animal welfare organisations to find those that help the most animals per dollar.
Giving Green is a nonprofit organisation that spends thousands of hours each year reviewing studies and climate charities to find the most cost effective interventions to combat climate change. From this research, they publish their top recommendations each year. Their team is made up of climate scientists, economists and impact evaluation experts with decades of experience working at the intersection of evidence-based policy and the environment. We meet regularly with Giving Green to discuss our climate recommendations and run climate workshops in collaboration with eachother.
Although we primarily defer to GiveWell, Giving Green and EA Animal Welfare Fund, we also read the research of other top charity evaluators including LongView Philanthropy, Founders Pledge and Animal Charity Evaluators to ensure we are not overly-reliant on any one source of research. When choosing our top charities we prefer organisations whose effectiveness is corroborated by multiple independent evaluators.
Yes, the team at Mieux Donner offers free donation advice for both english and french speakers. You can book an appointment here.
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