Future Matters: Grantee Spotlight (Q3 2026)

The Giving Green Fund is awarding a restricted grant to Future Matters for its climate program, which identifies and advocates for impactful EU policies for global decarbonization. Future Matters is a nonprofit policy think tank with offices in Berlin and Brussels that provides research-backed strategies for addressing global risks.

Future Matters’ work falls within our philanthropic strategies of scaling alternative proteins and decarbonizing iron and steel. Please see Giving Green’s strategy reports for more information, including risks and potential co-benefits, recommended sub-strategies, theory of change, funding need, and key uncertainties. 

Last updated: October 2026

What Is Future Matters?

Future Matters is a nonprofit think tank working on climate protection and AI governance. Its climate work identifies and advocates for cost-effective and neglected EU policy opportunities to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. Since its launch in 2020, Future Matters has built a strong reputation and network within the EU policy ecosystem. According to our conversations with civil society and policy stakeholders in the EU, Future Matters is known for its actionable research and strategic approach to impactful advocacy. Future Matters is headquartered in Berlin and also has an office in Brussels.

What Are We Funding, And How Could It Help Address Climate Change?

This restricted grant supports Future Matters’ climate program. During the first phase of this project, Future Matters published a policy prioritization study identifying the eight most promising opportunities for the EU to drive global decarbonization during the 2024-2029 Commission mandate, based on criteria of impact, effort, and neglectedness. We think its systematic approach to identifying and advancing effective but neglected policies fills an important gap in the climate policy ecosystem, and its work has raised the profile of previously overlooked policies.

Since the report's launch, Future Matters has been converting its findings into concrete policy change. It is focusing on three key policy priorities:

1. Advancing an EU-India green steel partnership: Future Matters helped secure political commitment for cooperation on industrial decarbonization, including in steel, in the EU-India Strategic Agenda, adopted by both sides in January 2026. With European and Indian partners, it is now working to turn that commitment into practice through a pilot for green iron production in India and joint research on green steel technologies. 
2. Advancing alternative protein market access and production scale-up through EU biotechnology policy: Future Matters helped bring food safety regulation within the scope of Biotech Act I and is currently working to include food in Biotech Act II and make food biotech eligible for scale-up funding under the next seven-year EU budget. 
3. Embedding cost-effectiveness into EU international climate finance: The EU does not currently track the cost-effectiveness of its international climate finance. As the EU decides its next seven-year budget, Future Matters is advocating for monitoring and improving allocations based on cost-effectiveness. 

Future Matters has also been sharing its prioritization methodology through workshops for other nonprofits and policymakers, which we think could lead to more systematic prioritization of top policies across the Brussels ecosystem.

Why Do We Think Future Matters Will Use This Funding Well?

Future Matters has successfully won influential allies across the EU policy ecosystem and coordinated action across institutions to advance its policy priorities. Our discussions with policymakers and nonprofits have highlighted Future Matters as a trusted and valued partner. Its analytical approach to policy engagement has also received praise for being especially actionable and unique in the EU’s nonprofit ecosystem. As a result, the former EU Commissioner for Environment and the former head of the Directorate-General for Climate Action have both endorsed its climate policy prioritization study. Since then, Future Matters has turned decision-maker interest into concrete wins in its first two policy areas: EU-India green steel cooperation and alternative proteins.

Future Matters is currently fundraising to meet its 2027 budget and has further potential to grow its climate team, which currently comprises three full-time employees working on prioritization research and advocacy. Growing its climate team would allow it to fully staff its three policy priorities and give it the capacity to meet all relevant engagement requests.

We publish grant spotlights to offer transparency to Giving Green Fund donors and resources for those interested in the impact strategies each grant supports. Giving Green believes our Top Climate Nonprofits have the greatest impact potential for large, unrestricted gifts. For several reasons, we also disburse and recommend grants to other organizations surfaced through our research process for work that we believe is at least as impactful as grants to our top recommendations.

This is a non-partisan analysis (study or research) and is provided for educational purposes.

Future Matters is a registered nonprofit in Germany.