As Asia’s energy transition accelerates, philanthropy is beginning to play a more visible and strategic role in helping unlock change. But in a region as diverse and complex as Asia, the challenge is not simply funding good ideas, it is understanding where the bottlenecks are, what kinds of institutions and coalitions are missing, and how catalytic capital can help shift systems and markets at the pace required.
In this conversation, Peter du Pont of SIPET Connect speaks with Aviva Imhof, Program Director, Regional, at Tara Climate Foundation about why Tara was established, how it approaches strategic philanthropy in the region, and where she sees the biggest opportunities to accelerate a just and practical clean energy transition across Asia.
SIPET Connect: To begin, could you tell us a bit about the Tara Climate Foundation, and what are its main objectives in the area of climate and energy?
Aviva Imhof: Tara Climate Foundation was established in 2021 and is headquartered in Singapore. At its core, Tara was set up to help build a more sustainable and prosperous future for Asia, with a strong focus on accelerating the energy transition.
The foundation was designed to fill a very clear gap. For a long time, relatively little philanthropic capital was flowing into the wider Asian region. Climate philanthropy had focused heavily on China and India, given the scale of energy use and emissions profiles in those two countries. But much less attention had been paid to the rest of Asia, despite the region’s importance in terms of population, economic growth, and the role it will play in shaping the global future.
That was the rationale for creating a foundation that is locally based, regionally headquartered, and largely staffed by people from the region. Our main objective is to support a just energy transition across Asia, with a particular emphasis on the power sector, because decarbonizing power is central to decarbonizing every other part of the economy. We also work on related areas of clean industrialisation, particularly in sectors such as heavy industry and textiles.
SIPET Connect: Could you say a little more about Tara’s footprint in the region? Where do you work, and the kind of partner network do you support?
Aviva Imhof: We have a fairly diverse network of around 400 partners across 12 Asian geographies. We do not just work in Southeast Asia. We also work in Japan, Korea, Bangladesh, and Pakistan.
Our three biggest programmes are Japan, Korea, and Indonesia, because of the scale of those markets and their importance in global emissions terms, regional influence, and future emissions trajectories, in the case of Indonesia.
At the same time, countries like Bangladesh and Pakistan are also very important. Their emissions are relatively low, but they have very large and rapidly growing populations, so decarbonising those countries is also critical from a global perspective.
Our partner base is very diverse. It includes think tanks and research institutes, civil society organisations doing policy work, and corporate alliances. We try to build a broad ecosystem of partners who can work together to help deliver what is, ultimately, a very difficult task: transitioning at the speed required to meet global climate targets and avoid runaway climate change.
SIPET Connect: What does that support look like in practice, both in terms of the scale and the kinds of grants you make?
Aviva Imhof: Last year, Tara disbursed around $65 million in grants. Grant sizes range from around $20,000 to half a million dollars, and in some cases up to a million dollars. It really depends on the partner we are supporting, the nature of the collaboration, and the kind of project involved.
Our grantmaking works through an invitation-based process. That is because we are a regranting foundation. Funded by over a dozen major global and Asian philanthropic foundations, we channel that support into climate work across Asia. That means we're accountable for ensuring our strategies are robust, locally grounded, and aligned with our funders' priorities. So we carefully curate our network of grantees across the countries where we work.
SIPET Connect: Tara often talks about strategic philanthropy. What does that mean to you in practice?
Aviva Imhof: For me, it means trying to look at the problem from that 30,000-foot level, understanding what the barriers are to the clean energy transition, and then figuring out how to address those barriers while avoiding the risks associated with them.
Once you understand where the barriers are and what needs to happen, the next question is: how do we make that happen, and who are the partners we need in order to do it? So strategic philanthropy means assembling and supporting the right network of actors.
In many countries, because this region was so underinvested for so long, we have actually had to help build the ecosystem. That can mean incubating new organizations, or helping organizations that may have started with just a few people grow into larger, more professional institutions. So rather than simply funding projects here and there, we are looking at the broader change that needs to happen in order for clean energy to flourish at the pace and scale we know is necessary.
SIPET Connect: How do you assess what kinds of support or ecosystem building are needed in a given country?
Aviva Imhof: It is usually a combination of different things. We have a fairly clear strategic framework that looks at both supply and demand.
On the demand side, we ask: how do we create demand for clean energy? That could mean supporting corporate alliances and helping companies commit to 100% renewable energy, so that they create stronger demand signals for new renewables. It can also mean working with consumer groups or rural communities.
On the supply side, we ask: what are the barriers? If the barriers are policy-related, then we look at what research and analysis is needed to show the benefits of the transition and to map out the pathway toward it. We ask what policies need to be unlocked, what procurement mechanisms should be in place, and how the cost of clean energy can be reduced through things like reverse auctions and other reforms.
Then we think about who is needed to make that case. Do we have organisations that can do the technical research and policy engagement? If not, how do we help build that capacity? Do we have people who can engage constructively with energy ministries and utilities? If not, how do we support them? And do we have the right demand-side actors, including corporates, organised in a way that can push for enabling policy conditions?
There is no fixed formula, but we do use a strategic framework to assess each of those pillars and figure out what is missing.
SIPET Connect: Could you share an example of how Tara puts this approach into practice, particularly where philanthropy has helped catalyse a new actor or coalition?
Aviva Imhof: One example is the Asia Clean Energy Coalition. Some corporates came to us and said they saw a clear gap. They needed a regional corporate alliance that could work collaboratively to push for better policy conditions for renewable energy, but they were not able to make it happen on their own.
From our perspective, that is exactly the kind of catalytic role philanthropy can play. We helped fund the initial scoping work, which was led by partners including WRI, RE100, and GWEC. That work looked at what kind of coalition infrastructure was needed, where the gaps were, and how a regional alliance could help fill them.
From there, a structure and governance model was developed, and we helped fund the first iteration of the coalition. That included staffing and national-level advisory support. The coalition is now moving toward becoming an independent entity headquartered in Singapore, with a governance structure that is representative of its membership.
Importantly, we have always seen philanthropy’s role here as catalytic, not permanent. Our position from the beginning has been that corporates also need to contribute and take ownership. Otherwise, it will not work in the long term.
SIPET Connect: In Southeast Asia and elsewhere, many energy markets still have entrenched interests, political bottlenecks, and institutional inertia. How do you think about that political economy challenge?
Aviva Imhof: It is an excellent question, and one that our country teams are dealing with every day.
I would say it has become somewhat easier to make the case for renewables because they are now cheaper than fossil fuels. And with the current turmoil in the Middle East, there is also a growing opportunity to frame renewables not just as cleaner and cheaper, but also as a source of energy security. If countries want secure energy that is not dependent on imported fossil fuels, then homegrown solar and wind are clearly part of the answer.
That does not mean the political economy barriers are gone. Entrenched interests remain a reality. Part of what we try to do is identify which actors are best placed to help shift the dynamic. That is one reason we place real value on corporate engagement. In many of the places where we work, corporates that are serious about renewable energy have been able to move things in ways that civil society alone cannot.
At the same time, in some countries the political will to transition is actually there, but you still have a kind of inertia in utilities and among planners who do not yet understand that intermittent renewables can be managed with storage, flexibility, and better system planning.
So another important role is providing technical support. That might mean helping energy ministries and utilities learn from countries that are already integrating larger shares of renewables. We have also supported organizations that can work hand in glove with government and utilities, to improve auction design, bankability, grid planning, and overall system readiness.
SIPET Connect: Could you share an example of where that kind of inside-game support has been useful?
Aviva Imhof: One example is the Philippines, where we have supported the Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities (ICSC) over many years. They have built trusted relationships with the energy ministry over time, and they also work with former senior utility executives who understand the system from the inside.
That means they are able to engage directly on issues like renewable energy auctions, making sure that the rules are designed in a way that leads to bankable projects, and also on grid planning and system stability as renewable penetration increases.
That kind of support can be incredibly important, because sometimes the challenge is not opposition to renewables as such. It is simply that institutions are still operating with a 20th-century orthodoxy and need help understanding how a more flexible, modern system can work.
SIPET Connect: Beyond policy and institutional reform, have there been examples in the region where market or consumer behaviour has driven change more organically?
Aviva Imhof: Pakistan is a fascinating example because it shows what can happen through very grassroots action.
Because of a whole set of systemic issues in the power sector, very expensive electricity, unreliable supply, and broader market dysfunction, people essentially started taking matters into their own hands and buying solar panels off the market. Over the last few years, that has led to extraordinary growth in solar deployment. Based on the latest data, we estimate that cumulative solar panel imports into Pakistan are now upwards of 50 gigawatts.
One of our partners, Renewables First, has done really important work on this, including policy engagement and data analysis. Partners have helped ensure that import taxes on solar panels remain low and that net metering remains an option for consumers. Renewables First has helped track the growth of solar panels, including through satellite-based assessments with other organisations.
And the visual evidence is remarkable. We have seen footage from cities in remote areas where virtually every rooftop is covered in solar panels. It is an extraordinary reminder that decentralised, consumer-led action can transform an energy system when the economics are right, and when people are given room to respond.
SIPET Connect: Tara also talks about a just transition. From your perspective, what does that mean in practical terms?
Aviva Imhof: It is a term that can mean everything and nothing at the same time, because it gets used so often. But for us, it means making sure that the transition takes account of affordability, jobs, and community impacts.
In the context of coal phaseout, that means thinking seriously about how coal-dependent communities are supported—whether through retraining, just transition funding, or broader efforts to help local economies move in new directions.
But it is also about how renewable energy is deployed. If renewables are built in ways that damage local communities or natural ecosystems, then we will see backlash, and rightly so. We have seen that in other parts of the world. So we see it as central to our mission to try, as much as possible, to ensure that renewable energy projects are developed in ways that genuinely consider local impacts and, ideally, deliver local benefits.
There is also a distributive question. If generation costs are coming down, how does that translate into consumer prices? And if prices are still rising, what safeguards are there for poorer communities? These are all part of what a just transition needs to address.
SIPET Connect: Looking ahead, where do you see the biggest opportunities right now for strategic philanthropy to help accelerate clean energy adoption in Asia?
Aviva Imhof: I think one of the biggest opportunities right now is around distributed solar, especially in markets where consumers are exposed to high power prices and are actively looking for alternatives.
The current moment has created much more interest in solar. In places like the Philippines, we are seeing a real uptick in imports of solar panels and growing consumer interest. That tells us people want solutions, and they’re willing to take matters into their own hands where they can.
So what can philanthropy do? First, we can support efforts to lower the barriers. That includes things like temporary reductions in import taxes on solar panels, cutting red tape, and streamlining permitting.
In some places, the permitting process is still cumbersome. In the Philippines, for example, there are multiple permits required across different agencies, and that can take months. We have partners working to push for a much simpler process, including the idea of a one-stop online system, with much shorter approval periods.
Second, we need to look at financing. The payback period for rooftop solar can be very short, especially in high-price markets, but many people still cannot access the upfront capital. So there is a real opportunity to support the growth of financial models and fintech solutions that can help households and small businesses adopt solar more easily.
Third, there is a need for much more consumer-facing communication. People need to know what their options are, how much solar costs, how the installation process works, and where to go. That kind of practical public education is important for this to work.
Overall, I think things could change quite quickly over the next 6 to 12 months. The energy crisis has, in some ways, sped up the transition. And if we can unlock some of the smaller policy barriers, I think we could see much faster growth.
SIPET Connect: Finally, what gives you optimism at this moment?
Aviva Imhof: What gives me optimism is that the economics are increasingly undeniable, and that people are responding.
The Pakistan example is one illustration of that. The growth in distributed solar interest in places like the Philippines is another. Once people see that solar can provide cheaper, more reliable energy, they move quickly.
So while there are still major barriers, in the areas of policy, institutions, and finance, I do think there is a real sense that things are shifting. And that gives us a strong opportunity to be strategic, targeted, and catalytic in how we use philanthropic capital.