Development Co‑operation Profiles: Laudes Foundation
Table of contents
The Laudes Foundation was established in 2020 as part of, yet independent from, the Brenninkmeijer family enterprise and is based in Switzerland.
The foundation seeks to advance the transition of industry and business toward a green, fair, and inclusive economy. Its work addresses climate change, nature and biodiversity loss, and social inequality.
This profile presents verified data on development assistance allocations. See the Development Co-operation Profiles.
Laudes Foundation provided USD 32.9 million for development in 2024 through its cross-border funding. Compared to 2023, this amount represents a decrease of 25.5% in real terms. Grants represented 100% of Laudes Foundation’s gross disbursements.
Laudes Foundation provided all of its development finance bilaterally in 2024, while 1.4% was channelled through multilateral organisations (earmarked contributions).
In 2024, the Laudes Foundation channelled its bilateral development finance mostly through non-governmental organisations (NGOs) (USD 23 million), universities, research institutes or think tanks (USD 5.6 million) and public-private partnerships (PPPs) and private sector (USD 3.9 million).
In 2024, Laudes Foundation provided USD 500 thousand to the multilateral system, all of which represented non-core contributions earmarked for a specific country, region, theme or purpose. All of its development finance was channelled through United Nations (UN) funds and programmes.
The UN system received USD 500 thousand from Laudes Foundation in 2024. The most significant UN recipient was the UN Development Programme (UNDP) (USD 500 thousand).
In 2024, civil society organisations (CSOs) received USD 23 million of the Laudes Foundation’s gross bilateral finance, of which 19.3% was directed to developing country-based CSOs. Overall, 1.7% of total bilateral development finance was allocated to CSOs as core support, while 68.1% was earmarked to specific projects or programmes. From 2023 to 2024, the combined core and earmarked contributions for CSOs increased as a share of bilateral philanthropic development finance, from 61.5% to 69.7%.
Learn more about the DAC Recommendation on Enabling Civil Society in Development Co-operation and Humanitarian Aid.
In 2024, Laudes Foundation’s development finance was primarily focused on Asia (excluding the Middle East) and Europe. USD 7.5 million was allocated to Asia (excluding the Middle East) and USD 2.8 million to Europe, accounting respectively for 22.7% and 8.4% of gross bilateral development finance. A sum of USD 22.4 million (67.9%) was unallocated by region, mainly including multi-regional programmes and research grants.
In 2024, 15.8% of gross development finance went to the top 5 recipients, most notably India (10.4%) and Bangladesh (3.8%).
Least developed countries (LDCs) received USD 1.5 million (4.5%) of Laudes Foundation’s gross disbursements in 2024. Laudes Foundation allocated the highest share (11%) of its bilateral development finance to lower middle-income countries in 2024, followed by LDCs (4.5%), noting that USD 27.7 million (84.2%) was unallocated by income group.
Support to contexts with high and extreme fragility reached USD 1.7 million in 2024, representing 5% of Laudes Foundation’s bilateral development finance.
Learn more about the OECD States of Fragility platform.
In 2024, the largest allocations (34.2% of bilateral contributions) by Laudes Foundation went to social infrastructure and services (USD 5.4 million). The second largest sector was economic infrastructure and services (USD 8.6 million), focusing on business and other services (USD 6.6 million). This was followed by multi-sector allocations (USD 6.5 million).
In the period 2023-2024, Laudes Foundation committed 1.2% of screened bilateral allocable development finance to gender equality and women’s empowerment, compared to 11.8% in 2021-2022 and a private philanthropic average of 33.2% in 2023-2024. This is equal to USD 400 thousand of screened bilateral allocable contributions in support of gender equality on average per year. In addition:
The share of screened bilateral allocable contributions committed to gender equality and women’s empowerment as a principal objective was 0.4% in 2023-2024, compared with the private philanthropic average of 11.9%.
Laudes Foundation screens the majority of bilateral allocable contributions activities against the DAC gender equality policy marker (96.9% in 2023-2024).
Learn more about the DAC Recommendation on Gender Equality and the Empowerment of All Women and Girls in Development Co-operation and Humanitarian Assistance and the DAC Recommendation on Ending Sexual Exploitation in Development Co-operation.
In 2023-2024, Laudes Foundation committed 51.6% of its total bilateral allocable contributions (USD 17.8 million) in support of the environment, up from 46.6% in 2021-2022. The private philanthropic average was 12.4%. In addition:
51.6% of total bilateral allocable contributions (USD 17.8 million) focused on climate change overall (the private philanthropic average was 12.9%), up from 46.6% in 2021-2022. Laudes Foundation had a greater focus on mitigation (40.8%) than on adaptation (17.7%) in 2023-2024.
4.3% of screened bilateral allocable contributions (USD 1.4 million) focused on biodiversity overall (the private philanthropic average was 4.3%), up from 0.8% in 2021-2022.
Learn more about the DAC Declaration on Aligning Development Co-operation with the Goals of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.
In 2024, Laudes Foundation committed the largest shares of its contributions to SDG 8 (decent work and economic growth), SDG 16 (peace, justice and strong institutions) and SDG 10 (reduced inequalities) of the United Nations 2030 Agenda. Support for SDG 5 (gender equality) amounted to USD 1.6 million. Contributions to SDG 13 (climate action) totalled USD 2 million.
Access the full list of providers at this link: Development Co-operation Profiles.
Official website: https://www.laudesfoundation.org.
The methodological notes provide further details on the definitions and statistical methodologies applied, including core and earmarked contributions to multilateral organisations, channels of delivery, bilateral unspecified/unallocated/allocable development finance, the gender equality policy marker, and the environment markers.
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