Hong Kong Jockey Club

Dec 3, 2023

Gambling operator’s new Institute of Philanthropy and century-old Rockefeller Foundation formalise collaboration at Cop28 climate change summit Alliance targets public health solutions for 3.3 billion most vulnerable people in the world as they deal with consequences of climate change The Hong Kong Jockey Club has partnered with the century-old Rockefeller Foundation to bolster public health across the globe and protect some of the most vulnerable people from the impacts of climate change. The gambling operator’s new Institute of Philanthropy and the United States-based foundation signed a formal statement of collaboration in Dubai on Sunday during the first Health Day conference at Cop28 , the United Nations climate change summit. The alliance aimed to provide solutions for all, especially the estimated 3.3 billion most vulnerable people in the world as they dealt with the consequences of a changing climate, the foundation said. “The Hong Kong Jockey Club established the Institute of Philanthropy recognising that many of the issues confronting communities require global solutions and collaboration,” said Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges, CEO of the club. He said the collaboration, one of the institute’s first initiatives, targeted the most urgent global issue of all, climate change, and “the huge impact” it was having on public health. “Leveraging the convening power and financial resources of the Institute of Philanthropy in the East and The Rockefeller Foundation in the West, we aim to build nothing less than a global network of human and technology resources dedicated to strengthening global health resilience to climate change,” he said. The club set up the institute in September with HK$5 billion (US$640 million) in seed funding to boost charities in the country and globally. Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu has expressed ambitions for the city to become a “major international philanthropic centre”. Hong Kong Jockey Club CEO Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges speaks at an event in September. He says the partnership targets the “huge impact” climate change is having on public health. Photo: HKJC The collaboration with the foundation is the club’s first major project since establishing the institute. “The Rockefeller Foundation is honored to collaborate with the Hong Kong Jockey Club’s Institute of Philanthropy to accelerate climate solutions that simultaneously advance the field of global health and protect the most vulnerable,” said foundation president Rajiv Shah. Over the next five years, the foundation aims to spend US$1 billion on its own initiative to test and scale solutions in public health and other sectors. The foundation said the club’s philanthropic institute was among 50 global organisations, which included operators in the climate, finance, health, government and civil society sectors that were consulted for their input on guidelines to address climate change. It was the only charitable trust from Asia among the 50 entities. The guidelines on financing climate and health solutions were released at the 28th session of the Conference of the Parties (Cop28) on Saturday. The conference is attended by global government leaders to discuss collaboration in environmental policies. This year’s edition is held in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, and runs until December 12. Post