EIT Climate-KIC is Europe’s leading climate innovation agency and community, supporting cities, regions, countries and industries to meet their climate ambitions through systems innovation and place-based transformations.
We were created by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) in 2010 to be a knowledge innovation community (KIC) focused on climate change. Over the last decade, we have collaborated with over 400 partners in 60 countries around the world, managing €80-100M annually in grant budgets to foster climate entrepreneurship, nurture education and learning, and drive innovation to mitigate climate change and enable adaptation.
Our structure and governance
The Climate-KIC Group is led by Stichting Climate-KIC International Foundation, an independent Dutch non-profit with public benefit status (ANBI) in the Netherlands (registration number 77373154).
The Climate-KIC International Foundation owns 90 per cent of Climate-KIC Holding B.V., a private limited liability company registered in the Netherlands (registration number 63299658), focusing on raising and effectively placing funds for climate-relevant innovation, while directly implementing and funding innovation initiatives. The Holding’s activities include pursuing public and private funding, sponsorship, incorporating, participating in and financing businesses and companies, and providing advice and services to others.
The remaining 10 per cent of shares in Climate-KIC Holding B.V. are held by Association Climate-KIC, registered in the Netherlands (registration number 52000117), an organisation whose membership is constituted of leading European universities, research institutes, businesses and cities.
Climate-KIC International Foundation
The Foundation’s objective is to contribute in the broadest possible sense to the protection of nature and the environment, including the enhancement of sustainability, by way of innovation of climate change mitigation and adaptation. For more information about the Foundation, its mission, board, constitutional documents and policy plan here.
CLIMATE-KIC INTERNATIONAL FOUNDation
Foundation Board
The Climate-KIC International Foundation’s Executive Board leads and manages EIT Climate-KIC on its path to achieving its mission and objectives. The Foundation’s Board monitors the policies pursued by the Executive and the general course of affairs in the Foundation. It further provides advice , ensuring that the Foundation’s objectives are always considered in day-to-day management and policy setting.
Climate-KIC Holding B.V.
The Holding focuses on raising and effectively placing funds for climate-relevant innovation.
Holding Board
The Holding Board takes responsibility for the supervision of Climate-KIC Holding B.V.’s general affairs and reports to the company’s shareholders at the Annual General Meeting.
It monitors the Holding’s performance and considers matters such as the annual business plan, financial statements, matters of risk and compliance, programme management and fundraising.
Association Climate-KIC
The Association’s members constitute a pan-European network whose purpose is to exchange knowledge, learn through experimentation, build capability and work jointly to mobilise action and initiatives that facilitate and accelerate climate innovation.
Assembly
The Association’s ultimate decision-making body, its Assembly, meets three to four times a year to discuss and resolve on matters concerning the Association’s business. The Core Partners appoint the Association’s Governing Board.
ART-ER Attractiveness Research Territory
CEA (Commissariat a l’energie atomique et energies alternatives)
DTU (Technical University of Denmark)
ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology)
INRA (Institut national de la recherche agronomique)
GFZ (German Research Centre for Geosciences)
Governing Board
The Governing Board provides intellectual leadership and investigates critical challenges in the areas of climate change mitigation and adaptation. It informs EIT Climate-KIC’s multi-annual strategy and aspects of strategic relevance to the Association. It meets for strategy sessions with the Board of the majority shareholder, the Foundation.
The Governing Board comprises twelve individuals appointed by the Assembly from representatives of the Association’s members. Its composition reflects the diversity of institutions and regions within Climate-KIC. The Governing Board meets around five times a year, its members are the Association’s legal representatives.
EIT Climate-KIC Leadership
The Executive Team, made of the CEO, COO, CFO and CSO, manages the day-to-day activities of the Climate-KIC Group. These statutory directors are overseen by the Climate-KIC Supervisory Board. Together, they closely coordinate with the other members of the Climate-KIC community, notably the Association and its Board.
The Executive Team shares its day-to-day management tasks with a wider group of senior leadership, representative of the organisation as a whole, called the Leadership Team.