Mercator Foundation and the ECF leave the shareholder board of Agora

Stiftung Mercator and the European Climate Foundation (ECF) have transferred their shares in Agora Energiewende to the think tank’s active management team. At the same time, the two other operational divisions of SEFEP gGmbH, Agora Verkehrswende and the non-profit media service Clean Energy Wire (with klimafakten.de) have been divided off to form two new separate organisations that will continue to be supported by the two foundations in their role as shareholders.

SEFEP gGmbH is now only the holding company of Agora Energiewende. As the new shareholders, the five-member management team (Matthias Buck, Dr Patrick Graichen, Frank Peter, Jesse Scott and Markus Steigenberger) will be supported in future by a supervisory board made up of prominent figures from the energy and climate sector.

This step towards autonomy is an expression of the success Agora Energiewende has had in diversifying its funding sources. The reorganisation also gives Agora Energiewende greater flexibility. For both foundations, the think tank will remain an important partner to implement their respective strategies. Over the coming five years, Stiftung Mercator will continue to fund Agora Energiewende’s activities in Germany with a total of around 5 million euros. The ECF expects to continue its annual project funding at approximately the same level as today.

Agora Verkehrswende and Clean Energy Wire with klimafakten.de have been transferred to two new non-profit organizations: Agora Verkehrswende has been transferred to the Agora Transport Transformation gGmbH, Clean Energy Wire with klimafakten.de to the 2050 Media Projekt gGmbH. Both organisations will in future be supported by Stiftung Mercator and the European Climate Foundation in their role as shareholders, and will also receive substantial financial assistance from the two foundations in the next few years. ​The Board of Stiftung Mercator decided in March to provide Clean Energy Wire with klimafakten.de with 5.5 million euros for another five years; the European Climate Foundation has also pledged to continue its funding. Agora Energiewende and Agora Verkehrswende will continue their successful cooperation as before.