Climate Justice
As we begin to understand the extent of negative health and environmental impacts from a warming planet, one thing is certain:
Climate change, as we know it, disproportionately impacts communities of color. In our minds, there is no path towards resilience without awareness of what got us here, no solutions without inclusivity, and no climate action without racial justice.
Solving our climate crisis goes hand in hand with uplifting, listening to, and partnering with our nation’s racial minorities and marginalized communities. Despite constituting less than 5% of the global population, Indigenous people have always been among the first to face the direct consequences of climate change, due to their close relationship with the environment and its resources. Climate change exacerbates the difficulties already faced by Indigenous communities including political and economic marginalization, loss of land and resources, human rights violations, discrimination and unemployment.
Historical segregation in the United States has forced Black communities to settle in less desirable, low-lying and flood-prone areas. Black communities constitute the majority of those living adjacent to power plants, petrochemical plants factories and other sources of pollution, and more than 50% of all Black people in the United States live in the South, an area that is and will continue to see stronger hurricanes and increased flooding from climate change.
Black, Brown, and Indigenous people and voices must be a part of the solution to climate change. Efficacy and inclusivity are intrinsically interwoven when it comes to saving our planet, and grassroots organizations that operate on-the-ground and both are led by and collaborate with vulnerable communities will inevitably lead the way.
By the Numbers
40%
Black people are 40 percent more likely to live in places where extreme temperatures driven by climate change will result in higher mortality rates
48%
Indigenous natives are 48 percent more likely to live in areas that will be inundated by flooding from temperature and sea-level rise
4%
Of the $1.6B of global giving that goes towards climate change, less than 4% goes towards justice and equity-informed efforts
Our Climate Justice portfolio provides commitments to grassroots organizations that are led by and support women, BIPOC communities, and Indigenous people and that create solutions for climate stability across North America and the Arctic. Our work empowers and uplifts marginalized and vulnerable communities through inclusive solutions for our climate crisis.
Our Portfolio
Alaska Conservation Foundation: Protects Alaska’s natural environment and the diverse cultures and ways of life it sustains, www.alaskaconservation.org
Alaska Venture Fund: Builds a more sustainable future for Alaska and beyond through philanthropic partnership and social-change incubation, www.alaskaventure.org
Alliance for Tribal Clean Energy: Partners with indigenous communities to pursue renewable energy sovereignty, www.tribalcleanenergy.org
All We Can Save Project: Nurtures a welcoming, connected, and leaderful feminist climate community and renaissance, www.allwecansave.earth
American Littoral Society: Promotes the study and conservation of marine life and habitat, protects the coast from harm, and empower others, www.littoralsociety.org
Azul: Works to conserve marine resources and bring Latinx perspectives and participation to oceans, www.azul.org
Billion Oyster Project: Restores oyster reefs to New York Harbor in collaboration with New York City communities, www.billionoysterproject.org
City Parks Foundation: Supporting parks across all five boroughs of NYC in close partnership with the Parks Department www.cityparksfoundation.org
Clean Ocean Action: Protects waterways using science, law, research, education, and citizen action, www.cleanoceanaction.org
Climate Justice Alliance: Builds frontline, community-based solutions focused on community resilience, economic equity, and climate stability, www.climatejusticealliance.org
Colorado Plateau Foundation: Gives grants that enhance the work of Native-led organizations on-the-ground, coloradoplateaufoundation.org
Coral Reef Alliance: Reduces direct threats to reefs and promotes scalable and effective solutions for their protection, www.coral.org
Empowering Youth Towards Excellence: Promoting college awareness and public space activation in Brownsville, Brooklyn www.eyte.org
Evergreen Climate Innovations: Invests philanthropic capital to create a sustaining resource for entrepreneurs commercializing climate technologies, evergreeninno.org
Greenwave: Provides training, tools, and support to a baseline of 10,000 regenerative ocean farmers, www.greenwave.org
Honor the Earth: Raises awareness and financial support for Indigenous environmental justice, www.honorearth.org
Inuit Circumpolar Council: Represents all Inuit from Alaska, Canada, Greenland, and Chukotka on matters of international importance, www.inuitcircumpolar.com
Kua’aina Ulu ‘Auamo: Supports innovative, community-based initiatives for protecting, restoring, and caring for Hawai’i, www.kuahawaii.org
Lonely Whale: Works with partners to encourage behavior change away from single-use plastic and toward a healthy, thriving ocean, www.lonelywhale.org
Na’ah Illahee Fund: Supports ongoing regeneration of Indigenous communities through climate and gender justice, www.naahillahee.org
Native Conservancy: Empowers Alaska Native peoples to permanently protect and preserve endangered habitats on their ancestral land, www.nativeconservancy.org
NYC Green Fund: Pooled fund fostering an equitable and resilient network of parks and open spaces in NYC www.cityparksfoundation.org/nycgreenfund
Pacific Environment: Builds people power to fight climate change, defend the oceans, protect wildlife, and promote open and inclusive societies, www.pacificenvironment.org
Alliance for Paseo Park: Transforming a street in Jackson Heights, Queens, into a permanent linear park www.paseopark.org
Project Seagrass: Ensures that seagrass meadows are protected globally, for the biodiversity and people that depend on them, www.projectseagrass.org
Sunrise Movement: Supports a youth movement to stop climate change and create millions of good jobs in the process, www.sunrisemovement.org
Surfrider Foundation: Protects the enjoyment of the world’s oceans, waves, and beaches, for all people, www.surfrider.org
Sustainable Ocean Alliance: Brings together global community of youth, entrepreneurs, and experts, all collaborating to solve the challenges facing our ocean, www.soalliance.org
Urban Ocean Lab: Cultivates rigorous, creative, equitable, and practical climate and ocean policy, for the future of coastal cities, www.urbanoceanlab.org
Women’s Earth Alliance: Catalyzes women-led, grassroots solutions to protect our environment through accelerators and technical training, womensearthalliance.org