Building Climate Justice at the Global Climate Action Summit

Starting September 8, thousands of businesses, officials, funders and activists from around the globe converged on San Francisco for an intensive week of activities focused on climate change. Hundreds of climate workshops, protests, films, exhibits, concerts and meetings took place across the city alongside the Global Climate Action Summit (GCAS), hosted by Governor Jerry Brown to push for strong implementation of the Paris Agreement. CJRF was there! Highlights from the week include:

CJRF convenes funders to discuss collaboration: Together with Mary Robinson Foundation-Climate Justice and Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, CJRF hosted two events on the margins of GCAS to explore climate justice as an emerging field of practice in philanthropy. Our September 11 dinner, “From Learning to Action: Philanthropy Building Momentum on Climate Justice,” gathered funders from 13 organizations to discuss funding for climate justice. The intersectionality of climate justice with other funding priorities, such as gender and land rights, emerged as a key theme. The partners also held “Pathways to Climate Justice: A Funders Roundtable” on September 12, which brought together funders, non-profits, academics, and others, representing 41 different organizations. Attendees discussed opportunities to collaborate in support of rights-based, community-driven activities to address climate change. Steps identified to support collaborative efforts include: clarifying the definition of “climate justice,” defining what success in climate justice looks like, mapping out assets and activities across the field, and building a set of shared stories or narratives.   

From Left to Right: Mary Robinson, Mary Robinson Foundation-Climate Justice; Heather McGray, CJRF; Anne Henshaw, Oak Foundation; and Constance Okollet, Osukuru United Women's Network

Activists’ climate justice summit highlights “people’s solutions”:  The Solidarity to Solutions  Week of Action was organized by the It Takes Roots alliance, comprised of Grassroots Global Justice Alliance, Climate Justice Alliance, Indigenous Environmental Network, and Right to the City. They led about 30,000 “Rise for Climate” marchers in San Francisco demanding climate justice on Sept. 8, and convened a week full of activities for activists, funders, and others. CJRF Director Heather McGray attended the “People’s Orientation” to the week led by It Takes Roots, the CHORUS Foundation, Surdna Foundation, Ceres Trust, EDGE Funders Alliance, Libra Foundation, and the Hewlett Foundation.

African and African-American women activists share climate stories and experiences: Along with the NAACP, CJRF hosted the “Pan-African and African Diaspora Gender Justice Dialogue on Climate Change” as part of the Building Resilience Today for a Sustainable Tomorrow event on September 11. The session explored the intersection of race, gender, and climate change in the US, Guyana, and Kenya, and highlighted opportunities for common ground and shared action on climate justice between African women and women of African descent. Panelists included Agnes Leina, Il’laramatak Community Concerns; Kari Fulton, Near Buzzard Point Resilience Action Center; Iris Crawford, NAACP; and Winnie Asiti, African Youth Initiative on Climate Change. Denise Fairchild, President of the Emerald Cities Collaborative, moderated the session.

From Left to Right: Denise Fairchild, Agnes Leina, Kari Fulton, Iris Crawford, Winnie Asiti, and Jacqui Patterson

CJRF grantee partners take the main stage: Various sessions in San Francisco highlighted the work of CJRF partners. Agnes Leina of Il’larmatak Community Concerns and Violet Shivutse from the Huairou Commission spoke at the Summit’s main resilience session, “Prepared for the Future We Create: Designing, Building, and Financing Resilient Communities.” They described the central role that women play in adaptation and resilience at the grassroots level. Agnes also served as a keynote speaker at the high-level roundtable entitled “Changing the Climate Conversation: Enabling Women’s Participation to Advance Climate Justice.” Co-convened by Mary Robinson Foundation, the State of California, and the UN Climate secretariat, the roundtable will feed into the “Talanoa Dialogue” climate talks under way within the United Nations. Meanwhile, Ole Kaunga Mali of IMPACT Kenya spoke at “Investing in Energy Access as a Critical Climate Solution” to urge clean energy investors to gather input and insight from community members before starting projects. The Center for International Environmental Law co-hosted several sessions on plastic pollution, litigation against big oil, and climate risks for investors. Clare Shakya of IIED spoke at a panel on “Building Energy System Climate Resilience,” and the Earth Journalism Network sponsored journalists from 21 countries to attend training seminars in San Francisco and cover GCAS-related events.  

Agnes Leina speaking at the Global Climate Action Summit. 14 September 2018

Indigenous Peoples Build Momentum for Global Clean Energy Coalition: CJRF co-sponsored an information session on the new Right Energy Partnership With Indigenous Peoples. The partnership, led by the Indigenous Peoples’ Major Group on the SDGs, aims to ensure that clean energy projects respect the rights of indigenous peoples, and that indigenous peoples benefit from the renewable energy revolution. 

The GCAS was promoted as a launchpad for deeper worldwide commitments to put the world on track to prevent dangerous climate change and realize the historic Paris Agreement. It aimed to push national governments, from the ground up, to ratchet up the ambition of their climate action at climate talks in December. The GCAS program, webcast, and a links to affiliated events, can be found here.

Building Social Justice in East Africa Through Climate Action

The Climate Justice Resilience Fund reached an important milestone in its development in June, with decisions to support seven new grants in Kenya and Tanzania.  In only its second year of operations, the Fund now has active grants in all three of its focal regions: the Bay of Bengal, East Africa, and the Arctic.

The newly approved East Africa grants foster climate justice through resilient land management, sustainable livelihood innovations, and policy advocacy.  Heather McGray, Director of the Fund, said, “These are grants that give voice and power to women, youth, and indigenous people in some of the places hit first by climate change impacts.” For example, with CJRF funding, Christian Aid Kenya will work with pastoralist women and young people in Northern Kenya to strengthen their participation in county climate planning, budgeting and governance. Another new grantee, IMPACT, will use CJRF funding to build a vibrant pastoralist movement to secure and promote community land rights and promote climate-resilient land management.

To launch our inaugural round of East Africa grants, CJRF hosted a workshop for new grantees on June 22 in Nairobi, Kenya. Workshop participants spent the day getting to know CJRF staff, the projects in the portfolio, and making connections and linkages between their respective work. Successful partnerships emerged as a strong area of interest among the workshop participants. Emily Wanja of new grantee Docubox highlighted the power of linkages: “For us as filmmakers, we…realize the film [Thank You For The Rain] is even more powerful if you work in partnerships with other organizations that are already in the field. What we can do is partner and bring our different strengths together in achieving the same goal, which is empowering communities to adapt and become climate smart.”

From Left to Right Bottom Row: Kisilu Musya (Thank You For The Rain), Agnes Leina (Il’laramatak Community Concerns), John Tingoi (IMPACT), Violet Shivutse (Shibuye Community Health Workers)

From Left to Right Top Row: Hilary Heath (CJRF), Nicholas Abuya (Christian Aid Kenya), Heather McGray (CJRF), Yussuf Bashir (Haki Na Sheria), Jane Meriwas (Samburu Women Trust), Gino Cocchiaro (Natural Justice), Elizabeth Silakan (IMPACT), Dr. John Kitui (Christian Aid Kenya), Emily Wanja (Docubox), Rita Kahurananga (Oak Foundation)

Beginning in August, additional details for each grant can be found on the Current Grants page of the CJRF website. The website also will feature interviews with workshop attendees in the upcoming months. Look for these features on our News page.

CJRF Co-hosts “Building Coalitions for Climate Justice: A Funders’ Roundtable”

Pictured from left to right: Hilary Heath, Heather McGray, Mary Robinson, Agnes Leina, Heather Grady, and Anne Henshaw

Together with Mary Robinson Foundation Climate Justice, Oak Foundation, and Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, the CJRF hosted a roundtable to bring together funders to explore climate justice as an emerging field of practice in philanthropy. The group met on September 20 on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly meetings in New York, hosted by Wellspring Advisors at their Manhattan office. Funders from over 20 different organizations attended the roundtable, representing a range of different interests and sectors, from water to energy, gender, indigenous rights, and more.

Heather McGray, Director of the CJRF, shared opening remarks that framed the issue of climate justice and set out objectives for the meeting. She also briefly shared the work the CJRF is doing to explore climate justice through grantmaking, and to strengthen its adaptation and resilience dimensions. Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland and former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, provided keynote remarks. She described her experience as a global advocate for climate justice and introduced the Principles of Climate Justice developed by her foundation and their partners.

As inspiration for the roundtable participants, three grassroots activists spoke about their experiences working “on the front lines” of climate change. Selina Neirok Leem, a college student from the Marshall Islands, described her activism as a young leader, and shared a poem that clearly expressed the frustration and sense of loss – but also determination to take action– that she and many islanders feel as they grapple with sea level rise. Austin Ahmasuk, the Marine Advocate for Kawerak, Alaska, shared his experience with the rapidly warming climate in Alaska, including the profound changes that warming presents for indigenous communities such as his own.  Lastly, Agnes Leina, from Illaramatak Community Concerns in Kenya, voiced the power of local grassroots activism and the importance of environmental justice and land rights for pastoralist communities. In listening to the voices of those on the frontlines, funders were able to gain a better understanding of the value of climate justice and the importance of a human-centered approach to climate change adaptation.

Funders assembled at the roundtable shared the work they were already doing which intersects – or could potentially intersect -- with climate justice. Human rights were a theme that cut across much of the conversation. Specific issues discussed included: indigenous rights, climate displacement and relocation, land and natural resources, capacity building for front-line NGOs, the role of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and promoting women’s leadership.

The CJRF roundtable was a unique opportunity to bring together the funding community and those on the frontlines of climate change. It created a starting point from which CJRF seeks to build an on-going dialogue among funders.  We are now working with our partners to identify specific topics for additional discussion, and plan to hold at least two additional funder events in the coming year. A report from the event is available for download here.

Climate Justice Resilience Fund at CBA11

CJRF Director Heather McGray attended the 11th International Conference on Community-Based Adaptation (CBA11) in Kampala, Uganda. This year's conference highlighted the benefits and challenges of using natural resources and ecosystems as part of adaptation work. CBA11 featured plenary and parallel interactive sessions, hands-on learning opportunities, group discussions, high-level speaker panels, video competitions, poster presentations and more. CJRF is pleased to have acted as a sponsor of CBA11

In keeping with CJRF’s focus on youth, our grant helped CBA11’s organizing partners facilitate links between CBA11 and the CBA11 Youth Conference at Makerere University. CJRF Director Heather McGray led a session entitled: “Youth, Climate, and Livelihoods: Bringing Innovation to CBA Youth Engagement, and Youth-driven Innovation to CBA Practice.” The session included presentations by Prof. Clara Decent Atuhaire, Mbarara University of Science and Technology; Dr. Tehut Tesfaye, CEO, Ethiopia Climate Innovation Center; Ms. Daphne Stella Nansambu, International Water Management Institute; and Mr. Edwin Muhumuza, Youth Go Green Uganda.

The CJRF session examined how to involve youth as active agents of change in community-based adaptation, through the following questions:

1. How can CBA programs engage youth in ways that help to realize their aspirations?

2. How can youth help to bring innovation and entrepreneurial spirit into the climate-sensitive sectors central to CBA and EBA?

3. What market opportunities are on the horizon for youth interested in adaptation?

4. How can capacity building practices evolve to support youth to integrate climate resilience into their livelihoods?

The session sought to answer these questions by making use of an innovative, walk-and-talk format, through which audience members were encouraged to move around, meet new people, and reflect on the contributions of each of the panelists.

A programme (PDF) can be downloaded showing details of each session and the speakers. You can find complete coverage of CBA11 here.