Places
CJRF funds community-led solutions for climate resilience in the Arctic, Bay of Bengal, and East Africa. We support creative organizations in these regions to drive systems-level change in communities, nations, and around the world. We also have a modest Global portfolio of grants that focus on shifting narratives, policies, and funding pools at the global level.
east africa
As the Earth warms, much of East Africa is experiencing increasingly unpredictable rainfall. This means: unreliable rainy seasons, an unusual frequency of severe droughts, and significant flooding from unexpected downpours. As a result, diverse communities confront the intersecting challenges of population growth, irregular rainfall, and a rapidly shifting development agenda.
In this context, CJRF strategically supports communities to achieve three interlinked objectives:
Decision-making that responds to local priorities
Climate-resilient land management
Jobs and livelihoods that fit the future
Download this pdf for more information on our funding strategy in East Africa, or check out our East Africa Grants to learn how the organizations we fund are addressing these challenges.
The bay of Bengal
With long, low-lying coastal areas, dense populations, and high poverty levels, the Bay of Bengal is one of the world’s most climate-vulnerable regions. The people in this region face cyclones, storm surge, flooding, heat waves, erratic rainfall, and sea level rise—all projected to become more frequent and intense.
In this context, CJRF supports four adaptation objectives:
Sustaining rural development
Building equitable resilience systems
Ensuring migration works for families
Successfully relocating those for whom climate displacement is permanent
Download this pdf for more information on our funding strategy in the Bay of Bengal, or check out our Bay of Bengal Grants to learn how the organizations we fund are addressing these challenges.
The Arctic
Climate change is altering the Arctic faster than any other region, and people living there must confront profound transformations in their environment. For example, some scientists predict we could see ice-free summers in the Arctic Ocean as early as 2035, and large areas of open tundra will likely become forest.
Indigenous Peoples in Alaska and northern Canada face identity, cultural, and livelihood disruptions since their ways of life and traditions rely heavily on Arctic land and waters. But these disruptions also create opportunities to address poverty, addiction, a suicide epidemic, and other entrenched challenges that stem from the region’s traumatic colonial history. CJRF supports Arctic Indigenous peoples to drive their own positive societal transformations as the environment around them shifts.
CJRF’s grantmaking supports Arctic Indigenous Peoples in the following ways:
We help communities develop flexibility, transparency, interconnectedness, and other strengths for navigating the unpredictable outcomes of the climate crisis. For example, we support Indigenous climate advocacy coalitions and structures to support exchange and peer learning among adapting communities. This work emphasizes communications, new narratives, and strong youth leadership.
Indigenous peoples in the Arctic have thrived for millennia in a harsh and dynamic climate, drawing on a unique body of deep knowledge handed down over generations. CJRF supports people and organizations that maintain, update, and augment Indigenous knowledge and adapt and sustain traditional livelihoods, resource stewardship, and wild food access.
We pay particular attention to the challenge of climate-forced displacement in the Arctic, where ice loss and erosion of tundra have led some coastal villages to relocate. We support rights-based, community led approaches to relocation that safeguard life, livelihoods, community integrity, and self-determination.
Check out our Arctic Grants to learn how the organizations we fund are addressing these challenges.