Our world is at an inflection point. The burgeoning climate crisis intersects with so many other crises; the people most vulnerable to climate change are also facing racial injustice, migrant injustice, and economic injustice crises, just to name a few.
The people with the most to lose, the communities on the frontlines of the climate emergency, have found solutions that are just, creative and build power.
Communities have shown that we have the power to create a healthier society while preserving a healthy planet. Frontline climate justice organizations and the communities they represent should be influencing discourse, policy, and action.
In this urgent moment, funders must support the guidance of frontline organizations. Anything less than that just delays a just solution and a more equitable world for all of us.
Unmasking the False Climate Expertise of Billionaire Philanthropists
Too many funders these days allow billionaires to have undue influence on climate giving – the same way that they allow them to have an undue influence on our economy, our government, and our futures.
Billionaire philanthropists, especially in the tech sector, tend to reflect their industry’s “one-size-fits-all” and “move fast and break things” approach to problems. Their wealth and influence uplift tech-based approaches over community-based solutions. It doesn’t matter to such billionaires whether these tech “solutions” are backed by proven results on the ground or whether these “solutions” would be appropriate for the diversity of communities on the frontlines of the climate crisis. Billionaires are investing their money into unproven, technology-focused climate change mitigation projects, and with their sway over the philanthropic sector, funding for these kinds of projects is only increasing.
To have a tangible and sustainable impact on the worst effects of the climate crisis, funders must take radical action and shift the way money moves and is controlled.
What NCRP’s Climate Work Focuses On
NCRP supports a just transition, both for the climate and the philanthropic sector. We will amplify the funders leading the shift and modeling that effective support. Most importantly, NCRP will center the frontline organizations and communities leading and implementing grassroots solutions, while lifting up those community successes that stem from frontline solutions.
Unlike false solutions, which are often detached from frontline community participation, fixes from the frontlines focus both on small scale quality-of-life improvements and systemic/institutional change. Centering holistic solutions that come from those on the frontlines of the climate crisis and prioritizing a just transition, which helps impacted communities move from an extractive to a regenerative economy, where we invest in community and frontline power, redistribute resources equitably, and uphold deep democracy and self-determination.
The effect of multiple smaller scale frontline initiatives can create a tidal wave effect, leading us to the cleaner, healthier planet that all communities deserve.
Ready to Take Action? Start Here!
Here are some of the ways you can get involved with NCRPs Climate Justice work.
