Peggy Shepard Calls for Equitable Funding to Address Climate Change

Peggy Shepard wrote an Op-Ed in the Chronicle of Philanthropy calling on philanthropists to invest in building a more diverse, equitable, and powerful movement to address the climate crisis. She made the case for the importance of funding environmental justice organizations, which are working with local communities to address the impacts of climate change and advocating for more just and equitable solutions to the crisis. Read the Article
 
A Little Background
Last February, Amazon Founder & CEO Jeff Bezos launched the $10 billion Earth Fund to address the climate crisis. And late last year, the Fund named its initial list of recipients, most of which were well-resourced, mainstream environmental groups. Notably absent from the list were environmental justice organizations.
 
This wasn’t entirely a surprise, as we know that only 1 percent of the $2.5 billion given annually by philanthropies to environmental organizations trickles down to community-based groups like WE ACT for Environmental Justice. However, we also know that when it comes to climate change, environmental justice communities are hit first and worst. And groups like WE ACT are better suited to assess and address their needs, as we have been doing for more than three decades now.
 
That is why we called attention to this issue in the Chronicle of Philanthropy. To achieve climate justice, we will need to fight for a more equitable system of funding for the environmental movement. And if you would like to help out, we encourage you to donate what you can to support our work. Donate Here