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The Climate Reality Project Awards Nearly $200,000 to 10 Grassroots Environmental Justice Organizations

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Ten BIPOC-led organizations will receive up to $20,000 in funding for local projects in communities disproportionately impacted by the climate crisis and environmental injustice

(Washington DC—June 2, 2021) – The Climate Reality Project is awarding individual grants of up to $20,000 to 10 organizations leading the fight for environmental and climate justice, as part of the organization’s Climate Justice For All Grants.

In response to a groundswell of grassroots activism on environmental and racial justice issues, Climate Reality established the Climate Justice For All Grants to help empower the vital work of BIPOC communities, frontline and historically marginalized groups, and youth activists working to call attention to the links between racial and climate justice. The 10 grant recipients announced today mark the second class of grantees since the program’s creation last year.   

“Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities have been advocating for solutions to fossil fuel pollution and the climate crisis for decades, but all too often their work has been overlooked and underfunded,” said former Vice President Al Gore, founder and chairman of The Climate Reality Project. “As we continue the fight against the climate crisis, and environmental, institutional, and systemic racism, we should lift up and amplify the voices of leaders in these communities and support the important work they are doing on-the-ground in their communities. The 10 recipients of the Climate Justice for All Grants are incredible examples of the power of grassroots activism, and we are proud to support their vital work to ensure equity for all communities fighting the climate crisis.”

More than 150 grant applicants submitted proposals for the Climate Justice For All Grants, detailing proposed projects and initiatives seeking to benefit local communities in the United States. Applicant submissions demonstrated that their project aims to pursue one or more of the following goals:

  • Engage and empower communities to fight for climate justice.
  • Further community resilience to climate change or environmental injustices.
  • Demonstrate the relationship between health, climate, and race.
  • Increase awareness on the impacts of climate change.
  • Develop local solutions to combat the climate crisis.
  • Work toward achieving a just transition to a green economy.

The Climate Justice For All Grants will support the 10 organizations listed below and help fund project-based climate initiatives between April and October of this year. The recipients are:

  • Black Millennials 4 Flint will conduct a summer intensive training focused on federal policy as it relates to health equity and environmental justice in Flint, Michigan. Through the Environmental Justice Griot Project, trainees will learn how to use social media to garner public support and will develop networking and coalition building-skills to engage with like-minded organizations and elected officials.
  • Dream in Green will address the lack of environmental education in South Florida by developing age-specific, hands-on environmental literacy lessons and teacher trainings to promote environmental stewardship in neighborhoods disproportionately affected by climate change. 
  • Louisiana League of Conscious Voters will help residents of East New Orleans better understand toxicity and pollution in their local environment and provide knowledge and tools to help advocate for better, safer conditions. The project will also help former inmates by connecting them with other members of the community through urban agriculture efforts.
  • One Love Global will engage Black and Brown youth, ages 12-25, through its Freedom Summer Youth Organizing School in Michigan. Youth will learn about systemic inequities, the history of Black-led organizing, civic engagement, and community organizing as they develop skills, confidence, and relationships to lead transformative change at the intersections of environmental, educational, and economic justice.
  • Operation Better Block will implement the Junior Green Corps in Homewood, Pennsylvania. The Junior Green Corps will engage youth ages 14 to 18 in the effort to prevent blight and deterioration, while cultivating a sense of responsibility and civic pride for their neighborhood. Attendees will learn about environmental justice, participate in local clean-ups, and support the growth of urban agriculture.
  • Río Grande International Study Center (RGISC) will work to cultivate a new generation of youth climate justice organizers in South Texas on the US-Mexico border. The project will include virtual trainings and offer participants on-the-ground organizing experience. Participants will help craft strategy, take action, and wrap-up the project at the end of the summer.
  • Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference will work with partner churches in Illinois to raise awareness among Black people of faith and other frontline community residents about the importance of advocating for the development of a new Clean Energy Jobs Act to address racism.
  • The Gullah Geechee Chamber Foundation will enhance climate change awareness and environmental literacy amongst BIPOC and frontline communities in coastal South Carolina. By organizing an Environmental and Energy Conference, Gullah Geechee African American, rural, and low-income residents will be empowered to advocate for sustainable solutions to the effects of climate change in their communities.
  • The Junction Coalition of Toledo will tackle climate change by providing appropriate and secure insulated housing for the unhoused living in Junction, Ohio – a community increasingly affected by intense storms. To achieve this goal, a local youth cohort will be trained to identify homes that can be rehabilitated and weatherproofed. Participants will also learn about the impacts of severe climate events to housing and will develop skills to reach out to communities most impacted.
  • Uplift will engage frontline BIPOC youth from Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico in a virtual fellowship to produce an interconnected, resourced, and empowered generation of climate activists in the greater Southwest. The trainings will include topics related to climate justice, community organizing, digital activism, and regional issues throughout a 10-week period.

For more information about the Climate Justice for All grants and this year’s recipients, please visit: https://www.climaterealityproject.org/climatejusticegrants.  

ABOUT THE CLIMATE REALITY PROJECT

Founded by Nobel Laureate and former US Vice President Al Gore, The Climate Reality Project is working to catalyze a global solution to the climate crisis by making urgent action a necessity across every level of society. With a global movement more than 5 million strong and a grassroots network of trained Climate Reality Leader activists, we are spreading the truth about the climate crisis and building popular support for clean energy solutions. For more information, visit climaterealityproject.org or follow us on Twitter at @ClimateReality.