The Climate Justice – Just Transition Donor Collaborative explores how emerging CJ and JT efforts can increase socially just climate action. Through this exploration we will gain new insights from existing work, identify joint learning opportunities and co-create grantmaking strategies. 

The Collaborative consists of Porticus, Climate Works Foundation,  Ikea Foundation, Climate Justice Resilience Fund and  Oak Foundation (supported by the Open Society Foundation as a strategic partner). Impatience Earth acts as an organizational hub for the Collaborative. These organizations are already supporting social justice and climate action worldwide. Yet, in light of the global pandemic, it is clear that our efforts and funding of frontline grantee partners need to be scaled up and improved. We must all work together through collaborative grantmaking to support approaches that reimagine and re-shape the world before communities fall even deeper into cycles of poverty and deprivation.

Our aim is to grow philanthropic investment in climate justice and just transition and do so in ways that permanently shift power and resources to those on the front lines.

The Collaborative’s Current Work To Date:

Please see below details of past webinars including one on Loss & Damage, Agroecology, Indigenous Peoples & Energy Access.

Ready to Join?

If you’re curious or ready to support our efforts as a philanthropic funder or frontline expert, contact the Collaborative’s Coordinator Farhana Yamin, cjjtcompendium@gmail.com and Heather MacGray, Director, Climate Justice Resilience Fund: cjrfund@gmail.com

Please find below the educational events the collaborative has convened:

01) Upcoming Webinar: Moving the Money: What are the current challenges with directing and transferring funds to where it’s most
needed and what can we do about it? (26 April 2023)

02) The high-level event at COP27: Beyond Philanthropy As Usual: How Might We Accelerate Climate Action Rooted In Justice? (16 November 2022)

03) The high-level event at COP27: Stepping Up Support for A Just Transition: Updates and Perspectives from Philanthropy, Pioneers and Frontline Communities. (14 November 2022)

04) The high-level event at COP27: Youth & Philanthropy World Café: It’s Time to Fund Youth Movements (09 November 2022)

05) Webinar: Climate Justice Re-Granters and Movement Building (19 September 2022)

06) The high-level convening at Bonn: How might future COPs shift power and resources for climate justice and just transition in the Global South? What steps and strategies can we take to make big wins/gains in Sharm el-Sheikh? (07 June 2022)

07) The high-level convening at COP26: Funding the Justice Reset: From Glasgow to COP27 (03 November 2021)

08) Webinar: Racial Justice and the Decolonisation of Philanthropy (01 July 2022)

09) Webinar: Centering Justice in Global Climate Finance Governance on the Road to COP27 (25 May 2022)

10) Webinar: How can Agroecology Deliver Climate Justice in Africa? A Farmer’s Perspective (26 November 2021)

11) Webinar: Reimagining and Rebuilding the World: Indigenous Peoples and Energy Access (09 September 2021)

12) Webinar: Climate Justice and Climate Finance (22 July 2021)

Webinar: Moving the Money

What are the current challenges with directing and transferring funds to where it’s most needed and what can we do about it?
26 April 2023

Join this webinar to learn about some of the real and perceived obstacles to getting timely funding to the Global South, what this means for youth activists and frontline organisations, and how we can overcome these barriers by partnering with trusted intermediaries.

Hosted in partnership with Impatience Earth, Hero Labs, Youth Climate Justice Fund, Adeso, KujaLink and Green Africa Youth Organisation (GAYO).

Register here.

Beyond Philanthropy As Usual: How Might We Accelerate Climate Action Rooted In Justice?

COP27 High-Level Event in Sharm El-Sheikh
16 November 2022.

Our CJ-JT fellows brought different perspectives across their work as climate activists in the Global South on how to shift philanthropy to fund and scale climate solutions rooted in justice. This dynamic dialogue, moderated by Margaret Impraim, Youth Climate Council Ghana, with Maria Escalante Alejandra, FRIDA | The Young Feminist Fund, Maria Reyes, Fridays for Future -MAPA, Andréia Coutinho-Louback, Projeto Colabo, and Srijanjini Raman, Fridays for Future, India, is a must-watch for all working in philanthropy and those exploring how to centre climate justice and just transition in their work.

See our social posts here: Twitter

Watch here at 1:47:55

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNk6gnOEPpg

Stepping Up Support for A Just Transition: Updates and Perspectives from Philanthropy, Pioneers and Frontline Communities.

COP27 High-Level Event in Sharm El-Sheikh
14 November 2022.

Our high-level event explored what is needed to support Just Transition in the Global South. We heard diverse perspectives from workers, youth, communities, researchers and practitioners, as well as the cultural sector, on what is needed to support intersectional, Paris-aligned initiatives to create safer, climate-just societies and how philanthropy can and should be responding.

See our social posts here: Twitter

Watch here at 1:39:34

Youth & Philanthropy World Café: It’s Time to Fund Youth Movements

COP27 High-Level Event in Sharm El-Sheikh
09 November 2022.

How might future COPs shift power and resources for climate justice and just transition in the Global South? What steps and strategies can we take to make big wins/gains in Sharm el-Sheikh? 

UNFCCC SB56 High-Level Hybrid Convening in Bonn
07 June 2022

Climate Action Network-International (CAN-I) and the Climate Justice-Just Transition (CJ-JT) Donor Collaborative co-hosted a hybrid high-level dinner to launch the CJ-JT Compendium and explore how we might centre climate justice and just transition at all future COPs. 

The evening was opened by Goldman Environmental Prize Winner Nemonte Nenquimo, Indigenous activist and member of the Waorani Nation from the Amazonian Region of Ecuador. Co-founder of the Indigenous-led nonprofit organisation Ceibo Alliance and named in the Time 100 list in 2020. Introduced by Isabella Noero from the CJ-JT Donor Collaborative.

The event overview was introduced by Tasneem Essop, Executive Director, CAN-I and Farhana Yamin, CJ-JT Donor Collaborative followed by the CJ-JT Mapping/landscape launch of the CJ-JT Compendium. Ottilie Bälz, Robert Bosch Stiftung and Leia Booth, CJ-JT Donor Collaborative, explained why shared mapping work is important and invited the field to improve on the Compendium.

Degan Ali, Executive Director of Adeso and Teresa Crawford from her team, introduced Adeso, an African humanitarian and development organisation changing the way people think about and deliver aid and the Kujalink Platform, a vital piece of infrastructure connecting civil society organisations in the Global South to funders around the world.

Panel 1: Listening to the field, special emphasis on the importance and challenges of access to funding

• Rachel Rose, Corporate Accountability (moderator)
• Maria Alejandra Escalante, FRIDA Young Feminist Fund (by Zoom)
• Prof. Saleemul Huq, International Centre for Climate Change and Development
• Joshua Amponsem, Green Africa Youth Organisation
• Mohamed Adow, Powershift Africa
• Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim, Coordinator of the Peul Indigenous Women and Peoples Association of Chad

Panel 2: special emphasis on the power of movements and coalitions

• Tasneem Essop (moderator)
• Asad Rehman, War on Want
• Alex Rafalowicz, Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative
• Dr Christopher Bartlett, Pacific Islands Climate Action Network (PICAN)

Panel 3: Reflections from philanthropy

• Jason Anderson, ClimateWorks Foundation
• Yamide Dagnet, Open Society Foundations

The presentations, panels and reflections were followed by discussion at the tables, Zoom breakouts and informal networking.

Funding the Justice Reset from Glasgow to COP27
COP26 High-Level Hybrid Convening in Glasgow
03 November 2021

A high-level event bringing together vulnerable countries, climate justice and just transition donors, practitioners and activists seeking to discuss how philanthropy can better support a shift in power and resources taking into account the achievements and challenges ahead. The event also kick-started a conversation between frontline communities seeking to put adaptation, loss & damage – the negative climate impacts facing countries, communities and ecosystems –  to be a more central plank of philanthropic strategy on the agenda at COP26.

There were three sessions. Please find below the full video of the event and for particular sessions see the timestamp below.

Video Timestamp

Introductions (0:12:15)

Heather McGray, Climate Justice Resilience Fund & Farhana Yamin, Coordinator, Climate Justice & Just Transition Donor Collaborative, 

Welcome (0:31:47)

Masego Madzwamusa & Anne Henshaw, Oak Foundation 

High Level Panel Global Climate Justice & Just Transition History, Achievements & Challenges Ahead (0:37:26)

Indigenous Peoples, women, small islands and vulnerable countries have led the way on climate justice and just transition for decades. Irreparable harm, called loss & damage in the Paris Agreement, is now occurring leading most affected people and vulnerables countries to call for urgent funding for those on the front lines. This panel brings together key international players that are working inside and outside the negotiations to advance the fairness action agenda. 

Moderator: Farhana Yamin, CJ-JT Donor Collaborative

• Mairi McAllan , Scottish Minister for Environment, Biodiversity and Land [0:41:46]
• HE Abul Azad, Commissioner, Commission on BiodiverCities & Special Envoy, CVF Presidency of Bangladesh [0:48:44]
• HE, Mr Adao Soares Barbosa, Special Envoy, Timor-Leste, LDC Lead negotiator on loss & damage [0:58:09]
• Tasneem Essop, Director, Climate Action Network International [1:06:29]
• Asad Rehman, COP26 Coalition, Global Director, War on Want [1:11.40]
• Kate Hampton, Children’s Investment Fund Foundation [1:18:37]
  

Learning Session 1: What Donors Need to Know: Experiences and Learnings from the Frontlines (1:36:30)

This session will bring together veterans and new voices working on an intersectional approach to climate justice and just transition. 

Moderator: Aditi Shah, Impatience Earth 

• Vanessa Nakate, Climate Activist, Founder, Youth for Future Africa & Rise Up Movement [1: 37:04]
• Calfin Lafkenche, Representative of MINGA delegation to COP [1:44: 08]
• Saleemul Huq, Director, ICCCAD, Founder of Community Based Adaptation [1:54:50]
• Stella Henry, Eastern & Southern African Small Scale Farmers Forum (by video) [2:00:17]
• Godavari Dange, Huairou Commission [2: 03: 43}

Artistic Performance (2: 07:41)

Learning Session 2: New Donors, New Money and New Modalities: Big & wholescale or small-scale & bespoke granting? What have we learnt & how is the CJ-JT funding landscape shifting? (2: 12: 22)

This panel will bring together funders active in the CJ-JT field prioritizing those making new commitments & announcements as well as those bringing new reports/toolkits to help CJ-JT work. 

Moderator: Laura Garcia, President and CEO of Global Greengrants Fund 

• Kevin Currey, Ford Foundation & Global Initiative Lead ǀ Climate and Land Use Alliance (CLUA), & IPLC pledge [2:18:23]
• Maria Francisca Cortes Solari, Chilean Founder of Indigenous Leaders, MERI Foundation [2:23:53]
• Jessica Sweidan, Synchronicity Earth [2:31:40]
• Uzma Sulaiman, Associate Director, Community Jameel [2:35:20]
• Liz McKeon, IKEA Foundation [2:40:43]
• Athena Ronquillo Ballesteros, Climate Leadership Initiative [2.44.39]
• Carole Excell, Bezos Earth Fund 

Reflections & next steps (3:01:52)

Moderator: Jouja Maamri, Impatience Earth 

• Ottilie Bälz, Senior Vice President, Robert Bosch Stiftung GmbH & CJRF Review Board Member [3:02:15]
  
• Heather McGray, Climate Justice Resilience Fund [3:05:06]
• Jason Anderson, Climate Works [3: 06: 35]
• Farhana Yamin, Project Coordinator, Climate Justice & Just Transition Donor Collaborative [3:11:26]

Youth Movement Building and Climate Justice Re-granters

19 September 2022

This youth-led event explores how philanthropy might be re-designed and the role of re-granters, to shift the systemic barriers faced by climate justice and social movements led by youth and in the Global South. 

Background

As part of NY Climate Week, join the Climate Justice-Just Transition Donor Collaborative for a hybrid event exploring how we might redesign philanthropy, and the role of re-granters, to shift the systemic barriers faced by climate justice and social movements led by youth and in the Global South. Moderated by Green Africa Youth Organization and Climate Justice Resilience Fund, and in partnership with members of the United Nations Secretary General’s Youth Advisory Group on Climate Change, we are convening youth movement leaders with existing and emerging re-granters who are demonstrating the impact of intersectional, experimental and trust-based funding. This event will take the form of a hybrid zoom webinar, with most participants joining online and speakers and a small group of participants attending in person in New York City.

SPEAKERS: 

Racial Justice and the Decolonisation of Philanthropy

01 July 2022

This webinar provided an opportunity for funders and climate justice champions to listen to and ask questions to Global Majority experts in the racial justice field to clarify some of the best practices needed to make racial injustice a thing of the past.

https://youtu.be/ETRxBGqKd10

Background

The public and private funds flowing from high income countries to the Global South for climate mitigation and adaptation is insufficient and largely inaccessible to communities on the frontlines of climate impacts whose rights are already under threat. By 2050, up to 250 million people (nearly four times the population of France) are projected to be displaced by rising sea levels, floods, famine, drought, hurricanes, desertification and devastated ecosystems. Indigenous Peoples, people of colour, women and children in the Global South are disproportionately at higher risk and are already having to adapt, often with the future of their communities and ways of life at stake. As the climate changes, people and societies will need to respond more often to extreme and stressful weather events, and will need to strengthen their ability to contend with frequent disruptions.

While COP26 agreed to “provide more support to developing countries” and called for adaptation finance to be doubled, the quantity and quality of current climate finance flows are failing to reach those most in need. Social movements and grassroot activists are calling on funders across the globe to step up to protect the lives and rights of those most vulnerable. Climate currently represents just a fraction of philanthropic giving; more donors are needed to fund grassroots solutions, research, invest in new technologies, support policy, help communities transition sustainably, protect landscapes and more. Urgent, collective action is required to slash emissions and enhance the resilience of communities.

Our panellists discussed what needs to shift in philanthropy to apply a racial justice lens to the grant making endeavours of trusts and foundations, investment strategies and the internal operations and governance of charitable funding organisations. Without shifting power and resources to communities of colour and changemakers of colour, particularly in the Global South, we will not be able to achieve wholesale transformational change.

Following this link you will find further materials shared by our audience and bios and references provided by our four webinar speakers: Stephanie Brobbey, Jenny Oppenheimer, Ali Torabi, Marai Larasi. The webinar was moderated by Derek Bardowell, Writer, CEO of Ten Years’ Time and a Knowledge Equity Fellow at the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship, Saïd Business School, University of Oxford.

Centring Justice in Global Climate Finance Governance on the Road to COP27

25 May 2022

Explore how the road to Sharm el-Sheikh can be an opportunity to improve the governance of international climate finance. Participants will leave the webinar with a better understanding of how international climate finance works in practice, including the challenges relating to the quality and quantity of current climate finance flows; and why the road to COP27 is a key to unlocking equitable and intersectional climate finance, and represents a moment for philanthropy to influence finance as the lever of change.

Background

Climate finance — the public and private funds flowing from high income countries to the Global South for climate mitigation and adaptation — is insufficient and largely inaccessible to communities on the frontlines of climate impacts whose rights are already under threat. By 2050, up to 250 million people (nearly four times the population of France) are projected to be displaced by rising sea levels, floods, famine, drought, hurricanes, desertification and devastated ecosystems. Indigenous Peoples, people of colour, women and children in the Global South are disproportionately at higher risk and are already having to adapt, often with the future of their communities and ways of life at stake. As the climate changes, people and societies will need to respond more often to extreme and stressful weather events, and will need to strengthen their ability to contend with frequent disruptions.

While COP26 agreed to “provide more support to developing countries” and called for adaptation finance to be doubled, the quantity and quality of current climate finance flows are failing to reach those most in need. Social movements and grassroot activists are calling on funders across the globe to step up to protect the lives and rights of those most vulnerable. Climate currently represents just a fraction of philanthropic giving; more donors are needed to fund grassroots solutions, research, invest in new technologies, support policy, help communities transition sustainably, protect landscapes and more. Urgent, collective action is required to slash emissions and enhance the resilience of communities.

In this fourth session of the Climate Justice and Just Transition Donors Collaborative Webinar Series, we invited our audience to explore how COP27 can accelerate the delivery of climate finance to frontline communities, as well as how the global community can build momentum to land a new quantifiable collective goal for climate finance beyond the $100 billion.

Our panelists reflected on the quantity and quality of climate finance and the failures of the systems of delivery and corruption which do not adequately provide or prevent enough resources and funds going to local communities and locally led solutions. We heard reasons why communities most effected by climate change and development challenges need to have decision-making power through the finance that is being channeled and why the solutions that are brought to the table must be connected with the expertise that already exists, such as local and traditional knowledge, if we are to see powerful and durable solutions last.

Finally we heard our speakers address the opportunities that lie ahead on the road to COP27 discussing how we can create positive narratives and build better stories to mobilise finance and on the importance needed to ensure sustained and dedicated upfront investments at the local level.

Following this link you will find further materials shared by our audience and bios and references provided by our four webinar speakers: Niranjali Amerasinghe, Saleemul Huq, Dana Schran, Joshua Amponsem and Angelique Pouponneau. The webinar was moderated by Huge Hooijer, a political scientist and the the Fair Rural Transitions programme lead at Porticus.

How can Agroecology Deliver Climate Justice in Africa? A Farmer’s Perspective
26 November 2021

A virtual roundtable bringing together African smallholder farmers from across the continent and international funders as well as other civil society organisations to learn about mutual perspectives and better understand key debates and practical needs of farmers towards addressing climate justice. 

Background

While 23 percent and more of Sub-Saharan Africa’s GDP comes from agriculture, most African countries are still dependent on food imports (UN). Many African governments see agriculture as a growth sector, yet they often focus on attracting (foreign direct) investments for large-scale commercial farming enterprises. That increases the risk of land grabbing and diverts resources from the backbone of African agriculture: Small-scale farmers, who make up 60% of the African population and work 80% of Africa’s arable land.

Furthermore, the strong focus on productivity increases through external inputs and large-scale mono-cropping in conventional farming contributes to soil depletion and land degradation, which is further exacerbated by the effects of climate change. According to UNCCD estimates, nearly three-fourths of land that is vital for agriculture and food production in Africa is already degraded, mainly due to climate change effects and unsustainable land use practices.

In recent years, regenerative forms of agriculture including agroecology have gained prominence as a possible pathway, both towards ecosystem restoration and climate resilience but also regarding food security, supported by African movement like AFSA – Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa, ESAFF- the Eastern and Southern Africa Small Scale Farmers Forum, ROPPA, African Centre for Biodiversity, PELUM Association, ActionAid International as well as other local and international organizations. such as AGRA and One Acre Fund. 

There has been a great diversity of approaches promoted under the frame of regenerative practices, from climate-smart agriculture to conservation agriculture. These approaches are based on a plethora of different definitions for “regenerative”. Many social movements criticize these approaches running under the frame of regenerative practices as too narrowly focused on offering technical quick fixes, access to inputs and markets, while underlying questions of social justice and rights for small-scale farmers, particularly for indigenous people, women and youths involved in agriculture, of land tenure and food sovereignty are ignored.

As a reaction to the shortcomings of those rather technical solutions, the concept of agroecology[1] has gained quite some traction – not only with international organizations such as FAO, but also with social movements in Africa, as a promising and more systemic approach to a just and sustainable transformation of agriculture and food systems, that aims not only at food security but at food sovereignty for African communities as well. The “narrow” definition for agroecology advocated for by actors like AFSA is, however, contested by other players in the field, and there are very different positions on how agroecology should incorporate farming technology and the use of fertilizers and pesticides to ensure productivity.

In the middle of this rather polarized discussion is a vast and fragmented civil society space of local and regional farmer’s associations, women’s and indigenous movements that offer a wide range of perspectives on regenerative agriculture, agroecology and food sovereignty in Africa.

ESAFF define agroecology as “As a set of agricultural practices that enhance agricultural systems by mimicking natural processes, thus creating beneficial biological interactions and synergies among the components of the agroecosystem. It provides the most favourable soil conditions for plant/animal growth, particularly by managing organic matter and by raising soil biotic activity. The core principles of agroecology include recycling nutrients and energy on the farm, rather than introducing external inputs; integrating crops and livestock; diversifying species and genetic resources in agroecosystems over time and space; and focusing on interactions and productivity across the agricultural system, rather than focusing on individual species. Agroecology is highly knowledge-intensive, based on techniques that are not delivered top-down but developed on the basis of farmers’ knowledge and experimentation”.

Reimagining and Rebuilding the World: Indigenous Peoples and Energy Access
9 September 2021 

While representing only 5% of the global population, Indigenous Peoples make up a staggering one-third of the world’s 900 million extremely poor rural people. Given that the rural poor form the bulk of those without access to energy, Indigenous Peoples are a critical demographic that needs to be put at the center of the global dialogue on energy if SDG 7 on ensuring access to energy for all is to be achieved. Indigenous territories host renewable energy projects without the respect for their rights, lands, resources and lack meaningful consultation and consent by Indigenous Peoples. These projects have resulted in conflicts, displacements, destruction of livelihoods, and have violated Indigenous Peoples’ rights and undermined their self-determined development. This webinar invited our audience to re-imagine and re-build in partnership with Indigenous Peoples.

We are in an extraordinary time. If the last year offered one universal opportunity, it’s been the chance to re-evaluate, remember and renew our relationships. With each other, with power, with privilege and with the Earth. Indigenous Peoples, especially women, have been leading these discussions for decades, transforming global narratives and bringing forward leadership and solutions. With rapidly shifting and uncertain economic futures, large-scale energy projects (extractive and
renewable) are being framed as steady pathways to weather uncertainty.

We are faced with a choice: replicate the current system (with different technologies and some new actors) or collectively re-imagine and re-build for greater energy access.

In this second session of the Climate Justice and Just Transition Donors Collaborative Webinar Series, we invited our audience to re-imagine and re-build in partnership with Indigenous Peoples.

While representing only 5% of the global population, Indigenous Peoples make up a staggering one-third of the world’s 900 million extremely poor rural people. Given that the rural poor form the bulk of those without access to energy, Indigenous Peoples are a critical demographic that needs to be put at the centre of the global dialogue on energy if SDG 7 on ensuring access to energy for all is to be achieved.

Despite this fact, Indigenous Peoples suffer invisibility when it comes to our understanding of energy access. Major reports from initiatives aligned with SDG 7 either don’t mention, or only superficially refer to, Indigenous Peoples and fail to examine their unique challenges as a distinct group.

At the same time, indigenous territories host renewable energy projects without the respect for the rights of Indigenous Peoples to their lands and resources and lack meaningful consultation and consent by Indigenous Peoples. These projects have resulted in conflicts, displacements, destruction of livelihoods, and have violated Indigenous Peoples’ rights and undermined their self-determined development.

Download Webinar Follow-Up Doc

Climate Justice and Climate Finance: Lessons From Across the Climate Justice Resilience Fund (CJRF) Portfolio
22 July 2021

This discussion aims to generate actionable lessons on climate finance from across Climate Justice Resilience Fund’s unique portfolio. The session is intended as a space for generative discussion and reflection. We expect participants to gain exposure to new approaches and perspectives, and to offer honest feedback to one another in a spirit of shared learning.

AGENDA

I. Welcome & Introductions (15 mins) 09.30-09.45 EDT
Heather McGray, CJRF Director

II. Panel Discussion (40 mins) 09.45-10.25 EDT
Panelists (2 funders and 2 recipients) share stories on climate finance challenges
and solutions
• Nicholas Abuya, Christian Aid
• Louise Oliver, Open Society Foundations
• Sheela Patel, Slum/Shack Dwellers International
• Arghya Sinha Roy, Asian Development Bank

III. Breakout Discussions (25 mins) 10.25-10.50 EDT
Participants select a group based on the stories and themes shared by panelists

IV. Coming Back Together & Key Takeaways (10 minutes) 10.50-11.00 EDT