Climate Rights Funders Collaborative

Climate change undermines a broad range of internationally protected rights related to health, water, food, shelter, migration, and more. Often, the worst effects of climate change are felt by groups whose rights are already under threat. And, as the climate agenda gains momentum, some big greenhouse gas reduction projects are proving to be just as harmful to human rights as old dirty oil and gas projects.

The Climate Rights Funders Collaborative was inspired by the Peoples’ Summit on Climate Rights and Human Survival held in October 2019. Created by the Climate Justice Resilience Fund, Oak Foundation, Open Society Foundations, True Costs Initiative, Wallace Global Fund, and one anonymous donor, it was designed to bring together the human rights and environment funder communities to co-create strategies, incubate and test ideas, align funding, and pool resources.

With the aim of strengthening national and trans-national climate movements through use of a human rights approach, members of the collaborative pooled $650,000 to create a Climate Rights sub-fund within the CJRF. In 2020, this sub-fund provided modest seed grants to eight innovative organizations working at the intersection of climate change and human rights. Collaborative members also aligned $500,000 in grants to support an Indigenous campaign called the Right Energy Partnership.  

For more information, please contact CJRF.