On 23 May, I had the pleasure of speaking at the Philea Forum, the flagship event of Philea (Philanthropy Europe Association), which brings together foundations, philanthropic organisations, and networks. I had the opportunity to address nearly a hundred changemakers and funders during the Forum’s first ever session on climate justice and the need for intersectionality within the climate movement and philanthropic giving, organised by the Gender Equality Network.
Intersectionality is one of the foundational values on which the organisation I founded, Systemic Justice, operates. As the first Black-led, majority Black, and People of Colour (BPOC) organisation in Europe working on strategic litigation for climate, racial, social, and economic justice, we could not approach our work in any other way. That includes the work we do with community partners to make climate justice a reality.
We, of course, are not the only ones taking an intersectional approach in our work, and certainly not the only ones resisting the harms of the climate crisis. Yet, while ‘intersectionality’ and ‘climate’ are almost buzzwords nowadays, the two fail to come together in a meaningful way in Europe. We have a very active European climate field. However, it’s not one that structurally works towards climate justice, meaning work that properly centres the way the climate crisis intersects with different systems of oppression such as racism, ableism, classism, and many more.
This leaves the interests of those who are hardest hit by the climate crisis, including racialised communities, people with a disability, and people living in poverty out of the frame. That is why it is so important that funders take a true climate justice approach if we are to stand a chance in fighting the climate crisis.
In my keynote, I proposed three ways in which funders can better support intersectional climate justice work:
First, funders must let go of siloed thinking. The climate crisis is complex and needs a tapestry of activism and different interventions; no one knows which ‘big bet’ will be decisive, so there is a need to invest broadly, by supporting initiatives that think outside the box; and generously, by providing long-term core funding.
Second, a much more structural approach to funding is needed. By this, I mean an approach that focuses on supporting ecosystems instead of a few actors and on supporting communities instead of institutions. This requires funders to think expansively and get creative about supporting multifaceted approaches: there is not just one way to bring about change.
Finally, funders need to trust those doing the frontline work. In our world things change more quickly than most funding cycles, so funders should not be tying the hands of people at the frontlines with admin-heavy, piecemeal project grants. In the end, the activists you are supporting are the real experts. So funders need to trust their grantees to make the right call in adapting to changing circumstances; it will allow everyone (including funders) to be more effective.
The conversations that followed during the session, but also more broadly at the event, which included reflections on how to build resilient youth climate movements, created a sense of hope that there might be real appetite amongst the funders present to take a more intersectional approach to philanthropic giving. At the same time, there was a palpable sense of frustration within some programme officers who are trying to make changes on this front, but feel their attempts are being resisted by higher leadership. We can only hope that their minds can be changed before it is too late. If we don’t give communities the resources to fight back now, there may be very little left to fight for.
Nani Jansen Reventlow is the Founder of Systemic Justice
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