Solution: As we remember September 11, we honor those working on the frontlines of our global crises and recognize the capacity of cities to transform.  The way we build infrastructure today is a matter of life and death for the planet.  Resilient infrastructure solutions over the last 20 years in lower Manhattan and around the world are laying the foundation to meet the global imperatives of climate adaptation and social inclusivity.   

Action: Policy makers and infrastructure developers must invest in climate resilient infrastructure.

Solution: When fossil fuel is extracted, it leaves people exposed to pollution, extreme weather and unstable economies. Western Pennsylvania in the US has experienced all of these traumas for decades.  In 2019, we hosted a public workshop with Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation to visualize what a Green New Deal could look like for towns in America’s first extraction landscape.

Action: Policy-makers and the private sector must embrace a Global Green New Deal and resilience-based infrastructure investments worldwide. 

Solution: Can Tho, Vietnam is facing threats from sea level rise, erosion, up-river damming, sand extraction, as well as subsidence driven by climate change, ground water extraction and urban development. The city is prioritizing green infrastructure to capture flood waters, restore its water-based ecologies, and bring people back to the Mekong River. Students at Columbia University explored how water urbanisms could use the city’s canal systems for transportation, housing, livelihoods and ecological restoration. 

Action: Over reliance on hard infrastructure causes unintended and cascading impacts. Cities must learn to design, live and thrive with water in the 21st Century. 

RETWEET @ColumbiaGSAPP

Solution: As cities around the world face more frequent and deadly heat waves, it is always the poor and marginalized who suffer the most. In the Shapira neighborhood of Tel Aviv-Yafo, the Center for Resilient Cities and Landscapes at Columbia University hosted a workshop to generate pilot projects and policy strategies that cool down the neighborhood while bringing people together.

Action: Urban planners need to embrace multi-hazard building and zoning standards to drive climate resilient public spaces and housing.

RETWEET @ColumbiaGSAPP

Solution: Students at the Washington Heights Expeditionary Learning School in Harlem, New York, asked why their neighborhood gets hotter than others in the summer, why the air is more polluted and why private cars have priority over students walking to school.  They did their research and now they are turning the street in front of their school into a Clean Air Green Corridor.

Action:  Policy makers must green streets by embracing climate justice and participatory budgeting to ensure communities have agency over projects in their neighborhoods.

RETWEET @ColumbiaGSAPP

Solution: For youth to meaningfully participate in climate negotiations, they need policy training and capacity building support. YOUNGO is organizing the 16th UN Climate Change Conference of Youth (COY16) from October 28th to 31st in Glasgow, UK. COY16 will be the most substantial and largest gathering of youth for climate and will mobilize young people worldwide to draft responsible climate policies and proposals ahead of COP26. 

Action: Decision-makers must listen to youth voices and consider their perspectives when drafting climate policies. We pledge to represent young people in the climate negotiations. 

RETWEET @IYCM

Solution: During COP25 in Madrid, individuals from YOUNGO, the Food and Climate Alliance, and 50by40 concerned about the climate impact of food served at the conference came together in hopes to align worldwide sustainability values with the worldwide food served. Our campaign (food@cop) is composed of organizations, individuals, and institutions that believe the food served at climate conferences should reflect the urgency of the crisis.

Action: Sign our Petition to urge the United Nations and host country to serve climate-friendly catering at their leading climate action conference, COP26!

RETWEET @IYCM

Solution: The effects of climate change on young people are  immense, yet funding for youth-led climate action is limited. What’s more, the amount of climate finance allocated for youth-related projects has not been sufficiently measured. To identify pathways to improve access to climate finance for youth as an input for COP26, YOUNGO partnered with the Global Youth Climate Action Fund (GYCAF) to assess youth climate finance from both the supply and demand perspective.

Action: Climate finance must be made available for youth-led organisations and young individuals involved in climate action. Take the YOUNGO and GYCAF survey to help identify current pathways for youth to access climate finance.

RETWEET @IYCM

Solution: The Global Youth Biodiversity Network, YOUNGO and Youth4Nature have partnered to co-develop a nuanced, critical and inclusive Global Youth Position Statement on Nature-based Solutions. This will support youth in their nature and climate advocacy efforts that align with justice and systemic change, further connect youth across biodiversity and climate movements, and help us create spaces for ourselves within global nature and climate decision-making.

Action: Youth voices must play a role in global decision-making on nature-based solutions. Youth advocates are encouraged to take this survey to help develop the Global Youth Position Statement on Nature-based Solutions.

RETWEET @IYCM 

Solution: The collective power of young people to influence the future of our oceans is immense. The YOUNGO Ocean's Voice Working Group strives to harness this power and connect young leaders through a dynamic and diverse group of 300 members from more than 60 countries. To ensure young leaders have the tools they need to drive change, YOUNGO hosts the Blue Academy, a weekly Zoom training on a range of topics across ocean advocacy.

Action: We must strengthen the capacity and knowledge of young leaders to ensure healthy  oceans for future generations.

RETWEET @IYCM

Solution: Breakthroughs in distributed renewable energy (DRE), such as household solar panel systems and battery technology, are lifting communities out of poverty by providing clean, reliable energy access while limiting future greenhouse gas emissions. Ending energy poverty with a focus on DRE also has the potential to create tens of millions of jobs. See how investments to replace diesel-powered irrigation with solar irrigation pumps in Ethiopia could bring water to smallholder farmers, improving jobs and livelihoods for millions.

Action: Governments, utility companies and other stakeholders must scale up investment in distributed renewable energy (DRE) to $130 billion per annum over the coming decade to create 25 million new jobs in the power sector itself and generate another half a billion jobs in agriculture, health care, education, and diverse small and medium-sized enterprises.

RETWEET @RockefellerFdn

Solution: Uganda has the 7th highest inland fishery production in the world, which supports the livelihoods of 5.3 million people and provides direct employment for 1.2 million. The sector, however, faces significant losses due to inadequate access to cold storage. What’s more, half of fishing income is spent on kerosene lamps for night fishing. Check out how investments in solar-powered cold storage and lanterns for Ugandan fishermen could reduce losses, increase income, create jobs and limit CO2 emissions. 

Action: Mobilize and coordinate concrete distributed renewable energy (DRE) roadmaps to unlock public and private capital flows into DRE technologies that will create local jobs, promote sustainable livelihoods, and build an environmentally–smart, resilient electricity grid of the future.

RETWEET @RockefellerFdn

Solution: Nigeria is home to Africa’s fifth largest cattle herd, yet the country imports most of the milk it consumes. Inconsistent access to refrigeration along the value chain holds back productivity, resulting in 40% of post-production losses. Investment in distributed renewable energy (DRE) could bring more reliable refrigeration, reduce losses, increase income and limit emissions that otherwise would come from diesel or the Nigerian grid. What’s more, jobs and livelihoods would improve for dairy farmers, 62% of which are women.

Action: Collaborate to enhance project development and new financing instruments to catalyze billions of dollars of additional annual investment in distributed renewable energy (DRE) projects in underserved markets, especially for widespread rural electrification.

RETWEET @RockefellerFdn

Solution: Protecting the Amazon, the world's largest tropical rainforest, is essential to balancing the planet’s climate. The forest acts as a carbon sink, removing significant quantities of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. Yet, decades of  illegal deforestation through land grabbing (i.e., the theft of public lands) has jeopardized this. When land is deforested and burned, more carbon is released into the atmosphere. In 2019 and 2020, 50% of all deforested land in the region took place on public property. Brazilian agribusinesses have joined environmentalists to launch Be Legal With the Amazon, a public engagement campaign demanding measures against land grabbing in the region. 

Action: Governments must implement policies to stop land grabbing, allocate and distribute public areas that are currently undefined and protect national heritage. Add your name to the petition.

RETWEET @SejaAmazonia

Solution: The absence of clearly designated public lands for conservation and sustainable use has led to illegal land grabbing and violence promoted by criminals in the Amazon. To avoid further deforestation, representatives of various segments of society agree that public forests need to be better classified for conservation. Research organizations like the Brazilian NGO Imazon, are vital to helping policymakers implement environmental land laws consistently and enforce them effectively. 

Action: Governments must mobilize funds to support research institutions working to support safe, just land laws and practices.

RETWEET @SejaAmazonia

Solution: Today, the Amazon forest annually absorbs 15% of all carbon emissions. If we lose the Amazon, which also accounts for 10-20% of the world’s plant diversity, 100 billion tons of carbon could be released into the atmosphere, which is equivalent to a decade of global emissions. To prevent this, we must continuously monitor areas threatened by deforestation. Organisations that monitor deforestation in the Amazon, such as the Brazilian NGO IPAM, help map and analyse projects and policies to combat deforestation in states, municipalities, settlements and protected areas, including indigenous lands and conservation units.

Action: Governments must mobilise funds to support organisations stepping in to monitor deforestation in the Amazon.

RETWEET @SejaAmazonia

Solution: Low- and middle-income countries bear the brunt of pollution-related illnesses, accounting for nearly 92% of pollution-related deaths. Most noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) result from exposure to pollution. UNDP partners with the European Commission and the Government of Ethiopia to:

• develop investment cases to help decision makers prioritize interventions that reduce pollution and improve health;
•  conduct legal environment assessments to address gaps in legislation and policies related to pollution and health;
• strengthen multi-sectoral coordination between key government sectors, and;
• share new tools and experiences globally. 

The other project countries are India and Mongolia. 

Action: Governments must address health and environmental disparities by investing in and adopting policies that ensure a pollution-free environment for all, especially for low- and middle-income countries and vulnerable communities.

RETWEET @UNDP

Solution: Health facilities need power to carry out their work. UNDP’s Solar for Health initiative supports governments to increase access to quality health services through the installation of solar energy photovoltaic systems (PV), ensuring constant and cost-effective access to electricity, while also limiting greenhouse gas emissions. Solar for Health PV systems installed in Zimbabwe are maintaining the cold chain for essential medicines and enhancing access to quality health services, from childhood vaccinations to support for pregnant mothers. 

Action: Governments must scale-up the use of solar energy photovoltaic systems (PV) in health care facilities to ensure remote and under-served communities have reliable access to essential health services and energy.

RETWEET @UNDP

Solution: In partnership with the Least Developed Countries Fund/Global Environment Facility and World Health Organization, UNDP launched the Building Resilience of Health Systems in Asian LDCs to Climate Change project to integrate climate risks into health sector planning and improve surveillance and early warning systems. Across six countries, including Bangladesh, Cambodia and Myanmar, officials are building climate-resilient health infrastructure by expanding health surveillance and early warning systems, providing guidelines for infectious disease outbreaks expected to increase due to climate change, implementing climate-resilient water safety plans and more. 

Action: Governments must invest in climate-resilient health sector planning and provide health facilities with the necessary tools to adapt for climate change-related health risks.

Solution: UNDP, Health Care Without Harm and partners are developing the Sustainable Procurement Index for Health (SPIH), a new tool to help countries monitor and improve their environmental and social sustainability record. The tool will be the first of its kind to holistically measure greenhouse gas emissions; resource depletion (e.g., water, energy and material consumption); chemical and toxic impact on human health and the environment; as well as human rights, labour rights and gender equality. 

Action: Leveraging the new Sustainable Procurement Index for Health, policy makers, manufacturers, suppliers, procurers, and healthcare facilities must actively measure and evaluate their operations against environmental and social sustainability.

Solution: The health  sector can be a major source of harmful emissions. The Sustainable Health in Procurement Project (SHiPP), supported by UNDP, the Government of Sweden and Health Care Without Harm, works to reduce greenhouse gases and toxic emissions in the health sector. In Zambia, women are being trained to operate environmentally-friendly autoclaves for medical waste management. The project addresses existing gender inequalities in the job market while enabling women to play an active role in sustainable development efforts. 

Action: Health care facilities must actively train and employ women to support sustainable efforts to reduce health care waste and emissions.

Solution: When health care professionals have access to the right tools and resources, they can play a key role in mitigating the impact of climate change on health systems and ensuring the sustainable procurement of health commodities. In Ukraine, UNDP worked with the Kyiv-Mohyla Business School, regional public health centres and Ukraine’s Regional Food Safety and Consumer Protection State Service to train health care professionals on the relationship between climate and health to better address climate change impacts locally and regionally. 

Action: We must strengthen the capacity of health care professionals to mitigate the impact of climate change on health and ensure sustainable procurement practices.

Solution: Climate change is the greatest threat facing the world’s children and young people. Evidence shows that  children and newborns are more vulnerable than adults to climate change’s many manifestations, including extreme weather, toxic hazards and infectious diseases. Comprehensive research and clear data on these impacts are vital to protecting children against the climate crisis. Save the Children’s new report Born into the Climate Crisis: Why we must act now to secure children’s rights takes steps in this direction, providing evidence and analysis on how to protect children in the face of the climate crisis. 

Action: When crafting nationally determined climate action plans, governments must leverage data and the latest research, as well as allocate funding to accelerate inclusive, child and youth-centered climate policies and action to safeguard children from the impacts of the climate crisis.

RETWEET: stc_india 

Solution: We know the positive impacts for children that could take place if governments dramatically accelerate their efforts to limit warming to 1.5°C. The additional lifetime exposure of newborns to heatwaves could be reduced by 45%, droughts by 39%, river floods by 38%, crop failures by 28% and wildfires by 10%.  Educating children at an early age helps raise awareness of the climate emergency and strengthens their resilience and capacity to cope with its impacts. Save the Children is bringing together nearly 100 children from regions in India prone to frequent natural disasters in a workshop with MASH to orient them on the impact of climate change and build youth leadership. 

Action: Governments must do more to educate children and young people from the beginning of school to build better understanding of the climate crisis and inspire action among their peers and adults.

RETWEET: @stc_india 

Solution: In April 2020, Tropical Cyclone Harold was the second-most powerful cyclone to strike Vanuatu in history, damaging schools and teaching materials, leaving too many children without education. When the education sector has capacity to respond, mitigate and recover from climate change-related disasters like this, we can safeguard educational continuity. With support from the Global Partnership for Education and in partnership with Vanuatu’s Ministry of Education and Training, Save the Children are working to rebuild infrastructure, replace damaged teaching materials, develop home-based learning packages and guidance for parents and caregivers to support better educational continuity. 

Action: Governments, prioritise children’s education in the face of climate change and build shock-responsive education systems.

Solution: Powerful stories can change the world and help mitigate the climate crisis, especially stories from those living on the frontlines of our changing climate. Starting tomorrow, Save the Children and Let Me Breathe are highlighting unheard stories and solutions from young people across India through a relay to promote youth leadership for climate action and raise awareness on diverse climate issues, from air pollution to children's rights. 

Action: We must highlight the stories, lived-experience and solutions of young people and those most impacted by the climate crisis when driving climate campaigns, taking action or implementing policies.

RETWEET: @LetMeBreathe_In

Solution: Youth in India are taking bold action to stand up for the climate through social media and impactful campaigns. Led by children in India, #HawaKeRakshak is a call to action to collectively fight air pollution. Over the next week, Save the Children with their partner Let Me Breathe are highlighting these young voices and asking adults to hold themselves accountable and take climate action. 

Action: We must establish and encourage platforms and spaces to facilitate children’s safe and effective formal engagement in climate conversations.

RETWEET: @LetMeBreathe_In

Solution: Latin America and the Caribbean form the most dangerous region in the world for environmental defenders, but they are also the cradle of the Escazú Agreement, the first regional treaty to establish measures governments must take to protect environmental defenders' rights to live and express themselves. The Agreement, which more broadly aims to improve access to justice in environmental matters,  information and public participation officially came into effect earlier this year.

Action: Latin American and Caribbean governments must put into practice the Escazú Agreement, especially as governments in other regions look to protect environmental defenders' rights.

REPOST: @350AmericaLatina

Solution: The small town of São Sepé recently became the second in Brazil to officially acknowledge the global climate crisis. Regulated through decree by Mayor João Luiz Vargas, the city’s declaration establishes the city’s commitment to urgently help limit both global warming and the climate crisis. The city also committed to invest in renewable energy, despite the coal lobby.

Action: Municipal and state-level politicians can and must stand for the planet. Acknowledging that climate change demands urgent measures and discussing local initiatives for energy transition is a necessary first step.

REPOST: @350AmericaLatina

Solution: The green energy transition calls for divesting from fossil fuels and investing in renewable energy. Under pressure to improve its social and environmental practices, BNDES (National Bank for Economic and Social Development), one of the largest financiers of infrastructure projects in Brazil, has decided that it will no longer provide credit for coal-fired power plants and the sector was formally put on the bank’s exclusion list.

Action: Funding fossil fuels is morally wrong and terrible for business. Instead, financial institutions should play a key role in a just transition by funding and investing in renewable energy and sustainable activities.

Solution: All countries must do everything in their power to solve the climate crisis — a global challenge calls for a global solution. However, wealthy countries bear the most responsibility for this crisis and have enormous resources to help the world course correct. Wealthy nations have an obligation to help the Most Affected Peoples and Areas (MAPA) on the frontlines of the climate crisis by investing in climate change mitigation and adaptation. In June 2021, as part of an action coordinated by Oil Change International, 350.org and 352 other organizations from 58 countries published a joint open letter detailing key actions for rich countries to contribute effectively and quickly to climate justice.

Action: To contribute to global social justice as effectively and urgently as possible for MAPA, the richest nations must  adopt measures such as cancelling debt payments from the poorest countries and redirecting  bilateral or multilateral financing for fossil fuels' projects to clean and socially fair energies in the Global South.

Solution: Indigenous communities must have a seat at the decision making table. This means adequately consulting communities and receiving consent for activities impacting their lands and livelihoods. In the south of Brazil, an Indigenous community of the Mbyá Guarani people recently won a legal battle against a new coal mine by proving they had not been consulted about the project, which is required by law. Now, with 350.org, they are developing a consultation protocol to explicitly detail how indigenous communities should be consulted for future projects affecting their territory. 

Action: Though companies are legally required to consult indigenous peoples about projects affecting their lands, many don’t do so properly. To strengthen indigenous peoples’ capacity to defend their land, governments and NGOs can support the communities that wish to do so by developing consultation protocols, leaving no room for sidestepping.

REPOST: @350AmericaLatina

Solution: Biochar is a form of charcoal that is produced by heating organic waste matter such as crop residues in a low-oxygen environment. In this form, carbon can be stored for centuries. The biochar industry has an estimated carbon sequestration potential of up to two gigatons (Gt) of carbon annually. Húmica, a startup in Mexico, has created an integrated, systemic approach to unlock the carbon sequestration potential of biochar on small farms around the world, starting in their home country. In partnership with the National University of Mexico, Húmica brings affordable soil health testing to isolated rural areas in Mexico, makes recommendations for regenerative agricultural practices and is creating a map of soil health for the entire country. 

Action: National and local governments must create food systems that store carbon instead of emit it by leveraging the biochar industry.

REPOST: @thoughtforfoodorg

Solution: The fish we consume often comes from smallholder aquaculture farms, which are low-tech in nature and rely on traditional farming methods. In Indonesia, a country with huge potential in the aquaculture sector, many farms could be more productive if pond health was improved and monitored. Increasing oxygen levels is one way to ensure that yields are higher, fish health is better and farm livelihoods increase. Banoo is democratising technology for farmers and helping improve livelihoods through a more sustainable and advanced aquaculture system. Their microbubble generators increase oxygen levels in ponds, run on solar energy and can have enormous impact for smallholder, remote farmers.

Action: Sustainable, off-the-grid solutions for smallholder fish farmers must be funded so they can be scaled and made available for farmers who produce our food.

RETWEET: @thoughtforfood_

Solution: Brazil is home to more than 4 million smallholder and family farms. These smaller farms do not have the same support systems or access to technology and agronomic advice as larger scale farming operations. IZagro has built an app that connects smallholder farmers with each other and to agronomists. This enables the uptake of sustainable farming practices and provides farmers with free agronomic information about 15 main crops, including their pests and diseases.

Action: The uptake of newer, more effective practices for smallholder farmers must be accelerated, both through startups who are already in place to support farmers and through global input companies whose voice should be used to promote sustainable practices.

RETWEET: @thoughtforfood_

Solution: In Kenya, it is common for people to get three meals a day from street food vendors. Even though this sector employs and feeds so many, it is still an informal sector – working conditions are tough, vendors do not make much money, and food safety and hygiene present ongoing issues. Vendors use charcoal to keep food warm, polluting the air and creating unhealthy working environments for themselves. Zuhura Solutions has created a solar powered food truck that is lighting up all kinds of new opportunities by providing safe, accessible, delicious and nutritious food, served from a sustainable and attractive vehicle.

Action: Renewable energy solutions like solar panels should be shared and implemented to support the informal food sector, especially in low-income countries.

RETWEET: @thoughtforfood_

Solution: Getting food to the right place at the right time is a complex business. Once food leaves the farm, many products end up in warehouses where they could be stored for too long and become unusable. Invisible Foods have made preventing food loss their mission. With digital AI-powered solutions, they are helping food traders optimize their storage and supply chains so that food processing companies and restaurants find the raw materials they need in time to prevent food loss. 

Action: Inefficiencies in our current food storage systems must be replaced with innovative technologies to better analyze and optimize food systems to eliminate waste.

RETWEET: @thoughtforfood_

Solution: The government of Fiji has launched national guidelines to ensure the country’s health care facilities are resilient to climate shocks and stresses, while at the same time being environmentally sustainable. The guidelines aim to build climate resilience throughout Fiji’s health system, with a particular focus on the health workforce; water, sanitation, and health care waste; energy; and infrastructure and technology. Fiji’s efforts in the health care sector complement its track record of leadership on climate action.

Action: Build climate resilient and environmentally sustainable health systems and facilities. Develop a health National Adaptation Plan, informed by vulnerability and adaptation assessments.

RETWEET: @WHO

Solution: Improving air quality can both mitigate global climate change and protect health. In 2020, the National Health Service (NHS) in England committed to become the world’s first net zero national health service. Through interventions including switching to clean energy sources and delivering the world’s first zero-emission ambulance, the NHS aims to reach net zero by 2040 for emissions it can control and 2045 for emissions it can influence. 

Action: Develop low-carbon sustainable health systems. Develop a roadmap to achieve health system zero emissions. Consider human exposure to air pollution and the health sector’s role in reducing exposure to air pollution through its activities and actions.

RETWEET: @DrTedros

Solution: Many cities are reimagining their urban environment to support economic recovery and provide healthier living environments. The city of Accra in Ghana is transforming itself to a more livable city with cleaner air. The city is supporting outreach in some of the city’s worst hit communities to reduce waste burning and promote green space development.

Action: Create people-centered cities. Prioritize walking and cycling as healthy low-carbon modes of transport. Integrate health, equity and nature considerations into urban planning to create compact and future-proof cities.

RETWEET: @WHO

Solution: The government of Pakistan, in collaboration with WHO and global experts, has assessed the health and economic benefits from raising climate ambition in its new climate commitment to the Paris Agreement (known as an NDC). By reforming fossil fuel subsidies and implementing a carbon tax, the country will reduce emissions while saving lives from reduced air pollution.

Action: Harness the health benefits of climate action. Maximize and measure the health co-benefits of climate action at all levels of governance. Commit to promote, account for, and monitor the health co-benefits from climate interventions and reflect them in decision making.

Solution: Thriving ecosystems are essential to human health, yet the widespread destruction of nature is happening at an unprecedented rate, eroding water, food and job security and increasing the chance of disease emergence. In Madagascar, the Manombo Special Reserve protects the vital habitat for many critically endangered plant and animal species, while also providing medicine and food security to local communities. 

Action: Protect and restore nature as the foundation of our health. Protect and restore natural systems, the foundations for healthy lives, sustainable food systems and livelihoods.

RETWEET: @WHO

Solution: We are in a climate crisis and it is not gender neutral. Women- and girl-centered approaches are among the 100 best solutions to reverse global warming, according to Project Drawdown. Yet globally, only .01% of grant dollars support projects addressing both climate change & women’s rights.

Action: Funders must provide more resources to gender and climate solutions, including to rural women, so that they can build more food-secure, climate-resilient communities. Climate justice must include gender justice.

RETWEET: @GlobalFundWomen

Solution: The Shifting the Power (STP) Coalition, a Pacific, women-led feminist humanitarian network, advocates for climate action that includes collective, local mobilization to build stronger Pacific institutions, feminist movements and peace-building networks. The STP Coalition also makes connections between the growing frequency of local and national climate change-induced disasters and deepening social inequalities, including gender injustice. 

Action: Strengthen the capacity of women to engage in policy and decision making to drive evidence-based and women-led innovations in the Pacific, as well as to engage in national and regional advocacy to hold leaders to account.

RETWEET: @GlobalFundWomen

Solution: In Uganda, Shared Action Africa recognized that women refugees most affected by the climate crises needed access to resources, including land and finances to support themselves and expand food production. Shared Action Africa helped organize refugee women farmers into loose networks to build their leadership and advocacy skills. In 2020, members of the Refugee Women’s Movement petitioned the Office of the Prime Minister of Uganda to allocate more land to refugees to grow food during the COVID-19 pandemic. They won over 100 acres of land. 

Action: Refugees, especially women, most impacted by the climate crisis must have access to essential resources, like farmland, to survive and thrive.

RETWEET: @GlobalFundWomen

Solution: To respond to the lack of rainwater due to climate change, the Laikipia Women Development Association in Kenya created a center for climate smart agricultural techniques. Through the use of water pans, vertical gardening and drip irrigation, the communities that Laikipia Women Development Association work in have increased food security. The organization also creates leadership opportunities for rural women and girls by developing climate resilience.

Action: Support women and girl leaders taking action on climate smart agricultural techniques in their communities. 

RETWEET: @GlobalFundWomen

Solution: Across the Pacific, the Shifting the Power Coalition works to ensure regional climate response decisions take into consideration gender; age; ability; location, such as rural, coastal and women living on small islands; all of which are important risk factors during climate-induced humanitarian emergencies.  

Action: When it comes to achieving gender justice, all levels of stakeholders must be prepared to shift the power for inclusive and local action, as opposed to top-down decision making.

RETWEET: @GlobalFundWomen

Solution: With support from Shared Action Africa in Uganda, the Refugee Women’s Movement has helped mobilize and organize refugees to take action as a collective to address common challenges, including those posed by the climate crisis. Through collective action, refugee women have been able to access sustainable energy sources, financial services, family planning and cervical cancer screening.

Action: Offer funding and support to enable collective action from refugee populations, especially those on the frontlines of the climate crisis.   

RETWEET: @GlobalFundWomen

Solution: From Honduras to Zimbabwe to the Philippines, women land defenders, especially from Indigenous communities, are collectively organizing to protect land and natural resources from climate change, end state corruption, halt harmful megaprojects and defend themselves from systemic armed violence. For years, the friends and family of Lenca Indigenous leader Berta Cáceres—who was killed in 2016 over her leadership opposing the construction of a dam in Honduras—have fought for accountability for her murder. The man responsible for her murder was finally found guilty this past summer. The Mesoamerican Women Human Rights Defenders Initiative was instrumental in mobilizing international solidarity for Berta Cáceres and the overall protection of Indigenous lives and land.

Action: We must push for long-term safety and justice for women land defenders. One solution is further implementing the Escazú Agreement, which requires signatories to protect the rights of environmental defenders.

RETWEET: @GlobalFundWomen

Solution: When families, communities and whole societies are strained by the climate crisis, women and girls often suffer the most. The climate crisis especially exacerbates pre-existing gaps in access to sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), particularly for Black and Brown women. Taking a rights-based approach to bodily autonomy and reproductive justice have proven to be an effective way to create permanent social change. Funders must support grassroots movements and organizations who define their own solutions by investing in movements led by Black, Brown and Indigenous people.

Action: Give more and better resources to Black- and Brown-led reproductive justice organizations.