Climate Justice is Gender Justice
Our planet is in trouble. Extreme weather, pollution, and rising temperatures are affecting communities everywhere. But this crisis doesn’t affect everyone the same way. The climate crisis makes existing problems—like poverty, discrimination, and violence—much worse.
What is Climate Justice?
Climate justice applies justice to an unfair situation. It means:
- Protecting the people who are impacted the most by climate change (but did the least to cause it).
- Putting those facing the worst impacts of climate change at the center of leading solutions by supporting them with resources and trust.
- Making sure money and help go to local communities who are driving local solutions
Who Feels the Impacts of Climate Change?
Climate change overlaps with other social issues, making life harder for women, girls, and gender non-conforming people:
- More Work: When droughts destroy crops or push water sources farther away, women and girls have to walk much further to get them, causing girls to miss school.
- Safety Risks: During big storms or floods, women are more likely to lose their lives. If they have to leave their homes to find safety, they are at higher risk of being mistreated or hurt by others.
- Poverty: 1 in every 10 women in the world lives in extreme poverty, according to UN Women. When food becomes scarce because of heat or lack of rain, women often go hungry first to make sure their families eat.
- Being Left Out: Black women, Indigenous women, and LGBTQI+ people are often left out when leaders make plans for the future. Their knowledge and voices are missing from the decisions that affect their lives.
Why Supporting Feminist Grassroots Organizations Is Key
Women, girls, and gender non-conforming people are the world’s most powerful first responders. Indigenous and rural women have spent centuries learning how to live in balance with nature—they know which seeds grow in droughts and how to keep soil healthy. They are also often the first to notice environmental changes and the first to take action, building early warning systems, teaching sustainable farming, and organizing their communities. And when women and gender non-conforming people lead, research shows they invest in their entire community—not just themselves.
Despite doing some of the most impactful climate justice work, they receive very little support. Of all the funding dedicated to environmental efforts, less than 0.2% goes to women-led groups. Feminist leaders have the ideas and deep local knowledge—they just don’t have the resources.
This needs to change.
How Our Partners Are Leading Climate Solutions
Global Fund for Women funds local groups that the rest of the world often ignores, supporting solutions that value people and the planet over short-term profit. Here’s how our partners are making a difference:
Teaching Sustainable Farming
In Nigeria, women farmers are learning climate-smart agriculture—growing food without harmful chemicals, switching to drought-resistant seeds, and protecting soil health. They're also fighting for the right to own their land, because ownership means they can invest in long-term solutions.
Building Clean Energy Solutions
In Uganda and Kenya, our partners are making energy-saving stoves and briquettes from agricultural waste. These stoves reduce the need for firewood, which means less deforestation and fewer carbon emissions. They also make kitchens safer and healthier. One school that used to burn nine tons of firewood every three months now uses just three tons.
Preparing Before Disaster Strikes:
Our partners in Jamaica spent months getting ready before hurricane season—training members in disaster response and stockpiling emergency supplies in safe locations. When Hurricane Melissa hit in October 2025, that preparation made all the difference. They became first responders, distributing food, water, and relief to their communities. They didn't wait for international aid to arrive. They were already there.
Protecting Resources
In Tanzania, our partners are teaching their communities sustainable practices—like managing water sources and grazing lands—so that resources last for future generations. They're building climate resilience from the ground up.
How Global Fund for Women Supports Climate Justice
Your contribution helps change the status quo. Instead of waiting for top-down solutions that miss the mark, we invest in the power of local communities.
We fund people, not just projects. Our grants go to feminist grassroots groups who understand their communities' needs. The funding is flexible—they can use it where it's needed most.
We support long-term partnerships. Climate resilience takes time. We don't just show up during emergencies and disappear. We stay for the long haul.
We recognize women as leaders, not victims. Policy spaces often treat women as people who need saving. Women aren't bystanders in the climate crisis. They're leading the response.
We address the root causes. Climate change doesn't happen in isolation. It overlaps with poverty, discrimination, and violence. We support solutions that tackle these interconnected problems.
GIVE TODAY TO SUPPORT GENDER JUSTICE
Your donation can fund our partner’s work, including like:
✓ Communities preparing before disaster strikes
✓ Early warning systems that save lives
✓ Food systems that withstand droughts and storms
✓ Community-led response when crisis hits
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