By Laurie Goering
LONDON, April 14 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Whether in flood-hit villages in Bangladesh or disadvantaged U.S. communities choking on refinery fumes, people most affected by environmental problems often have the clearest ideas on how to fix them, says environmental justice activist Gloria Walton.
But the limited cash available to plan and carry out the work still flows mainly to high-paid consultants and big green groups, with frontline communities getting only a tiny share.
Researchers at the London-based International Institute for Environment and Development, for example, found that less than 10% of international climate finance between 2003 and 2016 was directed to local action on climate change.
And when billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos last year promised to spend $10 billion fighting climate change, most of the first wave of grants, announced in November, went to big environmental groups.
But Walton’s organization – the U.S.-based Solutions Project, which aims to support ground-up climate responses and clean energy in Black, indigenous, immigrant and other frontline communities – also won a $43-million share.
That, alongside U.S. President Joe Biden’s pledge that 40% of billions in new clean energy investment will go to disadvantaged communities, hint at the start of a much-needed shift, Walton told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
As she took part in the Skoll World Forum, which aims to accelerate action on global problems, The Solutions Project CEO – who calls herself a “climate solutionary” – talked about what must change to drive action on climate change and social justice.
This is a moment of big concern both about climate change and racial inequity. Does addressing them together make sense or is it too big a job?
For me, climate justice is racial justice, and racial justice is climate justice.
We believe it’s communities disproportionately affected (by climate change and inequity) who will understand the problems more holistically and know how to solve them.
I don’t know if it’s easier or harder to address them together – it’s just an imperative.
