NEW YORK – As a sign of its growing commitment to environmental and climate justice, Climate Week NYC is partnering with The Solutions Project for this year’s Environmental Justice Program. The Solutions Project, led by Gloria Walton and co-founded by the actor Mark Ruffalo, provides funding and communications support to over 75 grassroots climate justice organizations across the country, most of which are led by women of color.
This partnership is a result of The Solutions Project’s first-ever Black Climate Week, an initiative the organization launched in part to draw attention to the under-representation of climate justice leaders of color at Climate Week NYC. In response, Climate Week NYC acknowledged the issue and is working with The Solutions Project to be more inclusive and amplify the voices of frontline leaders of color.
Helen Clarkson, CEO, Climate Group, said: “Working with The Solutions Project, we are elevating the work of climate justice leaders of color across all of this year’s programming and advertising. To “Get It Done” on climate – our theme for this year – we need to center environmental justice solutions in everything we do, from the way we run our businesses and develop policy, to the way we approach technological and economic development.”
The Solutions Project will host three main events:
- Designed for members of the press, Covering Climate Equitably will offer insights from top journalists into the challenges and opportunities of reporting on climate justice. Co-hosts: The Uproot Project and the Solutions Journalism Network.
- Business and Community Joining Forces for Climate Justice Policy will tell the story of how frontline climate groups and Seventh Generation worked together to secure passage of New York’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, the strongest climate justice policy in the country and the inspiration behind the Biden-Harris administration’s Justice40 Initiative. Co-hosts: NY Renews and Seventh Generation
- Climate Justice Technology Solutions - Stories from the Front Lines will showcase how frontline communities across the country are placing cutting-edge technology at the service of climate justice
Additionally, many of The Solutions Project’s grantees will speak at various events throughout the week.
Elizabeth Yeampierre, Summer Sandoval, and Nyiesha Mallett of UPROSE, a grantee of The Solutions Project, will appear on Climate Week NYC’s Getting It Done advertising campaign; they will be featured across dozens of bus stops in New York City.
Gloria Walton, President and CEO, The Solutions Project, said: “We’re thrilled to work with Climate Week NYC to make sure that environmental and climate justice is center stage this year. The transformative work of our grantees – from developing solar-powered affordable housing for low-income seniors to installing solar-powered hydropanels that provide safe, clean drinking water for an underserved community – is sure to excite, motivate, and inspire. We will show that when climate justice leads, we all stand to win.”
“Also, I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out that several of the companies that are participating in Climate Week NYC have also expressed support for Black Lives Matter. We hope they’ll see that putting racial equity commitments into action means working for a clean, healthy, and regenerative economy that provides the foundation for all communities to not only survive, but also thrive.”
Following the launch of the first-ever Black Climate Week, Climate Week NYC endorsed The Solutions Project’s first-ever Women’s Climate Week and Asian American and Pacific Islander Climate Week. Climate Week NYC will promote next year’s Black Climate Week, as well.
Last year, Climate Week NYC had over 500 events in 30 countries. This year, in the run-up to COP26, Climate Week NYC will continue to build momentum, with The Solutions Project’s justice-centered events serving as critical additions.
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About The Solutions Project
The Solutions Project is a national nonprofit organization that promotes climate justice through grantmaking and amplifying the stories of frontline community leaders in the media. The organization seeks to accelerate the transition to 100% clean energy and equitable access to healthy air, water, and land by supporting climate justice organizations, especially those led by women of color.