A new report by the United Nations Independent Expert on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity, Graeme Reid, casts a vital global spotlight on a long-overlooked reality: LGBTQI people are being displaced not only by war and persecution, but also by climate change and environmental crisis. The report, which was launched in Geneva in June, presents powerful evidence of how LGBTQI communities are pushed into cycles of displacement, exclusion, and vulnerability—across borders and even within their own countries.
Among the many contributors to this landmark report is Equal Asia Foundation (Equal AF), a regional LGBTQI innovation incubator operating at the intersection of human rights, democratic accountability, and climate resilience. Supported through GiveOut’s LGBTQI Climate Fund, Equal AF’s work is a shining example of how LGBTQI civil society can lead the way in forging more inclusive and equitable climate responses.
Equal AF: Building Resilience for a Changing Climate
Equal AF approaches climate justice through a deeply intersectional lens, anchored in feminist principles and a commitment to future-scoping for the LGBTQI movement in Asia. Their contributions to the UN report highlight some of the most pressing and complex issues facing queer communities across the region.
From analysing how informal employment leaves LGBTQI people especially vulnerable to climate impacts and trafficking, to exploring how modern slavery intersects with climate change in sectors like fisheries and agriculture, Equal AF is not only exposing injustices but actively shaping solutions. Their work also includes vital efforts to document and respond to the mental health impacts of climate anxiety and to investigate the climate vulnerability of disabled LGBTQI people, populations too often rendered invisible in both queer and environmental discourse.
Crucially, Equal AF recognises the need to empower LGBTQI communities themselves. Through research, strategic engagement with governments, and capacity building, they are cultivating leadership and deepening the LGBTQI movement’s engagement in the climate fight, even as civic spaces contract across much of Asia.
Their submissions to the UN report also emphasise how LGBTQI people are often scapegoated in times of political or economic crisis. As the report notes:
“During crises, the scapegoating of LGBT persons allows political leaders to deflect attention from broader State failure.” – Equal AF submission
In addition, Equal AF contributed to sections examining violence against LGBTQI people in conflict zones like Syria, where armed groups have used extreme violence against gender-diverse individuals.
Backed by GiveOut’s LGBTQI Climate Fund
Equal AF’s climate advocacy has been supported under GiveOut’s LGBTQI Climate Fund, which was launched in 2021 to channel resources to LGBTQI organisations responding to the climate emergency in the Global South. The fund recognises that LGBTQI people are not only vulnerable to climate change but are also powerful actors in building community resilience, advancing rights-based climate responses, and imagining just transitions.
As profiled in our recent publication Bridging the Gap: Resourcing LGBTQI Climate Action, Equal AF is part of a global cohort of organisations using advocacy, data, mutual aid, and policy influence to make sure LGBTQI communities are not left behind in climate planning and disaster response.
Strength from the Margins: LGBTQI Movements Driving Climate Leadership
Equal AF’s work reminds us that in a time of escalating climate breakdown, LGBTQI movements are not only sounding the alarm but are shaping the response. With deep experience navigating exclusion, violence, and crisis, organisations like Equal AF bring invaluable strategies for resilience, advocacy, and care to the heart of climate justice.
Their contributions challenge the idea that LGBTQI people are merely victims of environmental injustice. Instead, they show us what it means to lead from the margins—with clarity, courage, and innovation.
As the UN report affirms:
“LGBTQI people face cycles of displacement not only due to war and persecution, but also climate change and natural disasters.” – Graeme Reid, UN Independent Expert on SOGI
GiveOut are proud to support Equal AF in this work, and call on funders, policymakers, and allies to centre LGBTQI leadership in global climate responses.
LGBTQI Voices on the Frontlines of the Climate Crisis
In this interview, Equal Asia Foundation’s Executive Director Ryan Joseph Figueiredo joins Joleen Mataele of the Tonga Leitis Association to speak about how the climate crisis is reshaping their communities, and why queer-led solutions are essential to climate justice.
Produced in collaboration with GiveOut and Gay Star News
Learn More:
- UN Report on LGBTQI Displacement & Climate: [Link will be added when available]
- Equal AF: www.equalasiafoundation.org
- Our report: Bridging the Gap – Resourcing LGBTQI Climate Action