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Categorising LGBTQI Climate Work

As part of consultations with activists in the lead up to the convening, LGBTQI organisations from across the globe shared the work they are doing at the intersection of LGBTQI rights and climate justice. While the context and focus of their work varied, strong coherence emerged around four core areas of activity:

Practical Support

Direct services and community-based responses to the impacts of climate change, such as emergency shelters, humanitarian aid, or sustainable livelihood initiatives.

Education

Building knowledge and awareness within LGBTQI communities and among policymakers, including training for service providers and climate actors.

Advocacy

Policy engagement and efforts to ensure LGBTQI inclusion in climate frameworks, national strategies, and global negotiations.

Research

Producing data and evidence to inform programming, influence policy, and elevate the voices and experiences of LGBTQI people.

Caribbean

Established in 2019, UCTRANS is a network of trans activists and organisations from across 10 Caribbean countries. Last year they conducted the first investigation into the impact of climate change on trans people in the Caribbean. This found a significant lack of understanding among trans people regarding climate change and its implications, with many blaming themselves for climate disasters due to religious and societal beliefs which attribute these to individual identity. To combat these beliefs, increase preparedness, and facilitate engagement with climate justice work, UCTRANS is planning to educate trans communities on the climate crisis to ensure they have accurate information. UCTRANS’ research also identified several factors which make trans communities across the Caribbean more vulnerable to climate change, yet government strategies and initiatives currently overlook these. Trans people facing economic insecurity are more likely live in flood-prone areas, be unhoused, and lack stable employment, intensifying their vulnerability to climate-related disasters such as hurricanes and flooding. Disruptions to vital medications during disasters, such as ARVs, PREP, and HRT, have a disproportionate impact on trans communities and exacerbate negative health outcomes. These challenges are also compounded by the exclusion and violence faced by trans people when trying to access emergency shelters and aid during humanitarian crises, as exemplified in the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian in 2019 and during the COVID-19 pandemic. To address these issues effectively, UCTRANS wants to facilitate collaboration between governments, funders, researchers, and decision-makers to generate and disseminate relevant data and research findings to improve policy. To support this goal, it plans to continue and expand its research, advocacy, and community engagement work around climate justice in coming years.

EFAF is the foremost human rights and social justice organisation working for LGBTQI people in Jamaica. In 2021 EFAF began working on climate justice in partnership with Emme Christie, an expert scholar and activist on LGBTQI communities and climate justice. They conducted robust research on LGBTQI Jamaicans and climate change which found that LGBTQI people face greater risks from the climate crisis when compared with heterosexual and cisgender people. LGBTQI people in Jamaica already face food scarcity and unstable employment and income, factors which will be exacerbated by climate change. They also reported fears that their identity would impact the support they were able to access in climate emergencies, with previous hurricanes painfully illustrating a lack of systemic and community preparedness to support LGBTQI communities. Using this research to inform their advocacy work, EFAF successfully engaged with the Jamaican government and secured the inclusion of LGBTQI people as a named vulnerable population in the Jamaica Gender and Climate Change Strategy (2022–25). In summer 2023 EFAF ran a summer long internship, contracting Emme to assess EFAF’s existing work on climate justice and identify opportunities to scale this. They identified several priorities: working with emergency shelters to ensure safety for LGBTQI people; training service providers and health care workers to be LGBTQI inclusive; community outreach to increase knowledge of climate change; building partnerships with other stakeholders tackling the climate crisis; and embedding climate justice within EFAF’s governance. Climate justice is now integrated into EFAF’s next five-year plan, and they are working to address social, economic, and political disadvantages which make Jamaica’s LGBTQI community particularly vulnerable to the climate crisis. EFAF also provides practical support to LGBTQI communities through funding the Larry Chang Foundation, which offers housing, training and support for displaced and homeless LGBTI people in Jamaica.

TransWave is Jamaica’s only non-profit organisation dedicated solely to promoting the health and wellbeing of the transgender, gender non-conforming and intersex communities. TransWave initially lacked knowledge about the implications of climate change. However, as in other crises, they understood that they were likely to face additional challenges due to being trans. Through their close relationship with J-FLAG and Emme Christie’s role as a board member, TransWave began to explore the implications of the climate crisis within their work. Emme ran a series of workshops with the organisation to increase the team’s knowledge about climate change and support them to begin work in this area. Following this, TransWave ensured that climate justice was embedded into their next 5-year strategic plan to make this a priority area of work. They plan to develop a programmatic guide around climate change, environmental rights, and implications for trans, gender nonconforming, and non-binary people to act as guidance when designing projects. Focus areas within this will include food insecurity and homelessness, agriculture and agribusiness, mental health, and access to public services. TransWave also intends to conduct a mapping exercise to understand the diverse impacts of climate change on trans people in rural and urban settings, considering both the “slow” impacts of the climate crisis as well as climate disasters. They additionally provide practical support to community members in the areas of food, security, and health care.

South America

Derechos Humanos y Diversidad supports LGBTQI people seeking refuge in Argentina with their asylum claims, mental health support, employment, and housing. Last year they supported over 700 LGBTQI refugees, with many fleeing from countries including Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, and Latin America. In 2022 Argentina introduced a world-first humanitarian visa for climate refugees, creating a unique opportunity for people affected by the climate crisis to seek asylum. However, the programme’s effectiveness has been severely limited due to a lack of community consultation and has received no visa applications so far. This is largely due to a very short six-month application window and the poor publicity of the scheme at a grassroots level. Derechos Humanos y Diversidad has been engaging with the government of Argentina to highlight the challenges and shortcomings of the programme, advocating for policy adaptations to better align this with the realities faced by impacted communities. They have also been publicising the climate visa programme among local organisations across ten countries, seeking to ensure that more LGBTQI people at risk from climate change have access to this information. Despite a new conservative administration, Derechos Humanos y Diversidad maintains ongoing conversations with the government to continue its advocacy to improve the programme’s effectiveness in preparation for the future.

Pacific

Rainbow Pride Foundation (RPF) is a leading LGBTQI organisation in Fiji working at the intersection of climate justice and SOGIESC inclusion. In response to the increasing impacts of climate change on Pacific communities, RPF developed a Roadmap for Diverse SOGIESC Inclusion in Climate Change Policies in Fiji, in partnership with government agencies including the Ministry of Itaukei Affairs and the National Disaster Management Office. The roadmap aims to support policymakers in ensuring the inclusion of people with diverse SOGIESC in climate policy and legislation, focusing on security, opportunity, and representation in decision-making processes. RPF also conducted research into SOGIESC-inclusive socioeconomic development, identifying how colonial legacies, economic exclusion, and climate vulnerability intersect for LGBTQI people. The findings revealed that nearly 80% of LGBTQI respondents were struggling financially, with 65% unemployed. To address this, RPF created an Inclusive Workplace Training Manual tailored for public and private sector use. This manual builds on prior work providing business and human rights training to LGBTQI entrepreneurs in Fiji’s tourism and cultural industries. Climate resilience is a core focus of RPF’s current work. The organisation has led training and advocacy to ensure LGBTQI voices are represented in disaster risk reduction, humanitarian response, and broader climate action. They also produced a policy brief identifying gaps in national legislation and best practices for inclusive disaster preparedness. Through these efforts, RPF conducted ‘Action, Behaviour, Emotions, Knowledge, Attitudes & Perceptions toward diverse SOGIESC’, a study uncovering the ABEKAP of humanitarian actors within the Australian Humanitarian Program. A SOGIESC Handbook for Humanitarian was also developed, and this was followed with an online learning session of SOGIESC in DRR. RPF is helping ensure that LGBTQI people in Fiji are not only recognised in climate responses, but are active participants in shaping them.

DIVA for Equality is a feminist LBQ-led collective working at the intersection of gender, social, economic, ecological and climate justice and LGBTQI human rights across Fiji and the Pacific since 2011. Recognising the disproportionate impacts of climate change on marginalised communities, DIVA supports Pacific Islanders with diverse sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, and sex characteristics (PIDSOGIESC+) through grassroots organising, direct services, accompaniment, research and analysis, advocacy, and policy influence, mobilisation and organizing in social movements, and more. Operating through hubs in rural, urban, and maritime areas, DIVA promotes feminist approaches to climate justice, disaster risk reduction and preparedness, economic justice, and ecological sustainability. They have played a leading role in Pacific civil society, conducting some of the region’s only research on LBTQ experiences of violence and climate vulnerability. Their national report, ‘Unjust, Unequal & Unstoppable’, documents the socio-economic and environmental injustices faced by LBTQ communities in Fiji and the resilience, joy, planning and strategy behind their response. Together with ILGA Oceania, they also host the Pacific LBQ Working Group, among other networks and coalitions. DIVA for Equality engages in local, national, regional and global environmental forums and multilateral processes, helping to ensure that feminist and queer Pacific voices are represented in climate and ecological policy and action as we all navigate these dangerous and ecocidal times. DIVA for Equality is about to host 65+ gender and climate activists, including LGBTQI, women with disabilities, sex worker alliances, Indigenous and other climate activists, in the first-ever Conference of Pacific Feminists Defending the Living Planet, from 28–30 April in Nadi, Fiji. 

TLA is Tonga’s only organisation focusing on transgender, non-binary and gender non-conforming issues and communities, and has been active for close to 30 years. Tonga is at particular risk from the most immediate impacts of climate change and sea level rise due to its low-lying position in the pacific. TLA is a vital resource for the trans community in Tonga during natural disasters, which are likely to become more common as the climate crisis deepens. There are no national evacuation centres in Tonga, forcing the LGBTQI community to seek refuge in church-owned facilities where members have reported experiencing abuse and sexual violence. In response, TLA established a refuge area within their office and living quarters to provide a safe shelter for the LGBTQI community during natural disasters. However, this was destroyed by the 2023 volcanic eruption which devastated Tonga, leaving the community without a refuge. The TLA team had to turn their own homes into makeshift evacuation centres, with TLA’s Executive Joey Joleen Mataele hosting 25 people in her home during the eruption. TLA is now working to restore its emergency shelter to ensure that LGBTQI people will be safe in future disasters.

VPride Foundation is a Vanuatu-based LGBTQI human rights organisation working to ensure the inclusion and protection of people with diverse SOGIESC in disaster preparedness, humanitarian response, and climate policy. Recognising the acute vulnerability of LGBTQI communities in the Pacific to climate change—due to both environmental risks and systemic discrimination—VPride developed a practical guide and virtual course for civil society and decision-makers on inclusive disaster response. To inform this work, VPride led a consultation process involving local LGBTQI community members, social justice movements, international humanitarian agencies, and government departments, including the Ministry of Health and the National Disaster Management Office. These consultations enabled a deeper understanding of how risk mitigation and emergency planning can account for the specific needs of LGBTQI people during climate crises. As a result of VPride’s advocacy, several civil society organisations and government institutions made commitments to adopt more inclusive and intersectional approaches in their policies and programmes. For example, the International Organisation for Migration invited VPride to contribute to the development of SOGIESC-inclusive evacuation centre guidelines in partnership with the Vanuatu National Disaster Management Office.

South and Southeast Asia

Equal AF are a regional LGBTQI innovation incubator anchored in feminist and human rights principles which specialises in future scoping and building resilience within LGBTQI communities. This includes research and advocacy work to identify entry points for LGBTQI organisations into the climate justice movement and developing strategic approaches. Equal AF advocates for the importance of democracy and the involvement of civil society in ensuring an effective climate change response, and actively seeks to engage governments and decision makers in its work. This is a challenge as many governments in Asia are undemocratically elected and climate gatherings such as COP have consistently failed to ensure meaningful participation for civil society groups. Equal AF has also examined the intersection of LGBTQI informal sector employment and climate change, recognising the vulnerability of these workers to climate-related impacts and trafficking. To build on this they are keen to understand how modern slavery, fisheries, agriculture, and the climate crisis intersect and impact the lives of LGBTQI people across Asia. Equal AF has also been running initiatives to investigate the climate vulnerability of marginalised groups such as disabled LGBTQI people, and the mental health impacts of climate anxiety. Across their climate work they aim to encourage deeper engagement from LGBTQI leaders around climate change and justice issues, and want to build expertise and capacity within the LGBTQI movement enable more work at this intersection.

The ASEAN SOGIE Caucus (ASC) is a network of LGBTQI human rights organisations working across Southeast Asia. Southeast Asia faces significant vulnerability to climate change due to its geographic and climatic characteristics. This is exacerbated by undemocratic governments and shrinking space for civil society, which limit people’s ability to engage with climate justice issues. ASC reports that tackling climate change is often seen as a controversial matter due to the influence of mining and logging industries in the region. Recent disasters including increased numbers of yearly cyclones have brought climate change into focus for the LGBTQI movement, with one transgender group’s office in Kuala Lumpur submerged during flooding for the first time in years. In 2023 ASC conducted exploratory research by interviewing activists from five countries to identify key issues at the intersection of LGBTQI rights and climate change for future exploration. They found that there was a lack of data on the specific issues impacting LGBTQI communities, hindering their involvement in climate discussions. Across the region LGBTQI people also reported difficulties accessing safe spaces during natural disasters, compounded by gender-binary humanitarian response frameworks and discrimination against non-traditional families. Additionally, LGBTQI people struggled to access essential medications such as ARVs and HRT during disasters, endangering their health. Within the broader climate justice movement ASC also found that LGBTQI communities face invisibility and marginalisation, and identified a lack of meaningful engagement and cross-pollination between LGBTQI and climate advocacy groups. They are keen to empower LGBTQI activists and organisations with greater knowledge of the climate crisis to increase work at this intersection through capacity building and knowledge sharing.

Mayako Pahichan is a newly registered NGO in Nepal whose work includes strategic litigation and collaboration with policy makers to advocate for reform that promotes equality and eliminate discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The Executive Director is Sunil Pant, a highly respected LGBTQI activist who is a former member of Parliament in Nepal, a filmmaker and the founder of the oldest LGBTQI organisation in Nepal, Blue Diamond Society. Nepal is highly vulnerable to climate change due to its diverse geography spanning from plains to mountains, which exposes it to multiple climate hazards including floods, landslides, droughts, and heat waves, while its limited adaptive capacity and dependence on climate-sensitive sectors like agriculture exacerbate its risks. As a member of Parliament, Pant led the Young Parliamentarians Group on Climate Change, Disaster Risk Reduction, and Environmental Protection, which successfully championed significant constitutional clauses for climate justice, notably, Article 51(g) which mandates the government to protect the environment, and Article 30(1) which enshrines access to a clean and healthy environment as a fundamental right, including provisions for compensation for environmental harm. Mayako Pahichan wants to work to address the exclusion of LGBTQI populations from climate change policies and disaster risk reduction policies through awareness campaigns, advocacy efforts, capacity building, policy development as well as research and data collection.

South West Asia and North Africa

May 17 Association aims to strengthen the LGBTQI community and its activism in Türkiye. They have played an important role in supporting and encouraging other organisations in Türkiye to engage with climate justice initiatives. To ensure that LGBTQI organisations can access information about climate change, they developed a Climate 101 guidebook covering topics including the origins of the climate crisis, climate justice, intersections with LGBTQI issues, and eco-feminist and queer perspectives. In 2023 they translated this into English and shared it with organisations in Balkan and Eastern European countries to broaden their reach. To build momentum around this intersection, May 17 Association then convened a meeting with LGBTQI NGOs from Türkiye to discuss climate justice. This has led to further collaborative events, such as a climate justice and gender panel bringing together academics and community members, and visits to an urban garden and animal rescue association to better understand sustainability strategies. They also held a drawing workshop, gathering 18 artists from different cities for an exhibition at the end of 2022 named Climate exhibition: “Fawns, children, flowers, flames. Climate justice is embedded within May 17 Association’s policy documents and they conduct training on emergency management strategies for other organisations to encourage sustainability within the movement. They have also renovated their premises to align with climate-conscious practices. Over the next year they plan to deepen their impact through further climate panels, podcasts, and creating new educational materials tailored to the Turkish LGBTQI movement’s needs regarding green economies, disaster response, LGBTQI rights, and sustainable living.

Sub-Saharan Africa

ICA is led by lesbian, bisexual, and queer (LBQ) women in Kenya, focused on the intersection of climate justice and gender rights. Established in 2023, ICA recognises that LBQ individuals are among the most marginalised and vulnerable to climate change, facing not only environmental disasters but also systemic discrimination in economic, legal, and social spheres. In a research report published in 2024, ICA highlights the severe and disproportionate impacts of climate change on LBQ individuals in Kenya. These include economic precarity due to employment discrimination, heightened food insecurity, increased risk of homelessness, and mental health challenges exacerbated by climate disasters. Climate change-induced economic strains, such as droughts and flooding, have pushed many into informal labour sectors that offer little stability or protection. Furthermore, LBQ individuals face exclusion from climate justice spaces, where their perspectives are often dismissed or outright rejected. To address these challenges, ICA advocates for inclusive climate policies that recognise the needs of marginalised communities, promotes sustainable livelihood opportunities, and pushes for gender-responsive disaster preparedness plans. Their work also emphasises the importance of integrating indigenous knowledge into climate mitigation efforts and ensuring LBQ individuals have secure land tenure and access to essential resources like healthcare and housing. Through intersectional feminist approaches, ICA is creating solutions that not only address the immediate impacts of climate change but also work toward long-term resilience for LBQ individuals. Their work underscores that climate justice must be inclusive and equitable to be truly transformative.

ORAM protects and empowers LGBTQI asylum seekers and refugees globally, creating sustainable and systemic change. As part of their work in Kenya, they launched a food security project in the Kakuma/Kalobeyei Refugee Camp, Nairobi, and surrounding areas to strengthen the resilience of LGBTQI refugees and asylum seekers to climatic, COVID, and conflict induced economic shocks. Kakuma refugee camp has been hard hit by drought in the Horn of Africa, with many unable to meet their basic needs due to food prices rising substantially in drought-affected and urban areas. This is particularly impacting the lives of the approximately 350 LGBTQI refugees in Kakuma Refugee Camp, who struggle to secure income to adequately meet their food requirements due to a restrictive social and legal environment. They also face discrimination when accessing services and trading in the market, which compounds their social and economic exclusion. To address this crisis ORAM implemented a response focusing on both short- and long-term solutions through food and temporary conditional cash assistance, skills training on livelihoods generation and diversification, and capacity strengthening and resilience building. This includes training for LGBTQI refugees to adopt improved, climate-friendly and sustainable farming techniques which will support their own food production and income from surplus product. Through this approach ORAM is providing practical and immediate support to LGBTQI refugees and asylum seekers in the face of a climate disaster, while also building their resilience for future crises.

WHER works to promote the well-being and rights of lesbian, bisexual, and queer (LBQ) women and non-binary people and address their underrepresentation in the human rights movement in Nigeria. With support from Equality Without Borders and other funders, WHER was able to invest in a long-term sustainable Hub for operations which also serves as a community centre and safehouse. This has strengthened community confidence and increased the sustainability and flexibility of WHER’s operations. Following this WHER received funding through EWB for their “SolarEmpower Initiative”, a transformative project to install a solar energy system for the WHER Hub. This was essential as the WHER Hub only received energy for a few hours each day from the grid, and the sharply rising price of diesel to power their generator was causing economic strain. WHER also has a strong commitment to climate justice and environmental conservation and was keen to ensure that their Hub aligned with these values. Solar panels therefore increased both the economic and environmental sustainability of WHER’s Hub, allowing them to somewhat insulate themselves from fluctuating energy prices while moving away from pollutive fuels. This will enable them to deliver a reliable service to those using the Hub, ensuing that this vital space can provide long-term support to LBQ communities in Nigeria.