GiveOut launches world-first LGBTQI Climate Fund

11 March 2021

• LGBTQI people will be disproportionately impacted by the climate crisis due to repression and discrimination making them among the most vulnerable to the direct impacts and long-term consequences of climate events. 

• In response, activists have started to gather evidence on the impact of the climate crisis and are engaging in advocacy work to ensure that the needs of their communities are heard. 

• GiveOut has launched a world-first LGBTQI Climate Fund to support this ground-breaking work at intersection of climate change and LGBTQI rights, ensuring that activists have more of the resources they need to support their communities in the face of this crisis.

As the world looks to build back better and greener, the international LGBTQI grant-making charity GiveOut has announced a world-first Climate Fund to support LGBTQI organisations working around the world to tackle the climate crisis.

The COVID-19 pandemic has shown on a global scale that Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Intersex (LGBTQI) people are disproportionately affected in crisis situations. But the pandemic may prove to be a dress rehearsal for the greatest challenge of our time: the climate emergency. 

GiveOut projects that LGBTQI people are among the most vulnerable to the direct impacts of climate events, or from the consequences of any resulting service disruption, forced displacement, or conflict. This is because many LGBTQI people are living in countries which face immediate threats from the consequences of climate change and where LGBTQI identities are also illegal or repressed.

As Emme Kristi, Consultant on Climate Justice at GiveOut grant partner J-FLAG explained:  

“Climate change continues to highlight and widen disparities within society with poor people, indigenous and minority groups bearing a disproportionate burden of the impacts. LGBTQ+ persons, globally, have been marginalised and continue to be excluded from discourse around climate change impacts on vulnerable populations.”

In response to these challenges, LGBTQI organisations around the world are: 

• Undertaking ground-breaking research into the impact of the climate crisis on LGBTQI communities to build the evidence base about the scale and immediacy of this threat;

• Advocating for the needs of LGBTQI people in emergency situations, including in forced displacement settings and in partnership with humanitarian organisations;

• And engaging with local governments, international bodies, businesses, and NGOs around climate justice to ensure that their communities are not left behind. 

Through the new LGBTQI Climate Fund, GiveOut will enable individuals and businesses to support this pioneering work at the intersection of LGBTQI human rights and climate justice, ensuring that activists have more of the resources they need to support their communities in the face of this crisis.

Lee Dibben, Supporter Engagement Officer at GiveOut said:

“GiveOut wants to provide an opportunity for our community to proactively support organisations working to ensure that the voices and expertise of LGBTQI communities are heard in the climate justice space, recognising that this crisis requires an intersectional and global approach. With half-a-century of experience and success, the LGBTQI movement has much to contribute to the climate movement.”

Notes

GiveOut (@GiveOut_Org) is an international grant-making charity for the LGBTQI community. We provide a platform for individuals and businesses to give in one place to support LGBTQI human rights activism worldwide. We pool these donations to provide grants to LGBTQI activist organisations around the world, ensuring they have more of the resources they need to defend our communities, tackle inequality and campaign for lasting change.GiveOut is the world’s only organisation dedicated to building a sustainable and long-term source of funding for the global LGBTQI movement that is rooted in the philanthropy of our community and allies.

GiveOut is a charity registered in the UK with the Charity Commission for England and Wales (Registered Charity Number 1176434).