As the world looks to build back better and greener, GiveOut’s world-first Climate Fund will support LGBTQI activists working around the world to help 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.
Research by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change shows that people who are marginalised – including those facing discrimination – are especially vulnerable to climate change.
GiveOut projects that LGBTQI communities will be among the most vulnerable to the direct impacts of climate change related natural disasters and to longer-term consequences including service disruption, forced displacement and even conflict. This will be the case, especially for LGBTQI people in countries that are most threatened by climate change and where LGBTQI identities are also illegal or repressed.
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 governments, international bodies, businesses, and others around responses to climate change to ensure that their communities are not left behind.
With half-a-century of experience and success, the LGBTQI movement has much to contribute to the movement for climate justice, ensuring that those most vulnerable to climate impacts are at the heart of work to address them.
The LGBTQI Climate Fund provides an opportunity for individuals and businesses to support ground-breaking work at the intersection of LGBTQI rights and climate change, ensuring that activists have more of the resources they need to support their communities in the face of this crisis.
