Black Lives Matter in the Climate Movement

The document asserts that Black Americans are disproportionately affected by climate change and environmental hazards, noting a historical lack of attention to environmental racism in the mainstream environmental movement. It highlights a significant funding disparity, where environmental justice non-profits receive only slightly more than one percent of the funding awarded to environmental non-profits by 12 national foundations. The author calls for the climate movement to dismantle structural racism by allocating more resources to organizations led by Black individuals and prioritizing diversity and inclusion within advocacy spaces.

• Black Americans experience higher levels of concern regarding climate change and are more likely to suffer its impacts, such as extreme weather, compared to non-Hispanic White Americans. This is partly due to the disproportionate location of polluting industries in Black neighborhoods.
• Climate change and air pollution are linked to increased pregnancy risks—including premature, underweight, or stillborn babies—which affect Black mothers at a higher rate.
• The environmental justice movement is traced back to a 1982 protest against a PCB Landfill in Warren County, North Carolina, where a predominantly Black community felt targeted for hazardous waste based on demographics.
• There is a severe funding gap for environmental justice non-profits; of $1.34 billion awarded to environmental non-profits by 12 national foundations, only $18 million—slightly more than one percent—went to environmental justice organizations.
• Environmental non-profits lack transparency regarding diversity; only 3.7% of 12,054 studied organizations released diversity data, and only 2.1% revealed racial/ethnic data, though environmental justice organizations were more likely to do so.

APA

Fernandez, L. (2020). Black Lives Matter in the Climate Movement. Yale Program on Climate Change Communication. https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/news-events/black-lives-matter-in-the-climate-movement/

Chicago

Fernandez, Lisa. Black Lives Matter in the Climate Movement. Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, 2020. https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/news-events/black-lives-matter-in-the-climate-movement/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Fernandez |first1=Lisa |title=Black Lives Matter in the Climate Movement |publisher=Yale Program on Climate Change Communication |date=2 September 2020 |url=https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/news-events/black-lives-matter-in-the-climate-movement/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{fernandez2020black, author = {Fernandez, Lisa}, title = {{Black Lives Matter in the Climate Movement}}, publisher = {Yale Program on Climate Change Communication}, year = {2020}, month = sep, url = {https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/news-events/black-lives-matter-in-the-climate-movement/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }