Over the past year, the Youth Climate Justice Fund (YCJF) has been featured across various platforms, highlighting its achievements as well as some ongoing challenges. These appearances on prominent platforms have helped to amplify the importance of funding grassroots initiatives led by the next generation of leaders.

For those who may have missed it, YCJF is excited to share three key insights from recent articles that showcase its work and the broader impact of youth-led climate action:

Transforming Access to Funding 💰

Since its launch during New York Climate Action Week 2023, YCJF has aimed to shift at least $100 million to youth-led climate initiatives by 2030. Despite strong engagement, with over 2,500 applications in its second grantmaking round, the organization still faces challenges in securing consistent, multi-year funding.

As highlighted in Michael Kavate’s article ‘Youth Leaders’ Climate Fund Is Growing, But Not Fast Enough to Meet Demand’ in Inside Philanthropy, and based on the Youth Climate Justice Study, only 0.76% of climate grants currently support youth-led climate justice efforts, underscoring a critical funding gap. YCJF’s anniversary event at the Ford Foundation during New York Climate Week 2024 emphasized the vital role of youth-led funds in transforming access to resources for climate justice.

In the op-ed, ‘Young People Are the Best Renewable Energy: We Need to Fund Their Work’, featured in Alliance Magazine, YCJF co-Directors Joshua Amponsem and Nathan Méténier, alongside representatives from other youth-led initiatives—such as Uma Mishra-Newbery, Executive Director at FRIDA | The Young Feminist Fund, and Kat Cadungog, Executive Director of the Foundation for Environmental Stewardship (FES) - The Youth Harbour—emphasized the urgency of this mission.

Participatory Grantmaking and Youth-led Intermediaries 🤝🏾 

Participatory grantmaking is a key pillar of YCJF’s approach. Both articles highlight how YCJF, along with partners like FRIDA and The Youth Harbour, employs this model to ensure that young leaders have agency in decision-making. The process involves young applicants voting on grant allocations, ensuring that resources reach those who best understand their communities' needs. This approach is particularly evident in the Alliance Magazine op-ed, where youth-led intermediaries like FES and YCJF are spotlighted for pooling resources and providing rapid, flexible funding to youth-led initiatives.

Additionally, YCJF has proven essential in elevating youth-driven action within philanthropy. The Inside Philanthropy article emphasizes that grassroots groups—particularly those from underrepresented regions such as the Asia Pacific, Middle East, and Francophone Africa—are receiving much-needed support. However, the funding gap remains wide, and scaling these efforts is a critical next step.

What’s Next: Scaling and Capacity Development 📈

YCJF continues to expand its impact by committing support to over 90 partners in 40+ countries with grants ranging from $20,000 for local organizations to $80,000 for regional or international initiatives by the end of 2024. The current focus is on peer-based capacity development, fostering collaboration and shared learning among young leaders to enhance the effectiveness of their initiatives.

The Alliance Magazine piece also highlights the importance of youth-to-youth capacity development as a vital driver for long-term impact. Events such as New York Climate Action Week, held in partnership with the Ford Foundation, have become key platforms for showcasing these innovations. By building partnerships with donors and amplifying youth-led solutions, YCJF aims to increase the overall funding available for youth-driven initiatives—a vision that aligns with the themes in both articles.

The need for scale is clear: youth-led funds, including grasroots, indigenous-led, feminist and LGBTQIA+ initiatives, are at the forefront of climate justice work. However, to fully harness their potential, greater investments, collaborations, and opportunities for young leaders to take the lead are essential.
 

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You can explore more in the full articles:

  • ‘Youth Leaders’ Climate Fund Is Growing, But Not Fast Enough to Meet Demand’ by Michael Kavate in Inside Philanthropy here.
  • ‘Young People Are the Best Renewable Energy: We Need to Fund Their Work’ by Joshua Amponsem and Nathan Méténier in Alliance Magazine here.
     

Extra insight:

Additionally, you can check out the X thread crafted in collaboration with The Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF), where we dive deeper into YCJF’s mission and work.