Youth Climate Funding Study
Mapping the Funding Landscape for Youth-led Climate Solutions
A joint report by the Youth Climate Justice Fund and ClimateWorks Foundation
The 2025 Youth Climate Funding Study builds on the seminal 2022 Youth Climate Justice Study to deepen understanding of the funding experiences of youth-led climate organizations.
Combining a quantitative analysis of climate-related grants from 2022 to 2024 with in-depth interviews with youth organizers and ecosystem actors, the study maps current flows of philanthropic funding to youth-led groups, identifies persistent barriers that youth groups are facing in accessing funding and capacity-building support, and explores opportunities for philanthropy to more effectively resource youth-led climate justice efforts.
Funding Youth Movements for Transformational Climate Action
"As the Youth Climate Justice Fund grows, we remain deeply committed to centering young people in all that we do – by amplifying youth voices, responding to their needs, and investing in their visions for justice, equity, and sustainability. We invite funders, partners, and allies to rise to this moment, by funding youth movements boldly, creating spaces for youth to collaborate and learn, and standing beside them to build a just, climate-resilient future."
“Supporting youth-led movements is one of the most direct ways philanthropy can drive inclusive and lasting climate action. These groups are well-positioned to build trust in their communities, respond to intersecting challenges, and push for the kind of transformational change we urgently need.”
The Youth Climate Funding Gap
Despite growing recognition of the critical role youth play in driving climate action and justice, philanthropic support for youth-led climate action remains alarmingly low. In 2023, less than 2% of total global philanthropic funding was directed toward climate change mitigation. Within that limited pool, youth-led climate justice initiatives occupy an even smaller share. Of the grants made by the largest climate foundations between 2022 and 2024, just 0.96% supported youth-led climate justice efforts.
Over the three-year period from 2022 to 2024, 41 of the largest climate foundations made a total of 307 grants worth $85.9 million to youth-led climate organizing. Of this, nearly three-quarters of the foundations – 29 in total – made five or fewer youth-focused grants. These figures highlight a lack of strategic focus on supporting youth leadership in climate action. As young people continue to mobilize transformative climate solutions around the world, this funding gap underscores the urgent need for more sustained, scaled, and strategic support.
I think one is just for funders – and allies as well – to realize that having youth-led movements is very important, because these are the people on the ground. Sometimes we’re in a sense, invisible, because there’s no media coverage on what these young people are doing for their communities day in and day out.
Youth Climate Leader, Fiji
A lot of the time, it’s not just about receiving money – it’s about feeling like there’s foundational support from funders, and that funders see them on equal footing, even if the power dynamic isn’t the same. And I think that can only happen through actually speaking to young people – understanding what they need, who they are as people, why they care about the issues they’re advocating for, and what gaps the funding can help fill.
Youth Climate Leader, Nigeria
Global Disparities in Funding Inequities
Looking at youth-led climate organizing grants by region reveals stark geographic imbalances in philanthropic support. Youth-led groups in North America received by far the largest share of funding, followed distantly by Latin America, Europe, Asia, and Africa, while Oceania saw almost no funding at all. This disparity highlights how much of the youth climate movement in the Global South remains under-resourced.
For youth-led climate organizing in other countries to be funded at the same level as in the United States, an additional US$381 million in foundation grants is needed each year to close the gap.
Overlooked Youth Communities in the Global North
While funding inequities remain stark in the Global South, it is also important to recognize the systemic exclusion that also affects many youth communities in the Global North. Black, Indigenous, Romani, and queer youth organizers working on the climate crisis in high-income countries often also operate with limited resources and are frequently sidelined in funding conversations.
"Communicating to funders who want to support Indigenous communities in the Global South or in South America – but not Indigenous communities in northern Canada – can be difficult. These communities are left very isolated, because there’s this idea that just because they’re in Canada, they have access to things, when they really don’t."
Ecosystem Partner, Canada
Funding Diverse Climate Realities
A holistic approach to climate action and philanthropy entails supporting grassroots, youth-led civic engagement and community-driven solutions that tackle systemic inequities. This approach recognizes the leadership of youth who live these interconnected challenges daily, strengthening the global movement’s resilience and impact. This also means funding the full scope of what it takes for youth-led movements – especially those led by disabled, Indigenous, or otherwise marginalized young people – to engage and lead. By doing so, philanthropy can help ensure that climate solutions are not only community-driven but also accessible, sustainable, and just.
We invite funders to help create a more equitable and effective funding landscape for youth-led climate justice movements by:
- Providing flexible, multi-year funding to enable strategic, long-term organizing;
- Co-creating with youth movements and youth-led funds by investing in relationships and mentorship;
- Including young leaders at every level of decision-making – from advisory boards to strategy-setting – to meaningfully shift power
Download the Youth Climate Funding Study
For more insights and recommendations on creating a more equitable and effective funding landscape for youth-led climate justice movements, read our full report: