How Green New Deal Network Drives Policy Solutions for Climate Justice
Climate Justice | Social Change Leaders | Collective Action Fund
Tides partnered with the Green New Deal Network — a coalition of environmental and climate justice organizations — to oversee grantmaking administration and due diligence as they push for policy solutions to address the climate crisis.
Challenge
From extreme heat to toxic pollution, climate and environmental disasters have the most catastrophic effects in communities historically denied power — including economically disadvantaged communities, women, and communities of color. The Green New Deal aims to achieve climate justice by protecting citizens from growing environmental threats, while also addressing discriminatory policies that worsen impacts in these communities.
In 2019, a powerful coalition of 14 social justice organizations formed the Green New Deal Network to build momentum for this bold resolution in Congress. The network sought to:
- Create space for labor, racial, environmental, and climate justice leaders to work hand-in-hand
- Secure the passage of policies that achieve a just transition to a post-fossil fuel economy
- Spark grassroots support for the climate justice movement
Tides Solution: Collective Action Fund
The coalition established the Green New Deal Network Fund — a collective action fund — at the Tides Foundation. The coalition chose Tides for our shared commitment to advancing justice by shifting power to proximate leaders, along with the ability to:
- Create an efficient, compliant grantmaking process to channel funds to local leadership
- Grant 501(c)(3) dollars to 501(c)(4) advocacy organizations to support their charitable activities
- Harness the vision of multiple organizations in an impactful collaborative program
Impact
The Green New Deal Network’s early wins offer critical insights on how collaboration can lead to impact at scale.
Centering proximate communities is key to achieving justice. The Green New Deal Network prioritizes strategies that center historically excluded groups and the climate-related challenges they face, supporting solutions like training people to work in renewable energy. That’s why environmental justice organizations across the country in red, purple, and blue states have been selected to receive grants from the fund to provide frontline communities the resources they need to design and manage local renewable energy projects.
Mobilizing locally drives change nationally. The Green New Deal Network mobilizes local leadership across 24 states, all of whom take actions locally that pave the way for the passage of federal legislation that supports investments in environmental and climate justice. For example, the network supported the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, which directed $150 billion toward the clean energy industry and led to federal investments that address air pollution in frontline communities.
The fund has also made it possible for organizations like the Working Families Organization to work with policymakers to introduce legislation such as the Transform, Heal, and Renew by Investing in a Vibrant Economy (THRIVE) Act, which calls on the federal government to establish a program that will address the economy, racial justice, and climate change.
Driving change through legislation is possible. Since 2019, the Green New Deal Network has sparked the passage of a federal commitment and three major federal investment packages totaling nearly $3.5 trillion to push for environmental and climate justice.
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