Rihanna Just Put $15 Million Into the Fight for Climate Justice

Rihanna – music legend, fashion mogul, and superstar philanthropist – has announced $15 million in grants to organizations putting in work (work, work, work) to address climate justice. The grants, made by Rihanna’s Clara Lionel Foundation in collaboration with Jack Dorsey’s #StartSmall Fund, will go to 18 institutions in eight countries, including seven in the Caribbean.

“Climate disasters, which are growing in frequency and intensity, do not impact all communities equally, with communities of color and island nations facing the brunt of climate change,” the Barbados-born billionaire said in a statement.

According to an Associated Press report, groups receiving the grants all focus on climate justice and climate resilience, and include the Climate Justice Alliance, the Indigenous Environmental Network, and the Movement for Black Lives. They focused on organizations with female, LGBTQIA+, Black, and Indigenous leadership, as those groups are at increased risk.

“This powerful group of climate justice leaders and organizers from seven Caribbean countries and nearly all 50 states – relentless doers and innovators – are responding effectively and urgently to climate change,” the Clara Lionel Foundation states on its website, where a full list of the organizations is available. “We invite others to join us in elevating, funding and supporting these groups and others who are on the frontlines of the climate justice movement,” it reads.

While some big-money foundations prefer to give to massive environmental institutions, the Clara Lionel Foundation has chosen a different approach. Justine Lucas, the foundation’s executive director, noted that the goal of this project is to “build partnerships with grassroots organizations, acknowledging their deep understanding of what is necessary to achieve climate justice in their own communities.”

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