BIPOC Climate Justice Advocates Release Justice40 Policy Brief

WASHINGTON, May 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the HBCU Green Fund's BIPOC (Black Indigenous People of Color) Climate Scholars Project working in collaboration with the Land Peace Foundation and ACE National Framework Initiative released a report, Justice40 Policy Brief, outlining recommendations for advancing the Biden/Harris Administration's Justice40 commitments.

Aligned with Biden Executive Order 14008 requiring a Justice40 report to be conveyed to OMB and CEQ May 27, the Justice40 Policy Brief was created from conversations captured during the recent BIPOC Climate Justice Dialogue that brought climate scholars and experts together with government officials in advance of President Biden's Climate Conference this past April.

The report points out that addressing climate change demands a different kind of governance and suggests that the Justice40 commitment can be transformative by incorporating BIPOC leadership and investing in disadvantaged communities. It also states that BIPOC climate experts center justice and equity as primary goals or optimal drivers for just climate solutions.

Suggestions for the U.S. Federal Government to achieve Justice40 goals include:  

1. Allocate at least 40% of investments, not benefits, in all climate action directly to BIPOC-led projects and communities. 
2. Establish effective interagency coordination and government processes that incorporate the guidance and participation of BIPOC leadership. 
3. Collaboratively create a system of transparency and accountability for requesting, awarding, and reporting of financial flows and resources under the Justice40 Initiative. 
4. Meaningfully engage Environmental Justice (EJ) communities in the design of performance metrics for the Environmental Justice Scorecard and the Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool. 

While the recommendations that came out of the Dialogue convey a sense of optimism about the potential for Justice40 to be transformative, participants in the BIPOC Climate Justice Dialogue expressed concern over current governmental inadequacies demonstrated in serving disadvantaged communities.  

"This report summarized thoughts and ideas from scholars and experts from communities of color that have been instrumental in centering justice and equity as essential to effective climate policy. The HBCU Green Fund and other climate justice advocates hope to see recommendations from this Brief addressed," said Felicia Davis, founder of HBCU Green Fund. 

Climate leaders that participated in the BIPOC Climate Justice Dialogue about national climate goals and priorities include: Mustafa S. Ali, Elizabeth Yeampierre, Richard S. Gragg, Denise Fairchild and Sherri Mitchell.  Government officials included: Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry, White House National Climate Advisor Gina McCarthy, Senator Edward Markey, Congresswoman Alma Adams, and Deputy Director for Energy Justice Shalanda Baker.

The report can be downloaded at http://bipocscholars.org.

ABOUT HBCU GREEN FUND
The HBCU Green Fund promotes investment in sustainable campus solutions, interdisciplinary sustainability curriculum development, student and faculty engagement and just climate policy with a focus on historically black colleges and universities.

ABOUT LAND PEACE FOUNDATION
The Land Peace Foundation (LPF) is dedicated to the preservation and promotion of the Indigenous way of Life, which includes: the protection and preservation of Indigenous land, water, religious and/or spiritual rights; proliferation of cultural and traditional practices; strengthening of kinship roles, and; preservation of ceremonial ways of being. 

ABOUT BIPOC CLIMATE SCHOLARS PROJECT
The BIPOC Climate Scholars Project is established as a resource hub activating a national network of Black, Indigenous, Latinx and Asian/Pacific climate scientist and policy experts eager to advise, conduct and support research and implementation of public and private action to address climate change.

ABOUT U.S. ACTION FOR CLIMATE EMPOWERMENT COORDINATING TEAM
The ACE team promotes the alignment of climate education, workforce development, and civic engagement nationally to accelerate a just transition to a low carbon economy and coordinates multi-level participation in the development of an Action for Climate Empowerment (ACE) Framework to advance the US national strategy as articulated in UNFCCC and Article 12 of the Paris Agreement.

Contact: Edrea Davis
Phone: 770.961.6200/818.613.9521 (cell)

SOURCE HBCU Green Fund