FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Global Greengrants Fund to House the Environmental Defenders Collaborative
Global Greengrants Fund and fourteen other funders collaborate to mobilize resources to environmental activists under threat
(Boulder, CO) – September 20, 2019 – Today, we are proud to share that the Environmental Defenders Collaborative, a pooled fund that supports environmental activists, including Indigenous Peoples, women, and youth, around the world in the face of rising levels of intimidation, criminalization, and attack, will now be housed at Global Greengrants Fund, leading to greater collaboration and more effective grantmaking.
“Across the globe, local leaders and communities working to defend their rights to clean air, water, and lands are under increasing threat of criminalization and violence by governments and corporations who value short term profits over life and livelihood.” said Peter Kostishack, Director of Programs at Global Greengrants Fund. “The Environmental Defenders Collaborative brings together funders who want to protect these defenders, address root causes of violence and repression, expose abuses, and seek justice for victims.”
The Environmental Defenders Collaborative, comprised of 14 funders, including The Cold Mountain Fund, the Overbrook Foundation, Wallace Global Fund, and the Mott Foundation, makes grants to environmental activists and their advocates and allies to support their efforts to protect the environment and defend community rights in the face of large scale development projects. Since its launch in 2017, has approved $1.6 million in funding to international, regional, and community-level organizations worldwide.
“A partnership with Global Greengrants Fund is an exciting new chapter for the Environmental Defenders Collaborative, one that amplifies our ability to direct resources to activists on the frontlines of struggles to defend communities and the environment,” said Alison Wright, Director of the Environmental Defenders Collaborative. “It is an opportunity to deepen our understanding of needs on the ground and gaps in the current ecosystem of support for environmental defenders – and to work together through our networks to bridge those gaps.”
The partnership between Global Greengrants Fund and the Environmental Defenders Collaborative is helping to widen environmental defenders’ access to resources and strategic assistance by building stronger connections with human rights organizations, legal expertise, and other forms of assistance so they can continue to protect their communities and environment.
The grants awarded by the Collaborative aim to help grantees in a variety of ways, including:
- Improving the transportation of activists under threat as they travel to court proceedings involving community land rights
- Bolstering security measures for a local organization fighting a crackdown on environmental activism by the national government.
- Holding meetings among community members divided by mining interests that are seeking control over collective land.
Over time this partnership will help both the Environmental Defenders Collaborative and Global Greengrants Fund better serve communities advocating for their rights and their environment.
For more information, contact Alex Grossman, Director of Communications – alex@greengrants.org.
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ABOUT GLOBAL GREENGRANTS FUND: Global Greengrants Fund mobilizes resources for communities worldwide to protect our shared planet and work toward a more equitable world. We believe solutions to environmental harm and social injustice come from people whose lives are most impacted. Since 1993, Global Greengrants has awarded over 12,000 grants in 168 countries worth more than $71 million. Learn more at www.greengrants.org.
ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENDERS COLLABORATIVE: The Environmental Defenders Collaborative, a special project of by Global Greengrants Fund, is a pooled fund formed in 2017 to support civil society and environmental and human rights activists and advocates working at the community, regional, and international level.