Grantmakers Without Borders Conference

Event Just Giving: Global Social Change Philanthropy
Date 8-10 June
Venue San Francisco, USA
Organizer Grantmakers Without Borders

Grantmakers Without Borders (Gw/oB) Executive Director John Harvey set the stage for the organization’s eighth annual conference in his opening remarks when he said, ‘If we do not solve the global challenges of energy, water and climate change in ways that address equity, social justice and human rights, we will not succeed.’

Climate change dominated the conference with all three of the plenary sessions devoted to the topic. The messages from climate change experts were sobering. Speakers stressed the urgency of corrective action to move away from fossil fuels as well as the rapidly narrowing window of opportunity to act. Technical solutions exist, argued Tom Athanasiou of EcoEquity, but the political will to implement them currently does not.

In keeping with Gw/oB’s commitment to ensuring that the voices of those most affected by global issues are heard, speakers from Fiji’s and Alaska’s indigenous communities spoke movingly about the impact of global warming, which is already threatening their traditional homelands and livelihoods. Several breakout workshops continued the focus on climate change by examining the critical role of women in addressing the issue and indigenous peoples’ approaches to combating global warming.

Many priority issues for Grantmakers Without Borders’ members – food security, water rights, natural resource conservation, alternative energy sources and human rights, among them – are directly related to climate change. Breakout workshops and roundtable discussions addressed all of these topics, highlighting models for grassroots action and promoting greater collaboration among funders.

Perhaps to balance the stark reality of climate change and the inadequate response to date, grassroots activists from Africa, Asia and Latin America shared inspiring stories about their work on a variety of social and economic justice issues. Their accomplishments, often under the most difficult of circumstances, brought to life in a powerful way the extraordinary social justice work that is taking place in disadvantaged communities around the world, often supported by small grants. 

But sounding the alarm and offering inspiration are ultimately not satisfying. The question the conference struggled with is what social justice funders can actually do to make a difference when confronted with such a massive global problem as climate change. Some useful examples were put forward – funding research on the effects of climate change on vulnerable populations, supporting local action to mitigate the consequences of global warming, and policy advocacy at multiple levels. However, the reality is that such efforts are likely to fall woefully short in the absence of a more aggressive framework for inter-governmental cooperation, business engagement, and citizen mobilization. 

Rob Buchanan is Managing Director, International Programs, at the Council on Foundations. Email buchr@cof.org

For more information
www.gwob.net