Revamp Engineering: Climate Change Fight Fund

GRID Alternatives

GRID Alternatives is a nonprofit organization that installs solar power and trains people for solar careers. Learn how they advance economic and environmental justice through renewable energy in communities across the U.S.

Remote Energy

Remote Energy trains and mentors solar educators and technicians in underserved communities across the globe, providing energy independence, career opportunities, and improved quality of life.

Here are a couple of impactful projects we have done this year:
• Worked with partners to create Solar Fundamentals educational videos in Native Languages (https://www.remoteenergy.org/education)
• Successfully completed two Women’s solar career pathway programs that included ~200 contact hours of education, mentorship, and job placement (in Kenya and on Lakota Land)- (https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/947021747)
• This year in our ASPIRE Solar Educator Program, we offered 65 mentorship and co-training experiences to new solar trainers worldwide.

International Council On Clean Transportation

The ICCT conducted the study that uncovered the high-profile Volkswagen diesel cheating scandal, and is the foremost NGO on vehicle regulations in major markets around the world. They give regulators the tools and data to strengthen emissions standards and accelerate the transition to electric vehicles, and they can independently test manufacturers for cheating.

Evergreen Collaborative

Evergreen Collaborative is a policy advocacy group that was founded by former staffers of Washington State Governor Jay Inslee’s 2020 presidential campaign. It designs and advocates for policy proposals while working alongside like-minded environmental organizations such as the Sunrise Movement and the Big Greens (e.g., large and well-funded environmental groups such as the Environmental Defense Fund). By working on policy advocacy and pooling resources with other organizations, Evergreen Collaborative seeks to influence Congress, the Executive Branch, and federal agencies. Evergreen Collaborative has developed blueprints and fact sheets for policy proposals such as the Clean Electricity Performance Program (CEPP), vehicle electrification, housing retrofits, and the Civilian Climate Corps. Many of these policy proposals have been in discussion for the Build Back Better Act. For example, the House Committee on Energy & Commerce has proposed and advanced the CEPP for the Build Back Better Act.

Rainforest Foundation Inc

What it does: Rainforest Foundation US works to protect the rainforests of Central and South America by partnering directly with those on the front lines: Indigenous peoples in Brazil, Peru, Panama, and Guyana, who are deeply motivated to protect their lands. The foundation supplies them with legal support as well as technological equipment and training so they can use smartphones, drones, and satellites to monitor illegal loggers and miners, and take action to stop them.

Why you should consider donating: Rainforest Foundation US has shown an unusual commitment to rigorous evaluation of its impact by inviting Columbia University researchers to conduct a randomized controlled trial in Loreto, Peru. Starting in early 2018, researchers collected survey data and satellite imagery from 36 communities partnered with the foundation and 40 control communities.

The results were published this year — and they’re encouraging. The program reduced tree cover loss, and the reductions were largest in the communities most vulnerable to deforestation (along the deforestation frontier).

So much of the donor money going into the climate fight gets poured into efforts within the US and EU; it may make sense to divert some of that money to efforts in key ecosystems like the Amazon rainforest, on which the global climate depends. Given that the past couple of years have seen massive fires and a surge of deforestation there, now seems like an especially good time to directly support the Indigenous peoples who are holding the front lines for all of us.

Institute For Governance And Sustainable Development Inc

THE INSTITUTE'S MISSION IS TO PROMOTE JUST AND SUSTAINABLE SOCIETIES AND TO PROTECT THE ENVIRONMENT BY ADVANCING THE UNDERSTANDING, DEVELOPMENT, AND IMPLEMENTATION OF EFFECTIVE AND ACCOUNTABLE SYSTEMS OF GOVERNANCE FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT.