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Community Builders of Color Coalition announces new fund to invest in climate change solutions for low-income communities

The Community Builders of Color Coalition, led by the African American Alliance of CDFI CEOs, announced the launch of the Justice Climate Fund, a new initiative that will maximize the dual priorities of the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, which are to rapidly reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and produce lasting health and economic benefits for low-income and disadvantaged communities throughout the country. The announcement was made at Inclusiv Conference 2023 in Memphis, Tennessee, the largest annual gathering of credit unions with the goal of financial inclusion in the U.S.

The Justice Climate Fund will aim to direct funding from the EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund to community-based lenders, including CDFI credit unions and loan funds and MDI credit unions, to ensure people and communities of color who have been historically excluded from mainstream climate finance can successfully implement proven green solutions and technologies. With its coalition of diverse community development financial institutions, the Fund offers a unique deployment strategy that can equip community-based organizations and financial institutions serving disenfranchised populations with the capital and resources to acquire zero emission technologies and support environmental justice activities that lower energy prices, cut pollution and create good paying jobs.

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