Gender & Climate Justice
THE Jane Fonda Gender and Climate Justice Fund
The escalating climate and energy crises reflect and reinforce existing inequalities, with women and girls often bearing the greatest burdens in contexts of climate disruption and energy poverty. Structural barriers remain stark: by 2030 an estimated 341 million women and girls will still live without electricity (UN Women), limiting opportunities for education, health and livelihoods. Women experience energy poverty most acutely, bearing the health burdens of indoor air pollution from biomass cooking, which kills 3.8 million people annually, mostly women and children (WHO, 2021).
Climate-related disasters further reveal how discrimination drives unequal mortality rates and increases risks of gender-based violence in the aftermath. These disparities are mirrored in leadership: women hold fewer than 15% of top decision-making positions on environment and climate worldwide (UNEP, 2021), leaving their perspectives and priorities underrepresented in shaping energy and climate policy.
Recognizing this crisis, FWF established the Jane Fonda Gender and Climate Justice Fund—a bold intervention at the nexus of climate justice, gender equality, and energy transition. Jane Fonda, who serves on the board of Frontline Women’s Fund, embodies a lifelong commitment to social justice and gender equality. Today, that commitment extends to leading the urgent campaign to address the existential crisis of climate change and the need for a just energy transition. Aligned with her efforts, the Jane Fonda Gender and Climate Justice Fund aims to:
- Raise Funds for grassroots women’s groups and frontline communities.
- Catalyze Women-Led Solutions in renewable energy access, just transition models, and climate resilience.
- Shift the Narrative by centering feminist, community-driven approaches over top-down, technocratic solutions.
- Leverage Systems Change by linking grassroots innovation with advocacy to influence global climate and energy finance.
By focusing on women-led renewable energy and climate justice initiatives, the Fund tackles these urgent priorities simultaneously:
· Reducing energy poverty and improving livelihoods.
· Strengthening gender justice and women’s leadership.
Supporting women-led groups is not charity; it’s a strategy. Their solutions are cost-effective (community-owned renewables are often cheaper and more resilient than centralized fossil systems), scalable (grassroots innovations spread organically across villages and regions), and transformative (empowering women in energy transitions builds social justice alongside decarbonization).
Jane Fonda with Nemonte Nenquimo, founder of Ceibo Alliance, on a trip to Ecuador to visit the organization.
DONATE TO ADVANCE CLIMATE JUSTICE
Why ARE CLIMATE JUSTICE AND GENDER EQUALITY INSEPARABLE?
The escalating climate crisis makes this mission urgent. Women and girls—particularly in vulnerable regions—are disproportionately impacted:
- By 2030, 341 million women and girls will still live without electricity (UN Women)
- Indoor air pollution from biomass cooking kills 3.8 million people annually, mostly women and children (WHO, 2021)
- Climate change could push 132 million people into poverty by 2030 (World Bank)
- Amidst these disparities, women hold fewer than 15% of top decision-making positions on environment and climate worldwide (UNEP, 2021)
Of the $83 billion in global climate finance flows (2019–2020)
2%
reached frontline communities in developing countries.
(Oxfam, 2020)
0.2%
of philanthropic giving supports women’s environmental initiatives.
(Prospera, 2021)
Our grantees
Get to know our hardworking grantees. We proudly support these organizations and their missions.
Aksi! for Gender, Social, and Ecological Justice
Indonesia
Aksi! is a key advocate for clean energy in Indonesia, organizing grassroots women in communities impacted by extractive industries to demand equitable, community-led climate and energy solutions. Through policy advocacy, coalition-building, and feminist education, Aksi! is advancing a bold vision of energy transition grounded in justice and rights.
Ceibo Alliance
Ecuador
Ceibo Alliance unites the Siona, Siekopai, Waorani, and A’I Cofán Indigenous nations of the Upper Amazon to advance energy transition by defending Indigenous territories in Ecuador’s Upper Amazon from oil and mining extraction, uplifting women’s leadership, and building Indigenous-led alternatives rooted in environmental justice and sovereignty.
Kebetkache Women’s Development
Nigeria
Kebetkache Women Development & Resource Centre is deeply engaged in advancing women's rights, environmental and climate justice in Nigeria’s Niger Delta. They advocate for clean energy alternatives, climate financing, and policy reforms while training and mobilizing grassroots networks, all to move the region from fossil dependence toward a sustainable, equitable, and community-driven energy future.
Lumière Synergie pour le Développement
Sénégal
Lumière Synergie pour le Développement (LSD) plays an active role in fostering clean energy advocacy in Senegal by ensuring that community-led voices, especially those of women in highly affected sectors, are included in climate finance discussions. Their work aligns with the principles of ecological sustainability, gender equity, and genuine clean energy investment that directly benefits communities.