For Immediate Release: January 24, 2023
Media Contact: Olivia Tran, olivia@riffcitystrategies.com
Green 2.0 Highlights Environmental Organizations Failing to Commit to Transparency on Diversity
Major environmental organizations are resisting committing to Green 2.0’s Diversity Transparency Report Card — hindering progress towards a diverse climate movement
Washington, D.C. — Green 2.0 – the movement builder working to increase racial and ethnic diversity in the green movement – today announced some of the organizations failing to advance diversity and commit to participating in the annual NGO and Foundation Transparency Report Card. The environmental movement leader recently released its 2022 Report Card which found growing diversity in environmental organizations, but that the share of people of color in senior roles decreased slightly. The report had a record-breaking 68 environmental NGOs and 20 foundations participating, but more transparency and participation is required to build a winning climate movement.
The American Conservation Coalition, Climate Jobs National Resource Center, Earth Island Institute, Environment America, Environmental Working Group, Population Action International, Root Capital, and WildEarth Guardians are some of the organizations identified who remain silent on diversity efforts despite being repeatedly asked to participate in the Report Card. Population Action International has not provided data since 2020. Root Capital provided data in 2021, but not in 2022. WildEarth Guardians was first asked in 2022, but did not participate. The remaining organizations did not participate in 2021 or 2022. Amid ongoing impacts of climate change – from historic heavy flooding due to warming oceans – the climate movement requires a diverse set of voices and leaders to build a more effective, winning movement.
“There is no reason why any organization cannot commit to transparency about the diversity of their staff,” said Andres Jimenez, executive director of Green 2.0. “The only way we will win on climate is to have people of color represented at all levels of environmental organizations. Several prominent groups are eager to include ‘diversity’ in their mission statements, but fail to commit to action.”
Many of the organizations have failed to provide their data to the Report Card, despite insisting on the importance of people of color in the green movement. Earth Island Institute describes itself as the “largest, most diverse, and most skilled team” and the Environmental Working Group claims its team is a “diverse group of experts with deep knowledge about environmental health.” To make participation easy, Green 2.0 provides a best practices guide for collecting demographic data to help accurately count staff of color at environmental NGOs and foundations.
“It is a challenge to advocate for an equitable and just society in the absence of a diverse and inclusive organization,” said Dana Johnson, Senior Director of Strategy and Federal Policy Office at WE ACT for Environmental Justice and Green 2.0 Board of Director. “Green 2.0’s Transparency Report Card empowers environmental organizations and foundations with a transparent way to ensure the green movement is accountable to its values and to communities of color who are hit first and worst by climate change.”
From the 2022 Report Card, 36.5% of full-time environmental NGO staffers identified as people of color, up 3.5% from 2021. While these numbers indicate one area of progress, more needs to be done to address the lack of diversity across the green movement. When more organizations participate in the Report Card, the environmental movement can have a clearer picture of its diversity and better track where more progress is needed.
For more information about Green 2.0’s Report Card, please visit: bit.ly/2022-report-card. A video of key takeaways from the report is also available here.
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ABOUT GREEN 2.0: Green 2.0 is a 501(c)3 independent campaign working to increase racial and ethnic diversity among environmental organizations. Green 2.0 believes in a powerful, winning environmental movement grounded in equity and inclusion. To learn more about Green 2.0, please visit: https://diversegreen.org