Bread & Roses
A toolkit for funders on equitable and gender-just climate action in the UK
Women and marginalised communities in the UK carry more of the cost when climate stressors hit. They do most of the unpaid care work, and that work increases when heatwaves close schools. They make up the majority of tenants in the social and privately rented homes where fuel poverty is concentrated.
This toolkit sets out the work funders can support so that these communities can survive the climate crisis and thrive through it.
Meeting basic needs
Climate action can reduce poverty or deepen it. This section covers affordable climate-ready housing, clean transport and nutritious food, retrofit for low-income renters, and routes into better-paid green jobs. It also treats care as climate infrastructure, with practical steps such as flexible budget lines for childcare, elder care and disability care within climate grants. Examples include Generation Rent, Women in Retrofit, Nourish Scotland and Wen’s campaign for a Green and Caring Economy.
Space to thrive
People need more than survival. This section looks at storytelling and the arts, grassroots sports clubs adapting to the climate crisis, and safe, climate-resilient community spaces with options for local ownership. It also covers access to green and growing spaces that prioritise the safety of women and marginalised genders. Examples include Climate Sisters, Football for Future, Community Savers, Black Girls Hike and Land in Our Names.
Shifting power
Climate solutions designed without the people most affected tend to repeat existing injustice. This section covers diverse leadership, decision-making moved to grassroots groups, and resourcing the response to the rise in violence against women and marginalised groups linked to the climate crisis. It also calls for gender-disaggregated data and participatory research. Examples include the Ubele Initiative, Women’s Budget Group, Black Country Women’s Aid, ClientEarth and Friends of the Earth.
Rethinking philanthropy
How you fund affects outcomes as much as what you fund. This section gives funders practical commitments, including following IVAR’s principles for grant-making and reporting, creating paid advisory roles for people with lived experience, and joining the UK Funder Commitment on Climate Change. It also points to ACF’s Origins of Wealth Toolkit for funders reflecting on their own history.
How we can help
Impatience Earth works with philanthropic foundations and businesses to take bolder decisions on climate. Since 2020, we have supported over 40 clients to make more than £250m of new funding available for climate action, reaching over 300 organisations. We can help you apply the findings of this toolkit, design a learning journey for your team, and identify where your funding can do most for gender-just climate action.