Adamah, the new name for the merged organization of Reisterstown-based Pearlstone and New York-based Hazon, is launching a Climate Action Fund for Jewish community organizations to address climate solutions and reduce organizational greenhouse gas emissions.
The new $1 million+ Climate Action Fund — which includes both interest-free loans and matching grants — will be available to any member of the Jewish Climate Leadership Coalition. The coalition consists of Jewish community organizations that “recognize the existential threat and moral urgency of the climate crisis and commit to take action,” according to a press release issued on April 17, just five days before Earth Day.
There is no cost to join the coalition, and any Jewish organization in North America is eligible.
“This coalition represents an unprecedented mobilization of the Jewish world towards meaningful Jewish climate action, at pace and at scale,” Adamah CEO Jakir Manela said in the press release. “Our action team supports our coalition members with great expertise in emissions reductions, and with the launch of our Climate Action Fund, there’s simply no reason why Jewish leaders everywhere can’t join this effort to secure a livable future for our children.”
Adamah, which is headquartered at Pearlstone in Reisterstown, launched the coalition in 2022 with 20 founding partners representing major national and international organizations of Jewish life, including Jewish Federations of North America, JCC Association of North America, Jewish Funders Network and Hillel International.
Per the press release, more than 190 Jewish organizations across North America have joined the coalition. As part of this, they will create climate action plans that reduce their emissions and encourage their Jewish networks to participate in climate action.
“We believe that Jewish values demand a collective response to the existential threat that is the climate crisis,” said Risa Alyson Cooper, chief climate officer at Adamah. “Through the Jewish Climate Leadership Coalition and Adamah’s other programs and initiatives, we are working to catalyze climate action across the North American Jewish community. The Adamah Climate Action Fund is a tremendous resource that will help to motivate and strengthen climate solutions across our Jewish community institutions.”
The coalition also released an accompanying video with excerpts from a 2021 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Assessment. The video also includes messages from coalition members urging Jewish organizations to join the coalition and develop their own climate action plan so that, together, they may all take action to address critical issues affecting climate change.
The Climate Action Fund includes the following funding programs:
• Climate Loan Fund (National), providing interest-free loans of up to $100,000.
• Climate Loan Fund (Baltimore), providing interest-free loans of up to $170,000. This fund is open to all nonprofit organizations within Baltimore.
• Climate Grant Fund (National), providing matching grants of up to $10,000 per organization per year.
• Climate Grant Fund (Orange County, Calif.), providing matching grants of up to $10,000 (or up to $36,000 for solar panel installations) for organizations in Orange County, Calif.
Adamah plans to add additional regional funding programs.
Haydee M. Rodriguez is a freelance writer.
