In the face of the triple planetary crisis – climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss – community-led solutions are emerging as a beacon of hope for just climate action. Among these, youth-led grassroots movements are not only contributing significantly to these solutions, they are often leading the charge.

Young grassroots organisers have been behind many of the defining landmarks in climate justice and environmental protection over the past few years – from the recent groundbreaking ruling by South Korea’s Constitutional Court, where young plaintiffs successfully challenged aspects of the country’s climate law to protect constitutional rights, to young people’s crucial role in securing the establishment of the Loss and Damage Fund at COP28, the impact has been profound.

This is all proof that young people are the best renewable energy we have – so why are funders not resourcing these efforts at scale?

Despite their proven impact, less than one per cent of climate philanthropy goes into funding youth-led solutions. Some initiatives to support young leaders rely on traditional philanthropic models that do not always fully capture the dynamic and innovative spirit of young people’s solutions.