The Climate Justice Project, a collaboration between the Women’s Environmental Institute (WEI) and the Environmental Justice Advocates of Minnesota (EJAM), continues to move forward. EJAM recently hired their new Executive Director, Michael Neumann, who will serve as the EJAM Climate Justice Project Coordinator, parallel to and in partnership with Eleonore Wesserle, the WEI Climate Justice Project Coordinator.

The group continues to move forward in ensuring that Climate Justice, and with it equity and social justice, is a main focus of the new Green Jobs developments in Minneapolis and St. Paul. The project also continues to support a diversity of equitable climate change solutions with Climate Justice as their foundation.

The group is also exploring members’ reports back from the seventh session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII), whose special theme this forum was Climate change, bio-cultural diversity and livelihoods. Videos from this session of the UNPFII will be shown at an upcoming Climate Justice Working Group meeting.

The Climate Justice project was represented by WEI, EJAM, or both at a bevy of local events, including the May 23rd Green Jobs roundtable with Van Jones, the Little Earth solar panel Community Celebration and Feast, the Green By Design Conference, and the Chalchitlicue Environmental Justice Summit. Eleonore Wesserle also spoke on Climate Justice and Green Jobs at the May 9th Phillips Environmental Justice Forum and Feast, and the June 4th follow-up to that meeting. Both Eleonore Wesserle and Karen Monahan, the EJAM Community Organizer, continue to build relationships on the issues of Climate Justice and Green Jobs with community groups, community members, and local decision-makers.

Finally, please save the date! The Climate Justice Working Group is hosting a community forum and training on Climate Justice on Thursday, September 25, 2008, from 5:30pm-8:30pm, tentatively held at the Minneapolis Urban League. This forum will explore global warming and energy impacts on communities of color, indigenous people, and low-income communities and the issues of social justice and equity inherent in climate changes. Watch for a follow-up forum on equitable solutions in October, and a legislative forum later in the fall. More information to come!!