Solidarity in the fight for racial justice

Blog Post Justice & Equity
Published June 2, 2020

Charlotte Pera

Former President & CEO

Over the past days, we have witnessed with anguish and heartbreak the brutal murder of George Floyd and the explosion of pain and anger that has swept across the United States and other parts of the world. Racism, bigotry, and police violence are an affront to our basic humanity and we reject them in the strongest possible terms.

While recent events have led us to this moment of profound awareness, we also recognize that George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and countless others have suffered at the hands of injustice for too long. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. believed that “the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice.” We share that hope and know that justice requires hard work, sacrifice, and, for many of us, reflection about white privilege. We stand shoulder-to-shoulder with those demanding change and racial justice in the U.S. and around the world.

Because of systemic racism, marginalized communities experience the greatest challenges and threats to their well-being — from climate change to the Covid-19 pandemic. At ClimateWorks, equity and justice are deeply embedded in our values and work to end the climate crisis. We are still very far from the world we want to see.

We will press forward with our work in pursuit of our vision of a planet that is a thriving home for all living beings for generations to come. In addition, we can and will do more to elevate diversity, equity, and inclusion in our own organization and global climate communities.

At this historic moment, we are committed to listening, learning, and acting to help end hate and injustice. Today, we don’t have all of the answers, but we will work together with others to achieve the solutions that are so desperately needed.