By Rev. Kelly Dignan
The UU Climate Justice Coalition consists of UU organizations coordinating and collaborating to enact climate justice. Grounded in a faithful call as a community of practice, we share resources, build skills, and organize actions that advance a future with climate justice, collective liberation, and a world where all life flourishes.
Currently, there are 11 participating organizations.
UUA Side With Love Organizing Strategy Team – Convener https://sidewithlove.org/climate-justice-1 | Organizes UU congregations nationally on no more fossil fuels, clean energy as a human right, and thriving communities through Create Climate Justice and Green Sanctuary 2030. |
| UU Ministry for Earth – Convener https://www.uumfe.org/ | Offers spiritual grounding and educational support for Earth care and climate justice. That includes congregational resources, online gatherings, and chaplaincy for climate justice activists and advocates. |
| Coalition of UU State Action Networks https://cuusan.org/ | State Action Networks address climate justice in their own way, often including state legislation and partnership with frontline communities. CUUSAN is represented in the Coalition by JUUstice Washington. |
| UU Animal Ministry https://www.uuam.org/ | Empowers individuals, chapters, and congregations to build justice and compassion for animals. |
| UU College of Social Justice https://uucsj.org/ | Collaborates, co-creates, and resources experiential learning for spiritually-grounded justice education. |
| UUs for a Just Economic Communityhttps://uujec.org/ | Helps UUs study economic and social systems and advocates for justice issues like The Green New Deal. |
| UUA Office of International Resources https://www.uua.org/offices/staff/international | Helps UUs study economic and social systems and advocates for justice issues like The Green New Deal. |
| UU Service Committee https://www.uusc.org/ | Advances climate justice globally, partnering with frontline communities. |
| UUs for Social Justice https://uusj.net/wp1/ | Advances national policies, legislation, and actions aligned with UU values for a just, compassionate, and sustainable world community. |
| UU Women’s Federation https://www.uuwf.org/ | Representing a community often impacted by climate injustice, UUWF builds covenantal relationships among Unitarian Universalist women that equip us all to be better co-conspirators and allies in the movement for collective liberation. |
| UU Young Adults for Climate Justice (UU Ministry for Earth) https://www.uumfe.org/get-involved/uuyacj/ | Supports young adult UUs in climate justice direct action, mobilizing, and more. |
The Coalition is open to inquiries from additional UUA “Related Organizations” who do significant work on climate justice or represent communities most impacted by climate injustice. Email office@uumfe.org.
I’m honored to be the co-convener of the Coalition, along with Rachel Myslivy, Climate Justice Strategist at UUA Side with Love.
UU Ministry for Earth was awarded a grant by the UU Fund for UU Social Responsibility to support our project management, monthly meeting facilitation and spiritual grounding for the work. The funding also supports technology and three outside contracted professional development workshops for coalition members.
We are using The Blueprint for a Multiracial, Cross-class Climate Movement Workbook to guide our planning.
To deepen our conflict management skills, we have engaged with Kai Cheng Thom for three workshops.
Implementing a common project this year is one of our commitments, and we have chosen the Climate Justice Revival, knowing that we can’t create what we can’t imagine. We hope your congregation joins us to reimagine a future of flourishing and collective liberation by registering soon!
At the 2024 General Assembly, the Coalition led a Cohort on June 21 and 22 called UU Climate Justice. All resources shared, including slides and recordings, are in this document.
UU World wrote an article about the Climate Justice Coalition. You can find it here and learn more about how UU organizations working together, instead of in silos, will produce exponential results. Collaboration is the way forward!
