By Shayne Cytrynbaum ‘25 21 leading Jewish organizations in the United States and beyond have released Climate Action Plans, mostly for the first time ever, in a major show of support for climate activism within the Jewish community. These organizations are all part of the Jewish Climate Leadership Coalition, a network of Jewish organizations, federations, schools, synagogues, camps, and other community institutions committed to writing and publishing Climate Action Plans. The Coalition was founded in the spring of 2022 by Adamah, the largest Jewish environmental organization in the United States, and has come to include over 260 local, national, and international Jewish institutions.
“Together, we recognize the urgency of the climate crisis and our obligation to do more,” said Adam Lehman, CEO of Hillel International, in a promotional video for the new alliance. “Our Coalition represents major Jewish organizations, engaging millions of people of all ages and backgrounds across the world.” This group includes the Jewish Federation of North America (JFNA), the JCC Association of America, Hillel International and the Jewish National Fund USA. Also included are the synagogue associations of three of the four main Jewish denominations in North America — the Union of Reform Judaism (URJ), the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism (USCJ), and Reconstructing Judaism — plus their respective denominations’ rabbinical associations and the Orthodox movement’s Rabbinical Council of America. The founding members are rounded out by Adamah, the “Associated” Jewish Federation of Baltimore, Birthright Israel, the Foundation for Jewish Camp, the Jewish Agency for Israel, the Jewish Funders Network, JPro, Moishe House, the Network of Jewish Human Service Agencies and the Prizmah Center for Jewish Day Schools. “I think it's absolutely inspiring to see not only these major Jewish organizations coming together to combat climate change, but also over 230 other smaller organizations joining with them to develop their own plans over the coming year,” said junior Ady Goldman-Brown. “It gives me a lot of hope and shows me that even with all of the scary things going on right now, people are going to keep doing what they can to help the environment!” he added. The released Climate Action Plans range significantly in their ambitions, but key areas that excited many of the organizations included environmental education, reducing food waste and meat at their events, buying carbon offsets to compensate for the carbon emissions for flights and drives, and utilizing sustainable Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) investing strategies for their pension funds and endowments. In guiding the member organizations in creating their plans, Adamah divided these action steps into two main categories: “Getting to Net Zero,” which covers all institutional greening efforts and serves to make the member institutions more sustainable in their own right, and “Expanding Impact,” which includes education, advocacy, and finance and serves to rally the wider Jewish community to take climate action. “A lot of big organizations build buildings in places that aren’t exactly good, causing cities to move into natural areas, leading to species going extinct,” said junior Rikki Farkovits. “I want to see Jewish organizations create environmental impact reports for any facilities or construction to make sure this doesn’t happen.” To help the member organizations fulfill their Climate Action Plans, the Jewish Climate Leadership Coalition offers funding opportunities, including “Interest-free loans of up to $100,000, with a five-year pay-back, and matching grants of up to $10,000.” Membership in the Coalition is free for all organizations, so this fund has been levied entirely from private donations. However, Adamah is applying for green energy subsidies and tax credits made available to faith-based nonprofits by the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. The Coalition has also received grants from local partners that will allow for higher payouts in specific regions, including the Baltimore area and Orange County, California, and it is pursuing more of these opportunities in the future. By keeping costs low for member organizations pursuing their Climate Action Plans, Adamah and the Coalition hope to see all Jewish community institutions developing their own plans now that funding is less of a concern. “As Jewish organizations, we have an obligation to follow through on public pledges to Tikkun Olam,” said senior Hannah Weisz, Fundraising Director of the GOA Climate Activism Club. “Coming up with a plan is just the starting point, and I am so excited to see what we can do with these resources. Funding opportunities like matching grants and interest-free loans provide everyone in [the Jewish Climate Leadership Coalition], including our school, with the opportunity to start pursuing climate action now!” Hannah said. Golda Och Academy joined the Jewish Climate Leadership Coalition as an institutional member in September 2022, though a Climate Action Plan has not yet been developed. However, this year, the student-led GOA Climate Activism Club is focusing on renewing interest in a Climate Action Plan within the school community and administration and working with school leaders to develop as ambitious a plan as deemed possible in recognition of the urgency and severity of the climate crisis. “Last year, GOA joined the Jewish Climate Leadership Coalition. The Climate Activism Club now looks to work with our school administration to develop a tangible action plan,” said junior Oren Goldman, Vice President of the Climate Activism Club. “We hope to reduce GOA’s greenhouse gas emissions through the use of clean energy sources, carbon offsetting, climate education, and other strategies. The Climate Action Club is excited to work with the school administration and the wider GOA community to improve and sustain our school for future students,” Oren said.
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