The Climate
Justice Playbook
for Business
How to centre climate
action in Climate JusticeAtlantic Rainforest, photo courtesy of Guayakí Yerba MateContents

About this playbook

Chapter three: Case studies of Climate Justice in action

From our partners

Patagonia

Chapter one: Setting the scene

Climate change and its impacts on people

Climate injustice – by the numbers
What is Climate Justice?
Why should you care?
Is this guide for you?

Pukka Herbs
Seventh Generation
Guayakí
Chapter four: Collaboration in action

Chapter five: The personal journey to advance Climate Justice

Many options, no single solution

Chapter six: Bringing it all together and the road ahead

Without Climate Justice, success isn’t possible

The road ahead

Climate reset and a just recovery

With gratitude

The need for multi-dimensional thinking in climate action

The playbook teamUsing this playbook to move forward toward justicePartners and contributing businesses

Chapter two: Key insights, obstacles and questions

APPENDIX 1: Additional resources

Key insights

APPENDIX 2: Glossary of terms

Key obstacles

Key questions

About this playbook

The Climate Justice Playbook for
Business got its start during a regional
B Corp climate gathering in Taos, New
Mexico in early 2020. One major takeaway from the convening was that B Corps
cannot be successful in their efforts to
help solve the climate emergency without
centring all climate action and advocacy
in people and justice. Summit attendees
also recognised that as a predominantly
white, privileged community, they were illequipped to close the enormous gap
between their good intentions and their lackof Climate Justice awareness and practice.
Thus the Climate Justice Learning Task
Force was born, focused on closing this gap
through foundational learning as Step 1.
The opportunity to work in collaboration
to create a ‘Climate Justice Playbook for
Business’ arose in mid-2020. The playbook
partners, the B Corp Climate Collective,
B Lab, The Skoll Centre for Social
Entrepreneurship, and the Climate Action
Champion’s Team, began work together inearly Autumn 2020. The playbook model,
which shines a light on how companies are
4
Return to Contents

taking action and identifies practical steps
and resources business leaders can referto in their journey, is one that the B Corp
community employed in 2019 with thelaunch of The Climate Emergency Playbook.
The playbook collaboration team started
with a survey of over 40 active members of
the B Corp Climate Collective to explore
their current awareness and work on
Climate Justice. We followed with deep diveinterviews with 11 companies. The insights
and case studies from these interviews form
the core of this playbook. Aligned withthe original intent of the Climate JusticeLearning Task Force, this ‘Step 1’ in ourlearning journey, the Climate JusticePlaybook for Business V1.0 is essentiallya ‘landscape analysis’ that illuminates wherea group of purpose-driven businesses are on
their Climate Justice journey, key principles
and questions they are using to guide theirefforts, obstacles they are facing on theway, and how they are seeking to advance
Climate Justice on frontlines of theirbusinesses and in the communities they
touch.

As interviews progressed through December
2020, the substance of the playbook began
to emerge: we had a solid draft that was fullof real-world insights from and for businessleaders. But, it was also largely missing thevoices, stories and lived experience of thepeople most impacted by climate change inthe communities these companies touch.
We had focused our core interviews on
corporate sustainability leaders, most ofwhom are white, and failed to engage thepeople – employees, suppliers, frontline
communities – being most impacted byclimate change, violating some of the key
principles laid out in this playbook!
When we fully recognised this flaw inour process, we wanted to go back to thedrawing board on the entire playbook! We
took a breath, and instead sought a middle
way, seeking out frontline ‘Voices’ using
secondary sources, many of which had
been shared by the companies themselves.
While we knew this approach would not
be ideal, it allowed us to meet project
deadlines while also embracing the notionthat ‘perfectionism’ and ‘fear of failure’ areclassic white supremacy culture traits (readmore about this here), that are out of sync
with a justice-centred approach.
We’ve learned some big lessons in thepast four months, and not surprisingly,
they are the same lessons that havebeen shared within this playbook in termsof how, and how not, to advance Climate
Justice. We’re reminded that:
1. From the start of any effort, we must
centre diverse voices of people withlived experience.
2. We need to ask fundamental questions
about who and when, particularly
the need to build in adequate time toconnect with and centre diverse voices.
Doing things equitably should takelonger.
3. We should look for – and seek toavoid – the kinds of colonialist andpaternalistic traps and patterns businessleaders often fall into.
4. We can expect the journey to be
non-linear.

We present this version 1.0 playbook withthe utmost humility, and with strong
encouragement that you go forth in thesame way we did, actively searching for apath toward Climate Justice, making andowning your mistakes, and moving forwardwith new awareness and knowledge. The
process is not easy, but through it you
will be transformed. We look forward tolearning from your efforts. Together,
we will find a way.

No movement has
ever been built
without people who
disappoint you.
People are called to
be transformed inmovements.
Alicia Garza,co-founder of Black Lives Matter

5
Return to Contents

Vlad Tchompalov, UnsplashFrom our partners‘The High Level
Champions team for
COP26 is tasked withdriving and showcasing
the ambitious climate
action that is taking
place all across society.
Fundamental to our efforts is a recognition
that while climate change is a global crisis
that affects us all and knows no boundaries
or borders, it disproportionately impacts themost vulnerable in our national and global
societies. We cannot tackle the climate crisis
without addressing the global inequality
crisis. We cannot develop effective solutions
without recognising the differing impactsof climate change on different groups. The
Climate Justice Playbook can help eachof us understand what role we can play insupporting Climate Justice efforts. I hope
the playbook helps institutions learn fromthe work that other organisations are doing,and enables us all to have the importantconversation about how we might play
our part.’
Sayo Ayodele, Climate Action Champion’s
Team for COP26
6Return to Contents‘Our investments
in climate change
mitigation haveaccomplished little,
and our efforts tolimit its impact havefallen short. Yet there
is a solution: focusing on Climate Justice.
The business case for climate action is
irrefutable; the only way to solve climatechange is to address it through an equity
lens, to centre the frontline communities
most affected, to listen to the wisdom
within those communities, and to workwith them to create a sustainable future.
A Climate Justice lens strengthens current
and new climate action initiatives to be
more effective and efficient. The healthof people and the planet will improve.
Business opportunities will increase,climate-related costs will lessen, and ourresilience will grow. We are on a learningjourney, and we invite you to join us.'
Raj Aggarwal, President of Provoc, aCertified B Corporation since 2008,
Co-Chair of the Climate Justice Task Forceof the B Corp Climate Collective‘Business emissions are
the primary cause ofclimate change, therefore
it stands to reason thatbusiness is uniquely
responsible for solving
it – it is an obligation.
This crisis causes disproportionately
negative impacts on the people whoare least responsible for creating it –Black, Indigenous, and People Of Color,
communities that are impoverished andgroups who are minoritised worldwide.
As an organisation focused on mobilisingbusiness to do good in the world for all
people, B Lab is committed to BOTH
doing its part to equip businesses to solve
the climate crisis AND to build a just andequitable society while doing it. The work
we’re doing with our partners and B Corpsin creating this playbook aims to enlighten,
empower, and enable businesses to root
climate action in justice and anti-racism,
forevermore.’
Dr Ellonda L. Williams, Director of Justice,
Equity, Diversity & Inclusion,
B Lab Global

‘The Skoll Centre forSocial Entrepreneurshipis committed tounderstanding andtransforming thesystems at the root of
the world’s largest socialand environmental problems. It is with thissystems lens that we see the intersection of
the climate, economic, and inequality crises– and the power of Climate Justice solutions
that consider issues of equity, including
knowledge equity, as integral to our urgent
climate goals.’Jessica Jacobson, Programme Manager
for Research & Insights, The Skoll Centre
for Social Entrepreneurship Team,
University of Oxford

7
Return to Contents

Yerba mate growers’ community,
photo courtesy of Guayakí Yerba Mate

Chapter one: Setting the scene

Climate change andits impacts on people‘If we just focus on climate action, we’regoing to end up with a future that doesn’t
treat people fairly or, worse, deepens
inequality. At least personally, that’s not a
future that I want.’
Hana Kajimura, Sustainability Manager,
Allbirds

As the source of the vast majority of theplanet’s greenhouse gases, the businesssector is uniquely culpable for the climate
emergency. The business sector is therefore
responsible for demonstrating leadership in
eliminating emissions, drawing down carbon
as rapidly as possible, and directly addressing the injustices brought about or exacerbated by climate change.
As business leaders, we often get trappedin the notion that climate action is only
about decarbonisation. But when companies
pursue decarbonisation journeys without
taking into account the very real impacts
8
Return to Contentsof their decisions on people, they blunt
the impact of those efforts and, at worst,
do harm. climate and justice are fullyinterdependent.

There is no suchthing as a singleissue struggle,
because we do notlive single-issue lives.
Audre Lorde, Civil Rights Activist
and Author
Yerba mate producers in Brazil share a gourd of yerba mate,photo courtesy of Guayakí Yerba Mate‘Climate Justice is a way to encapsulate bothsocial and environmental movements into
one movement. It’s not people and planet
considered separately. It’s blending them
together equally.’
Katie Clark, Director of Sustainability, Happy
Family Brands'...it’s not choosing this or that. Or this, thenthat. It’s this and that.’
Sam Grant, 350.org, 'Black Environmentalists
Talk About Climate and Anti-racism'
New York Times, June 30, 2020

9
Return to Contents

Africa2.89
Europe8.13
NorthAmerica
7.81

Averagerisk scoreby region

South
America
5.69

75

CentralAmerica
4.05

44
33

Low

Oceania
4.93

39

MediumAsia
5.55

Caribbean
4.56

High

1. Degree of responsibility. Those who bear the
least responsibility for climate change are the ones
who will suffer the most.
2. Impact on lower income regions. Whennatural disasters strike, they hit poor communities
first and worst. Countries with lower incomes arebeing hit hardest by climate change.
3. Lack of capacity to deal with the impactsof climate change. Climate change is having
a disproportionately large effect on the mostvulnerable countries, communities, and people,
some of the least-equipped to deal with these
impacts.
4. Intergenerational impacts. Younger
generations will suffer these consequences more
greatly than their parents and grandparents.
5. Gender disparity. In many countries, women are
not only responsible for producing food, water, andchildcare, but also for managing these elements
within their larger communities. Women (andchildren) are more likely to die than men during
disasters.

Climate Change Vulnerability Index (2017)

ExtremeClimate and human rights organisations agree thatclimate change impacts people differently and in
profoundly unjust ways. As aptly described by Concern,a global humanitarian organisation, there are five
primary injustices at the heart of climate change:

Distribution of riskfor 191 countries

Climate injustice – by the numbers

1%

18.8M

92%

69%

The 50 least developed
countries of the world accountfor less than 1% contribution to
the worldwide emissions of greenhouse gases.
'Human Development Report 2007/2008: The
21st Century Climate Challenge' (PDF). United
Nations Development Programme.

92% of accumulated
greenhouse gas
emissions are
attributable to countries from the 'Global
North,' comprising only 19% of global
population. However, only 8% of emissions
are attributable to countries from the Global
South that are bearing, and will continue tobear, the heaviest consequences of increasing
global temperatures. Source: Hickel, Jason(1 September 2020). 'Quantifying national
responsibility for climate breakdown: anequality-based attribution approach for carbon
dioxide emissions in excess of the planetary
boundary' and Hickel, Jason (2020). 'Less is
more: how degrowth will save the world'. ISBN
978-1785152498.

10
Return to Contents

In 2017,18.8 million
people weredisplaced by disasters such as hurricanes,
landslides, and drought. Source: Global Reporton Internal Displacement, 2018

In 2020, 69% of 355
extreme weather
events were mademore likely or worse by climate change.
Source: Carbon Brief

34M

Climate change andextreme weather
has driven 34 million
people into acute food insecurity. Source: 2020
Global Report on Food Crises20%

By 2050, there will
be an estimated
20% increase inmalnourished children due to climate change,
according to the International Food Policy
Research Institute estimates. Source: Concern
Worldwide

For every person
who has the flexibility
to move if climatechange affects theirhomes, there aremany more who can't
pick up and move, andwill lose everything.
They’ll have to startover without savings
or local housing
options, because
their relatives andneighbors are also
affected.
Dr Colin Cave, MD, Director of External
Affairs, Government Relations andCommunity Health, Northwest
Permanente P.C.

What is Climate
Justice?
Climate Justice is the recognition thatclimate change is a human-made crisis
that has primarily been wrought by thosewith economic power and privilege,
while the effects of climate change have adisproportionately negative impact on thehistorically marginalised and underserved –primarily people of colour and low income
communities around the world. Climate
Justice means advancing climate solutions
that link human rights and development in ahuman-centred approach, placing the needs,
voices and leadership of those who are mostimpacted at the forefront.
Climate Justice is a complex, intersectional
issue that is woven deeply into economies,
cultures, and the natural world. For thisreason, businesses must approach thecomplex and intersectional opportunities
and challenges of Climate Justice with amulti-dimensional and systems-thinking
lens.
11
Return to Contents

In this playbook, you’ll see businesses
working with the communities they
touch, to listen, to learn, and to work
together on solutions to help ensurethat these communities are healthier,more economically equitable, and moresustainable. At this point in the process,none of these businesses has all the answers.
But they are all committed to moving
forward with a critical idea in mind: In thesame way that any truly meaningful
climate action places Climate Justiceat the centre, any meaningful Climate
Justice work is centred in, and led by,those communities and people mostimpacted.
'In order for us to stop and reverse climatechange, we need everyone involved. We needto give resources and support to those on
the frontlines... to those who sometimes caremore about climate change, but are often
mired in problems caused by it and can't
dedicate the time that they want to fight for
Climate Justice.'
Alison Czeczuga, Sustainability and Social
Impact Manager, Gaia Herbs

Climate Justicemeans recognisingthat the effects ofclimate change
will be felt
disproportionately
by marginalisedcommunities andpeople of colour.
Hana Kajimura, Sustainability Manager,
Allbirds'I like to think about Climate Justice as
shifting the power to where I believe it
belongs.'
Sarah Archibald, Senior Program Manager
North America/UK, PUR ProjetWhy should
you care?
As you will see described throughout thisplaybook, there are three main reasons you
should care about Climate Justice and want
to do something about it:
1.

Reducing climate change’s negative
impacts on people is the right thing
to do.

2. There is distinct, measurable
business value in doing your part tomake sure the people and communities
impacted most by your business arestrong and resilient.
3. Unless and until we centre Climate
Justice in all of our climate action andadvocacy, we will not achieve the climate
action goals we have invested in andattempted so far – and we will not solve
the climate emergency, for which thebusiness case is so clear.

12
Return to Contents

Global leaders have known aboutanthropogenic climate change forover 50 years. Climate activists havevaliantly strived for almost as long to
reduce greenhouse gases and rebalance thebiosphere.
Yet so little has been accomplished.
Why? Politics and big money interests,
including from the fossil fuel industry, haveplayed a significant role in hindering
progress. But that can’t be the only reason
so little progress has been made, especiallyin the context of such a terrifying andexistential threat to our species. One could
point to the fact that most climate activism
to date has focused on the technical science
aspects such as the amount of carbon in theatmosphere rather than on the impacts ofclimate change on real people and living
creatures.

Climate is like thebeating heart of thehuman body. If we
don't have a planet tolive on, then we can't
fix any social issues.
And what the Climate
Justice conversation
has brought to thetable is saying, if wesave the planet at theexpense of equality,
is that even a planet
we want to live on?
Hana Kajimura, Sustainability Manager,
Allbirds

Is this guide for you?
This guide is for you if you own or work fora business of any size or structure andyou want to have a positive impact on boththe climate and people’s lives. Whatever yoursector, wherever your location(s), you havethe potential to make a contribution
to Climate Justice. CEOs and otherC-suite leaders have a particularly powerful
opportunity to re-think what your business’s
accountability and roles are in response to
the climate emergency, including how you
understand and communicate it to yourkey stakeholders. There are tools, resources,
and provocative suggestions and questions
throughout this playbook that will meet you
where you are on this journey – whether
you’re 'climate curious,' 'climate committed,''climate courageous' – or somewhere in
between.

13
Return to Contents

Where are you on the journey?
Climatecurious

Business leaders curious to understand more about the climate
emergency and the impact on their business and communities.
Climate curious business leaders are open to learn, reflect and share.

Climatecommitted

Business leaders who understand the severity of the climate
emergency and are committed to taking action. Climate committed
business leaders are ready to roll up their sleeves and ready to workon activating – and upgrading – the plans they’ve already created.

ClimatecourageousBusiness leaders who are leading by taking brave and bold actionthat sets the pace for others when it comes to addressing the climate
emergency. Climate courageous business leaders are out in front
and moving the needle through radical strategies that help others go
further faster.

Many options,no single solution
When it comes to anchoring climate action
in Climate Justice, there are many options,but no single solution. For most businesses,
the pursuit of Climate Justice will meansome combination of efforts. The more wefamiliarise ourselves with the many aspectsof Climate Justice, the more we can see
opportunities to help advance it.
Some businesses may contribute byevaluating and changing their supply chainsto support the communities in which their
suppliers live and work. Others might
contribute by engaging staff or customers toraise awareness about Climate Justice issues.
Or you might bring in Lived Experience
Leaders as board members. No matter what
your business, it’s important to listen to arange of stakeholders, from your staff andcustomers to all of the communities affected
directly or indirectly by your businessactivities.

14
Return to Contents

Without Climate
Justice, success
isn’t possible
The business case for climate action has
long been clear. In order to thrive into the
future, we must tackle climate change,and doing so opens a broad expanse ofentrepreneurial opportunity. However,unless we focus clearly on Climate Justice,climate action has not and will not succeed.
We must bring diverse voices to the table
to broaden the scope of our knowledge anddevelop effective and mutually beneficial
solutions, or we will continue to fail. A
strong commitment to Climate Justice will
strengthen communities, promote health,help create sustainable economies, and help
businesses thrive through more culturally
diverse, healthy corporate cultures and moreloyal customers, among others.

[Climate Justice]means making
sure that solutions
are addressing thechallenge of lifting
up communities on
the margins, andcertainly making surethat the solutions
are not disconnectedfrom their needs, sothat we don't cause
more harm.
Gretchen Grani, Regeneration andSustainability Lead, Guayakí Sustainable
Rainforest Products, Inc.

Climate reset anda just recovery
With COVID-19 vaccines in distribution
and an end to the pandemic possibly insight, it has never been more crucial forus as business leaders and change agentsto embrace this moment as a portal, as
Arundhati Roy calls it, an opportunity toreset, start anew, fix what’s broken about
our old ways, and consciously design
and build a just, equitable andregenerative economic system thatdelivers wellbeing for all.

We need a multipronged approachfrom civil society,business andgovernment.
Alison Czeczuga, Sustainability andSocial Impact Manager, Gaia Herbs
15
Return to Contents

What can you do to create a better worldon the other side of this? Whether we callit a 'just transition,' 'just recovery,' 'green
bounce,' 'regenerative recovery,' 'climate
reset,' or 'building back better,' businessleadership is essential in this recovery.
These roadmaps can help you do the hard
work on the ground:•

Principles for a #JustRecovery from
350.org•

Fundamentals of a Regenerative
Recovery from the Alliance Center•

Wellbeing Economy Alliance’s '10
Principles to Build Back Better'•

Capital Institute’s 'Eight Principles for a
Regenerative Economy'•

Imperative 21’s 'Imperatives for the 21stCentury' focused on a RESET of oureconomy so that it works for everyone
and for the long term.

•

Kate Raworth’s Doughnut Economics,
principles for building an economy thatmeets the fundamental social needs ofall human beings without overshooting
our planet’s boundaries, protecting thedelicate biosphere upon which all life
depends.

•

The Earth Charter to help us see and live
into our shared responsibility for wholehuman family, the greater communityof life, and future generations – andturning our conscience into ACTION.

Yerba mateharvestingin Brazil,
photo courtesy of
Guayakí Yerba MateThe need for multidimensional thinking
in climate action
The challenges facing the world today areinterconnected, so the solutions must be,
too. Climate Justice requires businesses tochange their own practices. But it can’t stop
there. As Dr Ryan Rafaty at the Institute for
New Economic Thinking at University of
Oxford has explained:'Individual companies can be understood as'nodes' in a complex, multi-layered network
system (or 'social system'). The system isinherently pliable but there are many otherpowerful sources of inertia, so companies
have to strategise about how to use theirlimited time and resources to turn theirpotential (latent) power in the network into
active power.'

Meta

Consider that your businessis part of a complex,
interactive and holistic
living system. Take an
open-minded, systemicand evolutionary
approach,recognising thereal economy asConsider how youra complex living
business cansystem withincollaborate toother systems.
advocate for
It is often thepolicies thatworkers at theshape thelowest end of
regulatory
the value chain
context
who are mostfor thevunerable andmarket.
most impacted
by climate
injustice.

Macro

Return to Contents

Meso

Consider the web ofcontracts, formal orinformal, in family,
corporate, market,
civil and social
institutions.
ClimateJusticeis about
Consider the individual
action and resource
cultureallocation in your business.
change.

Micro* Inspired by the workof Andrew Sheng and Xiao Geng's
for the World Economic Forumwith thanks to Ryan Rafaty

16

Climate Justice action levels

Ensure a diverse set ofvoices, such as including
people from locations
where your business has
the greatest impact.

Using this playbook
to move forward
toward justiceexamples of how leading companies seek todo the right thing by the people they impact,
to forge a direct and mutually authentic
relationship with them, and to create real
Climate Justice.

In this playbook, you’ll learn from businessleaders, employees, and community
members who are exploring their own
pathways towards Climate Justice. The
Climate Justice Playbook represents stage 1of a longer-term collective learning journey.
Our hope is to meet a critical need byproviding businesses with practical resources
to help them navigate the intersectionalityof climate and justice.

This playbook is likely to raise morequestions than it answers. Knowing that,
our hope is that you will approach thiscomplex, intersectional topic with a deep
commitment to learning and with a spiritof humility and care for the people mostimpacted by climate change.

Business toolkits often feature handy
checklists and clearly ordered action steps
and clearly defined goals. If you came to
the Climate Justice Playbook in search ofthis kind of a precise roadmap, we invite
you to open your mind to a different kindof journey. The playbook does not offer astandard menu of options so that a businesscan simply 'check the box' on Climate
Justice. Instead, it provides real-world
17
Return to Contents

We invite you on a radical journey of learning,
truth, and action, and we earnestly hope you’lljoin us.
A waterfall in the Atlantic Rainforest,
photo courtesy of Guayakí Yerba Mate

Chapter two: Key insights,
obstacles and questions
Obstacles

Questions

1. It’s about learning andprogress, not about
checking boxes

1. Lack of understanding

1. Why is Climate Justiceimportant?

2. The journey is not linear
3. Everybody can havean impact

3. Entrenched businessbehaviours andpaternalistic/colonialist
mindset

4. Listening is critical

4. Lack of diverse voices

5. Start close to home

5. Siloed approach

6. Ask fundamental
questionsabout who and when

6. Insufficient resources

7.

8. Business risk

Insights

Perspective informs
priorities

2. Lack of accountability

7.

Shortage of models

2. Who bears the cost of climatechange?
3. How does climate injusticeimpact you and your family?
4. What can you do personally to
evolve your heart and mind on
Climate Justice?
5. How are you personallyadvancing Climate Justice?
6. How does climate injusticeimpact your business?
7.

8. Only fundamental systems
change can reverse longstanding inequities

18
Return to Contents

How is your business advancing
Climate Justice?

8. What barriers do you or yourcompany face?

19
Return to Contents

Yerba mate tea farmer,
photo courtesy of Guayakí Yerba MateKey insights

1

It’s about learning and progress,
not about checking boxes
Climate Justice efforts often mean goalposts
that are not clearly defined or are shifting.
This can be a hard mindset to adjust to; weare used to clear cut goals and the kudosthat come from meeting them. Instead, adifferent mentality is needed, one in which
we are comfortable with uncertainty andgradual evolution. This playbook offers
guiding principles and on-the-groundlessons that organisations can use tolisten, explore, learn, and build their own
frameworks and action plans for accelerating
Climate Justice.

2

The journey is not linear
Climate Justice efforts often unearth
patterns that are irregular, and on theground-solutions are often unique. That’s
because different communities engage
with social, economic, and climate issues

in distinct ways. In this context, traditional
goals may not be helpful. So make yourself
comfortable with uncertainty and gradualevolution.

3

Everybody can have an impact
Your business’s potential to makea meaningful impact may not directly
correlate to its size or level of resources.
'Resources' don’t need to be financial. Evensmall efforts can yield surprisingly large
impacts. And when businesses collaborate
on Climate Justice efforts, the impact ismultiplied.

4

Listening is critical
Try as we might, without deep
listening, we cannot understand the impactof our businesses and of climate change on
the communities in which we do business.
We need to ask to discover what kind ofchange communities want, how they wantto participate in that change, and on whattimeline they want change to happen. Unless
we listen, we can only impose solutions.

‘We've got a large Hispanic community that
does a lot of field work where we are. They
don't need us to tell them how to mitigate
challenges in a worsening environment. We
need them to tell us what they need.'
Dr Colin Cave, MD, Director of External
Affairs, Government Relations andCommunity Health, Northwest Permanente
P.C.

'You know the old saying, you never knowwhat someone else is going through? We’ll
apply that here. So when you’re talking tosomeone about water conservation, makespace for a potential reality that the only
water available to them is poisonous.
When you’re talking to someone aboutland, make space for a potential reality thatthe land was stolen from their ancestors,
extracted, and they’re now being told
to fix it. Make space for the painfullyironic realities that exist in our imperfect
movements.'
Vanice Dunn, Vice President ofCommunications, PolicyLink

20
Return to Contents

5Start close to home
It can be easy to look at Climate Justiceas an overwhelming task. But you don’t need
all the answers. Start close to home, where
you can have the most impact. Look clearlyat your company’s internal Climate Justicework – or lack of it. Then work iteratively
and in parallel both at home and in theplaces where your business has community
connections and environmental impacts.

7

6

8

Ask fundamental questions
about who and when
Before moving forward on a Climate Justiceinitiative, ask yourselves some questions: Is
this the right time for all key stakeholders toengage with this work? Do you have the rightpeople on your teams? Can you contributewithout putting too much stress on them?
Is the community you will collaborate withready to engage in and contribute to theprocess? Timing can make the difference
between success and falling short.

Perspective informs priorities
For many people, especially thosemost impacted by the disruptions causedby climate change, the challenges of dayto-day survival and well-being often takeprecedence over 'climate' related issues.
Many people lack basic resources, so theirpriorities are necessarily different – health,job security, and the ability to support theirfamilies.

Only fundamental systems
change can reverse longstanding inequities
Climate Justice is necessary because current
systems and frameworks have neglected theneeds of the most impacted communities.
While it’s important to find new solutions,
we need to remember that some of theapproaches we have relied upon in the past
have directly contributed to exacerbating
and perpetuating systemic inequities. To
make Climate Justice a reality, we need toleave some of these learned behaviours andways of thinking behind.

'It's been interesting just speaking to some of
my friends who work within Climate Justice
movements or racial equity. When I talkabout climate action and scope one and twoemissions reduction, and carbon footprint,
they're like, what are you talking about? This
does not mean anything to me...to those
who sometimes care more about climatechange, but are often mired in problems
caused by it and can't dedicate the time thatthey want to fight for Climate Justice.'
Alison Czeczuga, Sustainability and Social
Impact Manager, Gaia Herbs'For me, it’s a moral responsibility ofbusiness and individuals to ensurethat climate change mitigation doesn't
perpetuate decades of environmental
movements that are centered around white
people. We have an opportunity to rewrite
what the environmental movement is about
by centring Climate Justice.'
Katie Clark, Director of Sustainability, Happy
Family Brands

21
Return to ContentsKey obstacles
There’s no pretending this work is easy.
As with all equity work, the challenges are
real. Before you begin, you should be awareof some of the obstacles you may have tonavigate:

1

Lack of understanding
Before you can meaningfully engage inforwarding Climate Justice, it’s importantto understand what it means and how it’s
playing out throughout your business, andin the communities you touch. This means
moving beyond jargon and toward real
understanding.

2

Lack of accountability
Unless a business actively seeks tounderstand its true impacts, recognises what
it doesn’t know, and accepts responsibility
for its own actions and ignorance, it canbe difficult for it to find its voice, let alone
footing, on Climate Justice. Often this lackof accountability stems from lack of diversity
and/or lack of cultural literacy aroundjustice, equity, diversity and inclusion
22
Return to Contents

within the organisation. Addressing theroot causes of lack of accountability in thebusiness (such as shareholder primacy andshort-term thinking) through stakeholderbased approaches to governance, investing
the time and resources to understand thetrue impacts of one’s business practices,and consciously investing in diversity andinclusion efforts (or working harder on
existing ones) are among the first steps inaddressing this obstacle.

3

Entrenched business behaviours
and paternalistic/colonialist
mindsetMeaningful Climate Justice work often
requires business leaders to turn away fromdeeply ingrained patterns. A vast majorityof business practices demonstrate white
supremacy culture characteristics: powerhoarding, only one right way, fear of open
conflict and even perfectionism – among
others. Too often, we drive to problem-solvefor others in order to get things 'right'. Not
allowing space for 'failure' is paternalistic,even colonialist. It is imperative that wedevelop true learning organisations, where itis expected that everyone will make mistakes

and those mistakes offer opportunities forlearning. We must get comfortable withlistening and uncertainty. In our Climate
Justice work, we will collaborate with thosemost impacted by climate change to develop
and implement solutions jointly, often in
timeframes that are well outside the norm
for our businesses, because true, restorative
justice is not always swift.

4

Lack of diverse voices
Within our daily operations, internal
communications, and across C-suite
touchpoints such as thought leadershipforums, newsletters, and conferences, too
often the voices we tend to hear are all thesame. In this respect we’d hoped to do
better during this project, and we realised
early on that we would face this obstacle in
the research for this playbook. New – andmore diversely representative – voices mustbe centred so organisations can hear andlearn from them. Unless we do so, it willcontinue to lead to homogeneous, myopic
decision making and stifled innovation,
reducing the long-term health of ourbusinesses both culturally and financially.

5

Siloed approach
In many organisations, environmental/
sustainability teams often work separatelyfrom social impact teams. To practiceClimate Justice, we need to understand thatthe two are interdependent. In order towork effectively, you must connect the dots,
which means overcoming both cultural andoperational differences.

6

Insufficient resources
Companies can struggle to allocate
financial resources to Climate Justiceefforts. Whether seeking to redirect existing
resources or to find new ones, it’s criticalto consider your options and how you
define resources. As you evaluate existing
internal budgets, you might fund a Climate
Justice programme or action through yourmarketing, supply chain, or consumer
engagement team(s) and budget(s) – orthrough a foundation arm. As you’ll see inthis playbook, Climate Justice actions often
benefit the bottom line, and this can be key
to attaining C-suite buy in. It’s importantto remember that when it comes to Climate
Justice action, one size does not fit all, and23
Return to Contents

even small actions matter. And, as we’lllearn later, collaborations are a great way to
expand your capacity and reach.

7

Shortage of models
While climate and environmental
work has been a part of many business’ CSR
journeys for many years, 'Climate Justice'as a concept and as a field, especially inbusiness, is relatively new. For this reason, it
can be hard to find models of leadership andaction. The case studies and resources sharedin this playbook will provide models for
Climate Justice efforts that can inspire andinform your own.

8

Business risk
Businesses that take strong stanceson 'hot button' political issues like climatechange – and Climate Justice – may riskbacklash. But many of the business leadersinterviewed for this playbook said thatshowing integrity builds cultural depth
and customer loyalty, and that often, thebenefits far outweigh the risks. This is, ofcourse, a deeply personal decision for eachbusinessperson, and each business.

To effectively engage in Climate Justice,businesses of all kinds must lean into theseobstacles – and more. In fact, a huge partof Climate Justice work is taking the time
to identify, explore and grapple with them.
In this playbook, you will find examples of
how several companies have navigated thesechallenges to move forward on Climate
Justice.

Key questions
When it comes to Climate Justice work,
curiosity and an open mind are crucial
tools. If you take nothing else away fromthis playbook, we hope you will bring theseguiding questions to your daily encounters
within the walls of your business, andbeyond.

1

Why is Climate Justiceimportant?

2

Who bears the cost of climatechange?
Who is affected first and worst?

3

How does climate injusticeimpact you and your family?
To what degree do your economic, cultural,or geographical circumstances make you
culpable for climate change and its impacts?

4What can you do personally to
evolve your heart and mind on
Climate Justice?

24
Return to Contents

5

How are you personallyadvancing Climate Justiceon levels big and small, now and in the
future?

6

How does climate injusticeimpact your business?
To what degree do your company’s
economic, cultural, or geographicalcircumstances make it culpable for climatechange and its impacts?

7

How is your business advancing
Climate Justice,especially within your customer andemployee bases, where you source and/or
manufacture your products, and where you
operate?

8

What barriers do you or yourcompany facein seeking to centre justice in your climate
action? What might you do to overcome
those obstacles?

Atlantic Rainforest;
photo courtesy of
Guayakí Yerba Mate

Sometimes asking good questions is the bestplace to begin. Additional key questions canbe found in Chapter four.

25
Return to Contents

A river runs through the Atlantic Rainforest;
photo courtesy of Guayakí Yerba Mate

Chapter three: Case studies
of Climate Justice in action
The Patagonia story
Patagonia designs and sells outdoor clothing
and gear as well as ethically sourced, shelfstable food products through its Patagonia
Provisions division. The company was
founded by Yvon Chouinard in 1973, isbased in Ventura, California, and has been a
Certified B Corporation since 2011.
A self-proclaimed ‘Activist Company,’
Patagonia is not afraid to take a stand whenit comes to anchoring its climate action in
Climate Justice.

We used to help andsupport activists;
now we’re much
more in the trencheswith them.
Vincent Stanley, Patagonia’s Director ofPhilosophy, from the Climate Emergency
Playbook for Business
26
Return to Contents

Key principles anchoring
Patagonia’s Climate Justicework
1. Differentiate between climate andenvironmental justice: The term
Climate Justice falls under the umbrellaof a wide set of environmental justiceissues. While these terms are related,
they are not the same, and it’s important
to be explicit in the use of them in thiswork.
2. Collaborate for impact: Patagonia
collaborates with many grassroots
organisations on issues of climate andenvironmental justice. By doing so, they
are able to deliver much more impact
than they could alone.
Since 2003, for example, Patagonia
has provided funding and collaborated
with the Gwich’in Steering Committee
in the Canadian and Alaskan Arctic.
Composed of representatives fromthe Gwich’in people, the committee isfighting to prevent oil companies from
drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife

Refuge. Drilling would have a negative
impact on the Porcupine Caribou herd,
which provides the Gwich’in with theirtraditional source of food.
3. It’s a journey: Patagonia will also
be the first to tell you that they havea long way to go. They see themselves
on a journey of learning, discovery andsharing, expressing humility and actively
seeking opportunities to work withthose most proximate to the problemson the ground.

We are raised to protect the area. To us it’s notwork, it’s livelihood. It’s who we are, it’s our life.
Some people would call it activism, but we’re
just trying to protect our way of life.
Bernadette Demienteff, Executive Director, Gwich’in Steering Committee

27
Return to Contents

Bernadette Demientieff, Executive Director of Gwich’in Steering Committee.
Photo courtesy of Patagonia/Kahlil Hudson

Patagonia’s approaches to
Climate Justice work
1. Funding: Patagonia directly funds
grassroots organisations focused onland and water conservation, climate,environmental and Climate Justice, civil
democracy, biodiversity, and sustainablecommunities with a special focus on
indigenous communities.
2. Industry: Patagonia actively works
to change the industries in which it
operates, the outdoor, apparel and foodindustries, by convening and forwarding
sector- and issue-based sustainability
efforts such as the Outdoor Industry
Sustainability Working Group, theSustainable Apparel Coalition, and theRegenerative Organic Association.
3. Advocacy: Patagonia actively advocatesfor policy changes, with a particularfocus on its home market of the US andon conservation and Climate Justiceissues. Notable examples include theirlongtime efforts to stand with the
Gwich'in people to protect the Arctic
28
Return to Contents

National Wildlife Refuge as well as
their grassroots advocacy to advancethe Boundary Waters Wilderness Act,
among others. They actively raise theimportance of Climate Justice andprotection of public lands in leveraged
ways at both national and local levels.
4. Film-making: Patagonia directly
funds and/or creates pivotal films that
advance their commitment to climate
and environmental justice. One recent
documentary, District 15, tells the storyof youth activists and their fight against
oil and gas operations in the Wilmington
community in LA’s District 15, which isdisproportionately impacted by different
sources of pollutants.

'I've spent some time personally dealing withfolks in the [US] House and the Senate on
climate issues. Climate Justice is always partof the conversation.'
Avi Garbow, Environmental Advocate,
Patagonia
LA from the 'District 15' film. Courtesy ofPatagonia/Michael DarterAs an activist company,
we don’t wait to solve
problems. We’re notjust setting goals,
we’re acting now tosolve the climate crisis
with nature-based
climate solutions andnew ways of doing
business.
Ryan Gellert, CEO of Patagonia

29
Return to Contents

The Trans-Alaska Pipeline, an 800-mile pipeline that transports oil from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez, Alaska,
photo courtesy of Patagonia/Keri Oberly

Common obstacles to Climate
Justice work and Patagonia’s
advice to mitigate them
1. Stand your ground: Strong stanceson political issues can carry the risk ofadding to the division between ideas sothat views become more entrenched.
Patagonia believes that staying true totheir values is not only the right thing todo, but the benefits outweigh the risks.
2. Know the opposition: Understandthat there will be winds that blow
against your work. Lobby groups, suchas those representing the fossil fuelindustry, have actively advocated against
stances that Patagonia has taken. Know
who these opposition parties are so you
can be better prepared to defend againstthem.
3. Embrace your wider community:
Be clear on who your company’s'community' is – including but beyond
your customers and employees – andhow you will represent them.

30
Return to Contents

4. Expand your table: Build diversity
in the ranks of the leadership in yourcompany. Diverse backgrounds andperspectives that fully represent yourcommunity build better outcomes.
Going to the edge: Inspiration
for the road ahead
How can you push your work to a new level?
•Map the problem and the solution:
Part of addressing Climate Justice isunderstanding its scope. Patagonia
believes there is a need to understandwhere climate and environmental
injustices are taking place – and that
we need to create action pathways forpeople to address them. Patagonia
launched a map to help customers findlocal, grassroots initiatives focusedon climate and environmental justice.
What could your business do? Imagine
locating your business on a map alongwith climate and environmental justicechallenges you might have impact upon.
Then add other concerned citizens andbusinesses to the map. With a clear view,

you can mobilise, and track progress,
together. Could you crowdsource aversion of this map – harnessing thepower of collective action to identify
where these problems are located andswarm the right local actors to work
together to take action?
•

Nonviolent direct action: Patagonia
regularly organises Nonviolent Direct
Action training for its employees. What
could your business do?

•Partnerships: What can you do inpartnership with frontline organisations
in your communities?

Key principle: Collaborate
for impact

Collaborating with the Gwich’in
Steering Committee
The Gwich’in people have made theirhomes on the coastal plain of what is now
northeastern Alaska and Canada’s Northwest
and Yukon Territories for over 20,000 years.
They call the area that is now the Alaska
Wildlife Refuge the Sacred Place Where Life
Begins. And they depend upon the caribou
who live there as a critical source of food.
In the 1980s, oil companies and members of
the US Congress announced their intention
to open the Arctic Refuge to oil drilling,which would damage the Caribou’s calving
grounds. In 1988, a group of Gwich’in
formed the Gwich’in Steering Committee toblock oil drilling and permanently preserve
the Refuge.
Since its formation, members of thecommittee have worked tirelessly, testifying
in the US Congress and to representativesof the United Nations, speaking in publicforums, appearing in films, and promoting
their cause over social media.

31
Return to Contents

Gwich’in Elder Ernest Erick has served as
1st Chief of the Native Village of Venetie
Tribal Government and 1st Chief of Venetie
Village Council. He has been a member of
the Gwich’in Steering Committee since its
founding, and he has been outspoken in his
defense of Gwich’in land and culture.
'The land ties into the Refuge, the water ties
into the Refuge, the air space ties into the
Refuge. The way we take care of ourselves is
the way we have to take care of the world.'

It is our belief thatthe future of the
Gwich’in and thefuture of the caribou
are the same.
Jonathan Solomon, Gwich’in elder

Ernest Erick, Elder Advisory Board, Gwich’in
Steering Committee

Patagonia has supported the Gwich’in
Steering Committee with grants since 2003.
In 2016, Patagonia worked in collaboration
with the Gwich’in Steering Committee
to produce The Refuge, a documentary
film designed to bring the voices of the
Gwich’in and their efforts to preserve theArctic Wildlife Refuge, to the attention ofpolicymakers, activists, and their customers.

Porcupine caribou cross the braided streams of the Jago River in the Arctic
National Wildlife Refuge, photo courtesy of Patagonia/Austin Siadak

The Pukka Herbs story
Founded in 2001, Pukka Herbs designs andbrings to market blended herbal teas andsupplements to support personal wellbeing
drawing on principles of conservation,organic farming, and fair trade. Their strong
commitment to Climate Justice includes
work with their suppliers and growers
around the world. Pukka became a Certified
B Corp in 2016.
'The world is everybody's and it belongs toeveryone... We need to support everyone to
make sure that there's a world for the futureand support those who are most at risk fromthe impacts of climate change.'
Natalie Sluggett, Sustainability Specialist,
Pukka Herbs

32
Return to Contents

Key principles anchoring
Pukka’s Climate Justice work
1. Acknowledge the impact ofclimate change on people: For
Pukka, regenerative agriculture is both avital form of environmental preservationand essential for many people affected
first and worst by climate change.
Changing weather conditions havedramatically impacted many of the
farmers with whom Pukka works closely.
Managing issues like water scarcity isimportant for crop preservation, and in
turn, the financial stability of farming
communities.
2. Uplift local expertise at thecommunity level: Pukka iscommitted to uplifting local expertise,acknowledging that local expertise isoften more valuable than imported
solutions. The work Pukka does withparticular farmers in its value chain
does not occur in a vacuum. For issues
such as water scarcity, a solution for one
farm alone is insufficient. A community
approach is vital.
A woman picking green tea in Vietnam,
Courtesy of Pukka Herbs

3. Build strong partnerships: While
Pukka’s work is very much in its earlystages, they seek to pursue a holistic
approach to Climate Justice issues,
not only by forging links with NGOs,
but also by finding ways to work withother companies with similar regional
connections.
4. Centre collaboration, real
listening, and true participation:
For Pukka, a successful partnershipmust be built on a genuine willingness
and interest on both sides. It’s not about
imposing initiatives on their suppliers.
Instead, they emphasise listening to
suppliers and responding to their needs.
5. Take a broad and long-term view:
Pukka’s efforts consider not only theways in which climate change will be felt
more strongly in some communities, but
the effects on future generations andmillions of plant and animal species.

33
Return to Contents

6. Emphasise the business case:Pukka understands that Climate Justiceis the ‘right’ thing to do. They also makeplain that there are direct businessbenefits to addressing such issues. In
response to negative climate impacts on
crops in Turkey and Guatemala, Pukka
created models to identify where climatechange is likely to affect the herbs thatthey purchase. This clearly illustrates thebusiness value of Climate Justice action.

We've built
relationships withthe suppliers, andwe'd like to continue
sourcing from them...
we’d like to help
ensure that those in
our value chain havedecent livelihoods
now and in the
future.
Natalie Sluggett, Sustainability
Specialist, Pukka Herbs

•

•

•

Pukka’s approaches
to Climate Justice work
Community approach: Pukka sees Climate Justice as anopportunity for companies to pool resources, share theirexpertise, and invest in farmers who can demonstrate bestpractices. One example of their work to date is a project thatshares carbon footprint tools and training for their own suppliers,
and in turn for the people who supply them.
Environmental and social value chain initiatives: Since
its inception, Pukka has worked with Fair for Life, a fair tradecertification that promotes best environmental practices alongsidesocial practices. Additionally, in 2020, Pukka supported a ‘wild
collectors’ community in Kyrgyzstan by supplying COVID-19
hygiene packs to 233 households whose financial restraints would
have prevented them from accessing supplies.
Regenerative agriculture: Regenerative agriculturalinterventions address environmental preservation while
supporting farmer livelihoods. In 2020, Pukka and their supplierMartin Bauer Group contributed to a project supporting local
families in Paraguay to supplement their income by independently
managing beehives and selling their products to the local market.
Collectively, more than 640 people in 120 households now benefit
from increased income while boosting local biodiversity.

34
Return to Contents•

Common obstacles to Climate Justice work andPukka’s advice to mitigate them
Simplify the message and start at home: Like any
business, Pukka is challenged by how and when to talk about
Climate Justice with their customers and internal stakeholders.
When it comes to social justice issues, they are addressing theinternal audience first.

•

Avoid jargon: Climate-related terminology can be loadedwith jargon that obscures the issues and can be off putting forsome, making it difficult for some key stakeholders to engage. It’s
important to get clear about what we mean by Climate Justiceand make sure that all people across the business have a clear
understanding.

•

Understand what isn’t always visible: By their nature, theissues at the heart of Climate Justice work are often hidden. Invest
time in demonstrating these impacts to audiences you want tobring with you on this journey.

•

Have patience with your partners. Change on a community
scale takes time. Many Climate Justice projects are long term, thesolutions gradual and iterative. Approach the work with this inmind.

Going to the edge:
Inspiration for the road ahead
How can you push your work to a new level?
•

Find your authentic voice: For Pukka,
this is an ongoing process. Sharing where
you are, and where you’ve been canbe seen as weakness, but it’s actually astrength. No one has this figured out, andby being real in telling your stories, you
can invite your stakeholders to join you on
an engaging and worthwhile journey.

•

Integrate your words with concrete action: It’s critical toensure that external communication matches the internal work
you’re doing. If a business communicates about Climate Justicein order to increase its bottom line without doing the internal
work, the impact on the brand and the company’s culture will be
negative.

•

Think big, seek scale: Pukka is exploring how to work at scale– from a few farmers in the value chain to whole communities.
From the farmers with whom they work directly, to the manyother businesses that have suppliers in similar locations. How
could your business think beyond its own operations and value
chain to advance Climate Justice?

35
Return to Contents

Key principle: centre collaboration,
real listening, and true participation

A lady pruning in the old plantation garden at Kangra tea estates,
Himachal Pradesh where undulated terrain makes pruning particularly difficult.
photo courtesy of Pukka Herbs

We’re thinking about how
the impacts of climatechange are going to befelt differently by different
groups of people. Rich
people and poor people
for example, or between
generations.
Natalie Sluggett,Sustainability Specialist,
Pukka Herbs

36
Return to Contents

A woman prunes tea leaves in the old plantation garden at Kangra tea estates, Himachal Pradesh,
Photo courtesy of Pukka Herbs

Karnataka farmers build climate
resilience
According to Pukka CEO Karel Vandamme,'Pukka’s purpose is to nurture healthier,happier lives through powerful organic
plants and we choose to operate in aregenerative way to benefit people, plants
and the planet.' Put into action, this goal
has increasingly meant collaborating with
Pukka’s organic growers and wild harvesters
to mitigate the impact of climate change on
their work and their lives.
Pukka supports their efforts with a datadriven approach, gathering information
directly from the farm communities fromwhom they source the ingredients for theirproducts. In 2019, Pukka developed a newrisk modeling tool designed to analyse 56
sourcing locations to respond to and prepare
for current and future climate change
impacts.

and by 2040 will be at high risk for water
scarcity. This will directly impact farmers
who grow Pukka’s Fair for Life organic
turmeric. Pukka believes that while they
can’t change the weather, they can try tohelp the farmers in their value chain findnatural and regenerative solutions as theclimate changes.
In response to the water scarcity threat,
Karnataka farmers decided to draw on
Pukka’s Fair for Life premiums,
a community support fund provided

by Pukka and used on projects as thecommunity sees fit. In 2019, the growers
used premiums to plant 19,800 specificplant species – such as jackfruit, cinnamon
trees, vanilla vines and roses on farms
across Karnataka. These plants reduce soil
erosion, improve the soil’s ability to holdwater, increase nutrient cycling and provide
additional income.

One area analysed using the risk modeling
tool is Karnataka, a state in the Southwest
region of India. Based on the modeling,
Karnataka is already at risk of soil erosion,
37
Return to Contents

A team of women applying mulch in a young tea plantation in India. The mulch helps preserve soil
moisture, reduce weed pressure and releases nutrients as it breaks down, photo courtesy of Pukka Herbs

The Seventh
Generation story
Seventh Generation is an eco-friendly
cleaning, paper, and personal care products
company based in Burlington, Vermont.
Hardwired into Seventh Generation andevery decision it makes is a deep belief in
the importance of considering the impact of
their actions on the next seven generations.
Founded in 1988, Seventh Generation
became a Founding Certified B Corporationin 2007.
'Justice has to be a piece of our climate work.
It also has to be a piece of our health work,so we advocate for ingredient disclosureand toxic chemical reform. There's a justiceelement of it because we know that thepeople who are using cleaning products
day in and day out are often marginalisedcommunities, whose health is being
impacted by exposure to chemicals that areused in common cleaning products.'
Ashley Orgain, Global Director of Advocacy
and Sustainability, Seventh Generation
38
Return to Contents

Key principles anchoring
Seventh Generation’s Climate
Justice work
1. Explore how your products
intersect with Climate Justice:
Discovering how their products intersectwith climate injustice has been an
important part of Seventh Generation’s
Climate Justice journey. Over 90% of
the company’s emissions are generated
by consumers when using their products(bathing, washing dishes and clothes,etc). Current power generation practices
disproportionately impact the healthof the most vulnerable communities.
Making the connection between energy
use and generation was key to gaining
leadership and board support to takeaction.
2. Acknowledge where impacts areexperienced: At Seventh Generation,
Climate Justice is about addressing
the inequities of the climate crisis
that have emerged over extractive
practices from the fossil fuel industry.
Seventh Generation acknowledges

that these practices have impacted themost vulnerable and are hurting themfirst and worse. With this as context,
addressing Climate Justice means
looking for ways to address these issues
for those who are impacted greatest.
3. Identify where impacts are felt
most sharply: Seventh Generation
understands that people who use
cleaning products intensively and are
at risk for high chemical exposure tend
to be from vulnerable populations.
While Seventh Generation can mitigate
a health risk for their own customers,
the problem still exists for people who
cannot access their products.

In our business weknow we need to
improve the qualityof life for people, notjust today but forseven generations tocome. It is importantfor us to ensure thatthe last 400 years ofharm are addressedin the work that we
do today.
Ashley Orgain, Global Director of
Advocacy and Sustainability, Seventh
Generation

39
Return to Contents

Seventh Generation’s
approaches to Climate
Justice work
Seventh Generation has a range ofapproaches to taking action – and a social
mission board of independent advisors who
hold them to account on these initiatives.
1. Philanthropic funding: Seventh
Generation allocates half of its
philanthropic funding to leaders fromNative American organisations that are
identifying solutions to lead the way outof the climate emergency, including In
2020, NDN Collective, Thunder Valley
Development Cooperative, Circle of
Courage, Earth Guardians, and others.
2. Collective voice and campaigning:
Seventh Generation believes strongly inthe power of collective voice and action.
The Advocacy and Sustainability teamat Seventh Generation is focused on
the impacts of the business – setting
product standards, identifying ways
to be more sustainable through the
supply chain and using the voice of thebusiness to influence public policy andto educate and engage consumers inadvocacy campaigns. It has taken on theenergy generation system by working
with over 150 cities and 8 states inpartnership with Sierra Club and The
Solutions Project to campaign for 100%
renewable, just and equitable energy
production.
3. Consumer engagement: Seventh
Generation educates, engages andactivates consumers around the issueof justice in climate policies. They view
their role in the lives of their customers
as one founded on trust. This provides
an opportunity to tell a story, share anarrative and, ultimately, shift culture.
4. Collaboration: Seventh Generation
listens to, learns from, collaborates
with, and supports a range ofpartners, including The Solutions
Project, 350.org, the ACLU, The B
Corp Climate Collective, Ceres, theClimate Collaborative, the League ofConservation Voters, and many others.

Common obstacles to Climate
Justice work and Seventh
Generation’s advice to mitigate
them
1. Be comfortable with discomfort:
Sometimes it can be hard in a privileged,
predominantly white-led, and white
employee-based business. There can bea risk aversion to doing anything more
outward around justice and equity– and instead focusing on an ‘insidegame.’ But it is critical to get leadershipto recognise the importance of public
strategy – even if it is uncomfortable.
2. Go to your edge and invite others
along: Be as bold and courageous
as you can be, but know that not all
partners will be able to go as far or as
fast. Other partners may have a different
risk appetite. Overcome this tension
by acknowledging it and being as boldas you know you need to be, which canoften inspire others to join you.
Seventh Generation believes even the mostforward-thinking businesses have been
40
Return to Contents

playing it too safe and argues for a more
rigorous approach that speaks truth topower. Asking regular questions of yourself
like 'Are we being too safe?' and 'Are weasking just for what seems possible, or
are we being bold enough to call for thetransformation that is really needed?' canhelp overcome this obstacle.
'We're being too safe by playing to what weknow to be possible versus what we know
needs to happen. What needs to happen is atransformation. Transformation is not easy.'
Ashley Orgain, Global Director of Advocacy
and Sustainability, Seventh Generation

Key principle:
Acknowledge
where impacts
are experienced

Going to the edge: Inspiration
for the road ahead
How can you push your work to a new level?
Looking forward, Seventh Generation wants
to build a collective movement of businessaction around Climate Justice. Here’s how
your business can help.
• Create a social mission board to holdyou to account.
• Acknowledge the tension that exists incoalitions where different groups havedifferent objectives or risk profiles.
• Make sure that there is always aconnection between the details ofwhat people need and care about andyour practices and communications as
a company. Focus on showing people
in your organisation and outside thattackling climate injustice needs tobe part of our everyday lives – howimportant it is to the health of ourcommunities, our homes, our families,
and our economy.

Amplifying Climate Justice voices'So, to white people who care aboutmaintaining a habitable planet, I need you
to become actively anti-racist. I need you
to understand that our racial inequality
crisis is intertwined with our climate crisis.
If we don’t work on both, we will succeed
at neither. I need you to step up. Please.
Because I am exhausted.'
Dr Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, CEO of Ocean
Collectiv, Founder of Urban Ocean Lab, and
Co-Author of All We Can Save

For companies with a white
employee majority, taking on Climate
Justice can seem intimidating. Past (andeven current) actions may have focusedon imposed solutions. But as Seventh
Generation has discovered, the task can
be much easier if you approach the taskwith humility, and listen carefully to thecommunity you are approaching. A criticalpart of the process is starting where theimpacts are experienced.
In 2020, Seventh Generation listened
to minority communities and their
41
Return to Contents

representatives across the US, and responded
to their needs. This included supporting
the efforts of community activists around
New York State to help pass the Climate
Leadership & Community Protection Act(CLCPA). The law requires New York to
generate 100% carbon-free electricity by2020 and be 100% carbon-neutral by 2050.
Seventh Generation also donated $100,000
to the bail fund, which provides bail money
for Black Lives Matter protesters who havebeen arrested.

Engagement with these activists helps
Seventh Generation contribute to Climate
Justice while learning what they need toincrease their community collaboration andClimate Justice action. According to Ashley
Orgain, Global Director of Advocacy andSustainability at Seventh Generation, 'I'd saythat there are way too few of us looking at
Climate Justice – and the work that even weare doing is not aggressive enough. We need
to be less safe.'

Seventh Generation listened to black Climate
Justice leaders and amplified their voices
across the company’s social media platforms.
These voices include those of Tamara Tols
O’Laughlin, North American Director at
350.org; Dr Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, CEOof Ocean Collectiv and founder of Urban
Ocean Lab and co-author of All We Can
Save, a compendium of articles by women
Climate Justice leaders, and Rev Lennox
Yearwood, Jr, President and Founder of
Hip Hop Caucus and Think 100%’s Climate
Justice podcast, The Coolest Show.

On September 20, 2019, Seventh Generation closed its company headquarters in Burlington, Vermont to join
the Global Climate Strike in standing up for climate change action, photo courtesy of Seventh Generation

The Guayakí story
Guayakí is an organic beverage company
specialising in yerba mate products.
Guayakí believes yerba mate culture is aninvitation to personal, social and ecologicalregeneration. Regeneration of the planet is at
the heart of Guayakí’s business model, which
it calls ‘Market Driven Regeneration™.’
Founded in 1996 and based in Sebastopol,
California, with additional headquarters
in Florida, Argentina and Brazil, Guayakí
became a Certified B Corp in 2011.
'We need to involve marginalisedcommunities in the conversation and in
the problem solving, and make sure thatsolutions lift up historically marginalisedcommunities, connect to their needs, anddon't cause more harm.'
Gretchen Grani, Regeneration andSustainability Lead, Guayakí Yerba Mate

42
Return to Contents

A yerba mate farmer waters at the plant nursery,
photo courtesy Guayakí Yerba MateKey principles anchoring
Guayakí’s Climate Justice work
1. Listen and centre people on thefront lines: At Guayakí, Climate Justiceinvolves right participation, effective
listening, and centring the expertiseof groups on the front lines. Different
communities have totally different
needs, and doing this work well always
starts with listening.
2. Engage with your community:
Community engagement underscores
Guayakí’s work. Everything starts with
their relationships with Indigenous
communities, which must be mutually
beneficial, not extractive. Guayakí
invests in deep relationships with its
Indigenous and smallholder yerba mate
growers. Its workforce development
networks support returning citizens,and it has leaders with lived experienceof criminal justice issues.
3. Collaborate for impact: Guayakí
focuses on mutually beneficial
relationships across its operations. It
43Return to Contents

is influenced by strong relationshipnetworks and deep partnerships
it describes as a 'global networkof regenerators.' In Latin America,
this includes collaborating with theWorld Wildlife Fund in Paraguay
and a women’s cooperative to source
yerba mate and work on rainforest
preservation.

5. Pace your work: Climate Justice worktakes time, and some departments mayneed or choose to move faster thanothers. The job cannot be tackled all at
once. For example, a company’s internal
communications on Climate Justice may
be far behind their supply chain efforts.
It’s also important to meet people where
they are.

4. Connect the dots: Each organisationmust identify how they can bring theirunique resources together for optimal
impact. Guayakí contributes to Climate
Justice by bringing together two distinct
aspects of their experience: 1) theirclimate action and advocacy work, and2) the criminal justice work that they
pursue through workforce development
and advocacy.

6. Tune in to your customers: Be alert
to where the energy and passion of yourcustomers are, so you can be responsive
and interactive while advancing theimpact you seek.

'It feels like a much broader group who wantto talk about justice. This may be their entry
point to enter into climate discussions.'
Gretchen Grani, Regeneration andSustainability Lead, Guayakí Yerba Mate

Sometimes youneed to lay thegroundwork. You
can't hit them witheverything all at
once.
Gretchen Grani, Regeneration andSustainability Lead, Guayakí Yerba Mate••

Guayakí’s approaches to
Climate Justice work
Supporting the Stewards of
the Atlantic Forest: Guayakí
works closely alongside Indigenous
communities in Paraguay, Argentina,
and Brazil where the yerba mate usedin Guayakí’s products is grown. Thesestewards of the Atlantic Forest andtheir families increasingly feel thepressure of surrounding deforestation.
By collaborating with them to create
sustainable markets for yerba mate,
Guayakí helps ensure families living
there can stay on their land, keeping
the forest intact and earn revenue fromkeeping the forest intact.
Improving air quality incommunities where they work:
Guayakí is also deeply invested incommunities where they self distributein Canada, the US, and Chile. Guayakí’s
deployment of electric vehicles for 50%of their delivery fleet is a Climate Justiceaction that directly impacts health in thecommunities where their drivers live.

44
Return to Contents

Electric vehicles
are one solution
to decrease ouremissions, but theyalso bring value tocommunities where
we self distributeby preventing air
pollution.
Gretchen Grani, Regeneration andSustainability Lead, Guayakí Yerba Mate••

Common obstacles to Climate
Justice work and Guayakí’s
advice to mitigate them
Lack of internal engagement:
Guayakí admits that climate action
and climate justice issues do not yet
play a central role in their employee
engagement. Their current focus is onbuilding out their JEDI (Justice, Equity,
Diversity & Inclusion) Initiative, startingwith training all managers in fair andequitable hiring and inclusion.
Lack of internal resources. Guayakí
believes that you need adequate
resources to stay focused. One way
to ensure consistency and focus is to
first hire someone to oversee Climate
Justice work. Guayakí also recommends
connecting environmental and diversity
and inclusion leadership, so you canmove these issues forward together.

Going to the edge: Inspiration
for the road ahead
How can you push your work to a new level?
1. Start with questions and be
comfortable with multiple
answers: Guayakí believes the best
way to start Climate Justice work iswith questions such as 'What does an
inclusive conversation look like?' 'How
do you balance bringing marginalisedcommunities to the table with building
staff diversity and inclusion?' It’s
important to be open minded. This work
is evolving, and flexibility is key.
2. Collaborate to maximise
momentum: Especially when looking
to engage in policy work, you don’t
need to go it alone. There is power incollaboration with other businesses.
3. Practice patience: The Guayakí teamstrives to combine enthusiasm withdeep patience. It’s about laying the
groundwork first, whether that’s about
getting the right teams in place, joining
dots between departments, or investingin training.
45
Return to Contents

Key principle: Listen and centre
people on the front lines

Guayakí stakeholders tour a yerba mate nursery,
photo courtesy Guayakí Yerba Mate

I was born and raisedin this place. And
always taking careof the forest. The
rainforest preserves
shade, it helps
conserve water,
the animals thatstill exist … we areconserving naturefor us and for others
who need it.
Haroldo Schinemann,yerba mate grower46
Return to Contents

Yerba mate plant,
photo courtesy Guayakí Yerba Mate

Co-Creation in the Atlantic
ForestThe Atlantic Forest extends from
northeastern Brazil into Argentina andParaguay. It is the source of the yerbamate used by Guayakí. Extractive logging
and farming practices have reduced therainforest to a fraction of its original sizeand put extreme pressure on Indigenous andsmallholder communities there.
Guayakí has committed itself to sustainableagriculture and regeneration of the Atlantic
Forest. At the end of 2020 it achieved its
mission to steward and restore 200,000
acres of Atlantic Forest and create nearly
1,000 living wage jobs. It pays all its farmers
a fair trade price and premium for their
yerba mate.
In 2019, Guayakí convened 12 participative
workshops, in which 150 mate producers
and community stakeholders identified
their vision of sustainability and healthy
communities, as well as the obstacles thatstood in the way. Guayakí will use this input
to co-create new programmes and add to47
Return to Contents

existing ones that support forest stewardshipand food sovereignty, and preserve local
language, plants and other forms of
traditional knowledge.

Guiding regenerative
principle: Co-creating
programs with ouryerba mate producers
that take into
consideration theirunique contribution,reflecting theircultural, economic,
environmental, andhistorical contexts.
Guayakí 2019 Global Impact Report
A farmer sips from a gourd of yerba mate,photo courtesy Guayakí Yerba Mate

Chapter four: Collaboration in action

Voluntary action by individual businesses is absolutely necessary – but also insufficient – toaddress the scale of the climate emergency. Like-minded companies are putting their values,
hopes, and visions together for a better world – and accomplishing more by collaborating.
Companies of any size can contribute, and it’s not just about giving money: it’s aboutcollaboration using any strategy that works for you. Working through a Climate Justice lenscan enhance climate change efforts you are already making.
Six key approaches to advance Climate Justice through collaboration

Employees
and theirfamilies
PolicymakersClimateJusticeactivists

Proximatecommunities
Advancing
ClimateJustice throughcollaboration
Alignedbusinesses
Suppliers

48
Return to Contents

We hold ourselvesto account tomeet ambitious
sustainability
goals. In order toachieve these goals,
partnerships are key.
We can achieve more
together.
Christopher Hillman, Head of
Sustainability & Social Innovation,
Danone UK & Ireland

1

Advancing justice with
employees and their families
To advance Climate Justice, start byengaging employees and their families.
Such partnerships help diversify the voicesthat contribute to your climate action
strategy while also contributing to employee
resilience and increased opportunities forchange.
Dr Bronner’s established an internal Green
Team designed to include a range ofvoices from across the business in decision
making. This volunteer committee welcomes
representation from throughout thecompany and from all levels of tenure.
At Northwest Permanente, countless
medical supplies, many of them plastic, weretypically removed from their packaging in
preparation for surgeries. Yet many were
disposed of without ever being used. An
extensive behaviour change programme withsurgeons and operating room staff delayed
the opening of items until needed, providing
a significant environmental and business
impact.

49
Return to Contents

A yerba mate producer in Brazil enjoys a gourd of yerba mate,photo courtesy Guayakí Yerba Mate

2

Advancing justice withproximate communities
Advancing Climate Justice in collaboration
with local communities can make best sense
where you primarily operate, in the locationsof your primary suppliers, and/or where yourproducts are regularly being used.
For example, Guayakí Yerba Mate’s
distribution fleet in the communities where
they distribute their products is made up ofover 50% electric vehicles.

Kaiser Permanente is actively evaluating thegreenhouse gas emissions of the healthcare
industry, particularly to understandthe health risks posed by them in thecommunities they serve.

'We have a large agricultural workforce in
the Northwest, largely from the Hispanic
community. They don't need us to tell them
how to mitigate challenges in a worsening
environment. We need to listen to themand find out what they need. That’s why
they have to be at the table.'
Dr Colin Cave, MD, Director of External
Affairs, Government Relations andCommunity Health at Northwest
Permanente P.C.

We need to makesure that solutions
lift up communities– and certainly don't
cause more harm.
Gretchen Grani, Regeneration andSustainability Lead, Guayakí Yerba Mate

50
Return to Contents

Representatives from Guayakí's distribution centre
stand in front of a few of the distribution fleet's electric vehicles,
photo courtesy of Guayakí Yerba Mate

3

Advancing justice with aligned
businesses
Collaborating with aligned businesses –even your competitors – on Climate Justiceprojects can amplify and accelerate yourefforts. One place to start is with businesses
in your own sector with similar needs,
vendors, or locations.

through work with other companies thatshare regional value chains.

For example, Dr Bronner’s co-founded theRegenerative Organic Alliance along withPatagonia, Rodale Institute, and otherleading NGO’s, farms, and brand partners.
Visionary, pre-competitive collaboration
was crucial in creating this trailblazing
new certification that is a holistic approach
to farming that treats healthy soil as thefoundation for good farming, while taking
good care of the farmers, farm workers, andthe farm animals who work and live on theland – nourishing plants, people, animals
and help mitigate climate change.

'Collaborating on common challenges
increases our impact. Together we canmaximise the availability of collection
points, helping consumers recycle pouches
which aren’t widely recycled today.'In addition to working with their suppliers,
Pukka Herbs’ regenerative agriculture work
helps the company reach beyond Pukka’s
direct supply chain and farmer network
51
Return to Contents

In the UK, Danone yogurt brand partneredwith fellow B Corp Ella’s Kitchen andTerracycle to establish a food pouch
recycling consortium.

from 33 countries committed to Net Zero by2030. It was the largest and most aggressive
climate commitment to date by a groupof businesses — and 20 years ahead of theParis Agreement 2050 targets. The B Corp
Climate Collective will reconvene in April
2021 at the first B Corp Global Climate
Summit. The BCCC is a shining example ofwhat business can achieve when they are
united in purpose and offers an exampleof the kind of radical, pre-competitive
business sector collaboration necessary tohelp stabilise the biosphere and build a just,equitable, and regenerative economy.

Christopher Hillman, Head of Sustainability &Social Innovation, Danone UK & Ireland

Within the B Corp community, a group ofaligned businesses – the B Corp Climate
Collective – has been collaborating toadvance climate action and justice since 2018
through best practice learning, sharing anddissemination regionally and globally.

'These businesses totally inspire me. I’m very
connected to other sustainability leadersand people leading social justice work, andI couldn't achieve my work without thesepartnerships.'

In December 2019, at COP25 in Madrid, 533
members of the B Corp Climate Collective

Gretchen Grani, Regeneration andSustainability Lead, Guayaki Yerba Mate

4

Advancing justice with suppliers
Climate Justice is a powerful lensthat can strengthen existing climate workwithin your own value chain. For example,
Pukka Herbs works with and follows thelead of their suppliers to strengthen theirresilience to changing weather. Projects
include improving water use and antierosion strategies and supporting suppliers
to diversify their incomes through additional
efforts such as keeping bees.
Northwest Permanente sources food locallyto support nearby communities.
'It’s about purchasing with an environmental
and a social lens: we want to look at theirproduction practices so that we can see
who is building things in a responsible way,
as well as who is taking care of the peoplebuilding those things.'

Dr Colin Cave, MD, Director of External
Affairs, Government Relations andCommunity Health at Northwest
Permanente P.C.

52
Return to Contents

A team of women pruning the 'Old plantation' at Kangra Tea Estate, Himachal Pradesh,
photo courtesy of Pukka Herbs

5

Advancing justice with Climate
Justice activists
You don’t have to be an expert to contributeto Climate Justice. Collaboration with
Climate Justice organisations and advocates,
as well as those who have lived experience
with the impacts of climate change, can
expand your understanding and reach while
amplifying your collective impact. There
are many ways to highlight their expertiseand experience, such as contractingwith them to lead and/or participate incompany trainings, events, and conferences,
remunerated features in newsletters or social
media, and funding their work directly. Paid
Advisory Board positions can also integrate
activists and experts into the perspectives
that inform your company.
'Some of the best presentations I've everseen are by folks speaking from the heart.
It’s important to switch up the dynamic andwho's at the table. Every panel should havethat inclusivity. The folks who want to speak
up should be heard.'

Sarah Archibald, Senior Program Manager,
North America/UK, PUR Projet
53
Return to Contents

Seventh Generation, for example, directly
supports Native American organisations
that are actively working on climatechange solutions, such as NDN Collective,
Thunder Valley Cooperative Development
Cooperative, Circle of Courage, and Earth
Guardians.
Patagonia, as a co-founder of 1% for thePlanet, has given over $100 million over theyears to thousands of grassroots groups.

'We rely on focus groups. I'm really proud of
the way that we support our group members.
We will hire a local cook to cook the mealand provide a daycare so that the focus
groups can centralize the voices of women.
We’ll have our local teams come in to makesure we speak all the right languages. Our
team is incredibly diverse and focused on
being accessible and approachable.'
Sarah Archibald, Senior Program Manager,
North America/UK, PUR Projet

In 2020, Allbirds launched the Allgood
Collective, a group of activists exploring
Intersectional Environmentalism andcommunity change. Allbirds highlighted
the voices of the Intersectional
Environmentalist community in their#ChangeClimateChange social media
campaign and also featured members ofIntersectional Environmentalist as models
for their clothing line.
At PUR Projet, once they are clear on which
communities to centre, they ensure thatthey reach and engage those communities
effectively.

Photo by Liam Edwards, UnSplash

6

Advancing justice with policy
makersClimate Justice intersects with a number ofpublic policy issues including health, climate,energy, environmental, and agricultural
policy. Many businesses ground their actionsin Climate Justice with significant public
policy partnerships.

In the UK, Danone co-chair the
Collaboration for Healthier Lives, whichbrings together retailers, manufacturers,
NGOs, and public health officials suchas PHE, Guy’s and St Thomas’ Charity,
Impact on Urban Health Programme andthe University of Oxford, to explore ways
to encourage consumers to make healthiermore sustainable dietary choices, and how tomake them more accessible.
Danone is committed to partnering on
innovative projects that address local
challenges and can be replicated. Throughpartnering with Hubbub and other brands
to test recycling and behaviour changeinterventions, the success of a recent trial

54
Return to Contents

saw recycling rates double in one city centre.
This project will now be replicated acrossother cities.
At Seventh Generation, Climate Justice isdeeply connected to advocacy, with fullawareness that the health impacts relating
to toxic chemicals and lack of ingredientdisclosure disproportionately affectmarginalised groups.
Happy Family Organics makes their Happy
Baby® Clearly Crafted™ Jars available tolow-income households that are nutritionallyat-risk through the Special Supplemental
Nutrition Program for Women, Infants,
and Children (WIC), a US federal assistanceprogram for healthcare and nutrition of
low-income pregnant women, breastfeeding
women, and children under the age of five.
Patagonia has a strong track record of
advocating for policy changes on Climate
Justice issues in the US, including longtime
advocacy to protect the Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge, standing alongside theGwich'in people, helping to advance theBoundary Waters Wilderness Act, and manyothers. The Advocacy team at Patagonia
focuses their advocacy work on economic
growth opportunities for local communities
that come with addressing public health andthe climate crisis.

When initiating
conversations with
suppliers and growers,
it is important to listen
and hear from them
about the challenges
they face. Only thencan we develop
solutions together.
Natalie Sluggett,Sustainability Specialist,
Pukka Herbs

55
Return to Contents

A team of tea harvesters in China using a machine to harvest Green Tea,
photo courtesy of Pukka Herbs

Chapter five: The personal journey
to advance Climate JusticeHow can we be in the right place mentally,
emotionally, and spiritually to do thehard work of advancing Climate Justice?
Simply put, the work of creating a morepeaceful, just, and sustainable world starts
from within – within our own hearts andthe state of mind we bring to it every day,
moment to moment.

Mindfulness
Mindfulness can be cultivated in manydifferent ways, whether through daily
meditation practice, centring prayer,
walking meditation, breathing exercises,
etc. The choice of which method(s) you
use to cultivate mindfulness in your own
consciousness is a personal one.

Climate change and climate injustice
are inherently stress-inducing. The daily
practice of cultivating a calm, centred stateof consciousness can greatly improve ourability to respond to ourselves and otherswith kindness, compassion, and wisdom,
to see possibilities and solutions, andultimately, to enable us to contribute greatly
to our own healing and to healing ourtroubled world.

'Meditation is not a quick fix. It asks us
to slow down so that we can experience
ourselves lovingly… Meditation opens us tolevels of consciousness that lie deeper thanour intellect. Our disguises fade and ouraggression diminishes. Our mind becomes
tranquil and more manageable, and we act
more wisely toward others and ourselves.'

A daily mindfulness practice and personal
journaling are two powerful, timetested tools you can use right now to
begin cultivating the state of mind andconsciousness to be an effective change
agent for Climate Justice.

56
Return to Contents

Ruth King, Founder of Mindful of Race
Institute, LLC, and is a celebrated author,
educator, and meditation teacher.

Photo by Fiona Smallwood, Unsplash

Benefits of mindfulness in advancing Climate Justice(from Coming To the Table)

•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

Defuse stress and experience greater calm
Explore the mind-body relationship
Heal embodied life trauma
Connect to our feelings
Expand our sense of who we are, beyond our fears and self-judgment
Deepen focus, concentration, and understanding when anxious or fearful
Increase awareness of conditioning and habits of mind associated with bias, positionally, and blindspots
Increase capacity for emotion-regulation when 'triggered'
Ameliorate effects of stereotype threat
Increase capacity for perspective-taking and compassion
Find genuine happiness
Discover inner resources that can change our everyday lives
Awaken our capacity for insight and wisdom
Transform our worldview from one of isolation and confusion to one of connection, clarity and compassion
Broaden our perspective and deepen our courage, based on seeing things just as they are(sources: Insight Meditation Society,
ColorInsight Practices, and Coming to the Table)
57
Return to Contents

Journaling
Similarly, the daily practice of personal
journaling can be a powerful tool in yourwork to advance Climate Justice. Journaling
can help you deal with the powerfulemotions that will inevitably arise while
dealing with such complex challenges asclimate change and injustice. Journaling
can help you manage anxiety, reducestress, and cope with depression. It canhelp you prioritise problems, fears, andconcerns, recognise triggers and learnways to better control them, and provide
an opportunity for positive self-talk andidentifying negative or limiting thoughts
and behaviours.

58
Return to Contents

Here are some useful questions and prompts
to help you get started journaling as a daily
practice:•

Despite all the challenges in the world
and in my life, what am I grateful fortoday, in this moment?

•

How can I use time in nature to better
enable me to connect with climatechange and do the work of advancing
Climate Justice?

•

What am I doing to inform myself about
the impacts on the people most affectedby climate change?

•

How can I build greater awareness ofand empathy for the reality of climatechange felt by other people and otherliving creatures? Where can I go to feelthe change that is happening?

•

How do I respond to discomfort?

•

How do I respond to complexity?

•

What am I doing to get comfortablewith discomfort and complexity?

•

Do I have places and people with whom
I can share these thoughts? If not, how
can I build them into my life?

•

Do I allow for quiet time to grieve forthe impacts of climate change on ourplanet and all living beings?

•

What are some of the 'Dragons ofInaction' – or barriers to positive
Climate Justice action – that I mightface on the road ahead and what can I
do to diagnose and 'slay' them? (Source:
The Dragons of Inaction: Psychological
Barriers that Limit Climate Change
Mitigation and Adaptation, by Dr
Robert Gifford, American PsychologicalSociety, 2011). See Dr Gifford’s useful
self-diagnostic tool.

Additional resources
for your personal journey
Mindfulness practice and journaling are
just two aspects of a healthy lifestyle that
can help prepare you to advance Climate
Justice, particularly for managing thestress and anxiety associated with climatechange. Other practices you might consider
are eating a healthy, balanced diet, getting
adequate rest, exercising regularly, andavoiding excessive drug or alcohol use.
There are many resources available to help
you on this journey. To get you started,
see Appendix 1 within the Climate JusticePlaybook for Business.

59
Return to Contents

Photo by Justin Kauffman, Unsplash

Chapter six: Bringing it all together
and the road ahead
Equitable and regenerative

Centring business climate action in justice:
Making the mindset shift
As you’ve learned in the pages above, consciously
centring climate action in Climate Justice requires
a fundamental shift in mindset and action, fromextractive and exploitive toequitable and regenerative
approaches.
Simplistic,
focused on
decarbonisaHomogenetion
ous, myopic
decisionmakingrooted in new power models, creating
sustained social and evironmental
well-being
Multidimensional,
systemic,intersectional(this AND that)

Commandand control,
corporate-led

Whitesupremacist
tendencies

One sizefits allLinear,deadline
and KPIdriven

Focused on'checkingthe box',getting it
done.

Extractive and exploitativerooted in old power models, perpetuatinga cycle of harm and injustice60
Return to Contents

Full awareness,accountability
for negative
impacts

Diverse,intersectional,
culturally aware
decision making

Focusedon imageand virtue
signaling

Paternalistic,colonialistic'we've got thesolution'Centred in andinformed bycommunities
and people
most impacted

Focused onlearning andprogress

Consciously
anti-racist

Contextual,knowing thatperspective
matters

Deep
listening andcollaboration;'how can wesolve this
together?'Non-linear,
comfortable withuncertainty
and gradualevolution

The road aheadThis Climate Justice Playbook for Businessis the first step in a long-term collective
learning journey for B Corps and allcompanies that are seeking to do theirpart to address the climate emergency. We
present this work with great humility, andvery much consider it Version 1.0, withadditions and amendments to come.
Lessons learned
As part of our own learning journey, we
acknowledge the limitations of ourefforts so far, most notably the limited
scope of input that has gone into this firstversion of the playbook, especially fromthose individuals and communities mostimpacted by climate change. We plan toaddress these shortcomings directly infuture efforts.
The Climate Justice Playbook for
Business, Version 2.0.
Based on our learnings to date and theshortcomings of this first process, we’re
excited to begin work on Version 2.0 of
this playbook in 2021. Version 2.0 will
61
Return to Contents

include new insights and strategies froma far broader and more inclusive set ofperspectives as well as new opportunities forcompanies from a broader range of sectors
and business size to engage in meaningful
efforts to advance Climate Justice. Version
2.0 will also include more and deeper stories
about Climate Justice from the perspectiveof frontline communities most impacted byclimate change, to share the stories of thepeople doing the work on the ground andshow how practical Climate Justice strategies
can be put into action.
Climate Justice: A curriculum forbusiness leaders
In 2021, we hope to work closely with
Climate Justice leaders from diverse racialand ethnic backgrounds, geography,
business sectors, and communities to use thecontent of version 1 of this playbook as thefoundation of a Climate Justice curriculum
for business leaders. This module-based
experiential course will focus on raising the
Climate Justice and anti-racism literacy andcultural competency of business leaders.
Early elements of this course will be beta

tested at the first annual B Corp Global
Climate Summit in April 2021.
B Corp Global Climate Summit
In April 2021, the B Corp Global Climate
Summit will bring together B Corp leadersfrom around the world for a three-day
virtual climate convening. The Summit
will focus on deep learning, communitybuilding, and radical knowledge sharing,
including evolving the B Corp community’scollective understanding and practice of
Climate Justice. The summit will include
both global and regional local language
content focused on forwarding the work of
the B Corp Climate Collective. The Climate
Justice Playbook will play an essential rolein the content of this gathering, and theSummit will also be used as an incubator fortaking the playbook to the next level.

If you’re interested instaying tuned into thiswork, we invite you tojoin the B Corp Climate
Collective. We also
want collaborators! If
you have ideas about
how to forward Climate
Justice in the businesssector, how to advancethe ideas started in thisplaybook, or interest in
supporting this workin any way, pleasereach out to climate@bcorporation.net
62
Return to Contents

Photo courtesy of Guayakí Yerba MateWith gratitude
This playbook would not have come to life
without the vision and contributions of somany organisations and individuals. These
contributions came in a variety of forms,
from significant pro and low bono work to
direct financial contributions and voluntary
advisory support.
We’d especially like to thank:•••

The mission driven businesses whoshared their Climate Justice stories:
Allbirds, Danone UK & Ireland, Dr
Bronner’s, Gaia Herbs, Guayakí
Yerba Mate, Happy Family Brands,
Northwest Permanente P.C.,
Patagonia, Pukka Herbs, PUR
Projet, and Seventh Generation.
The design team at Saïd Business School,
led by Denise Legge and especially Mark
Vice, Senior Designer.
Deanna Bratter, Head of Sustainable
Development at Danone North America,
and the Danone North America team63
Return to Contents•

for their direct financial contribution to
make this playbook possible.
And lastly, sincere thanks to ourreviewers, including Dr Zainab Kabba
and Jessica Jacobson of the Skoll Centre
for Social Entrepreneurship at Oxford
University, Sayo Ayodele of the Climate
Action Champion’s Team, Dr Ellonda
Williams of B Lab, and Erin Callahan at
the Climate Collaborative.

The Playbook Team
• Raj Aggarwal, President of Provoc,
Co-Founder of the B Corp Climate
Collective, and Co-Chair of the Climate
Justice Task Force of the B Corp Climate
Collective• Dr Ellonda Williams, Director of Justice,
Equity, Diversity and Inclusion at B Lab• Charmian Love, Co-Founder & Chair at
B Lab UK; Entrepreneur-in-Residence
at Saïd Business School, University of
Oxford, and Co-Chair of the B Global
Climate Task Force• Kim Coupounas, Global Ambassador at
B Lab, Co-Chair of the B Global Climate

•
•
•
•

•

Task Force, and Co-Founder of the B
Corp Climate Collective
Charlotte Sewell, Strategic Advisor to
the B Global Climate Task Force
Karen Lickteig, Strategic Advisor, B
Corp Climate Collective and B Lab
Gary Miller, Communications Specialist,
ProvocDr Zainab Kabba, Associate Director
for Programmes and Jessica Jacobson,
Programme Manager for Research
Insights at the Skoll Centre for Social
Entrepreneurship at Oxford University
Sayo Ayodele and the Climate Action
Champion's TeamOur partners

Contributing
businesses

64
Return to Contents

65
Return to Contents

Photo courtesy of Guayakí Yerba MateAPPENDIX 1: Additional resources

If you’ve got this far in the playbook, thankyou for joining us on this learning journey!
No matter where you are on this path, below
is a short list of resources that was sourcedorganically from B Corp leaders, B Lab,
Sistema B and external experts and is meant
to serve as knowledge and inspiration, not acomprehensive primer on climate change or
Climate Justice. We also invite you to view amuch longer list of resources on the B Corp
Climate Collective website and B Lab’s antiracism resources here.

Take climate
action now!
•

•
•

•
•
•

66
Return to Contents

Declare a climate emergency and take climate action. Use the Climate Emergency
Playbook for Business as a roadmap to engage your board and team with the sciencebased facts and the implications for your business and for society, especially for thosemost vulnerable.
Use this playbook as a guide and commit to centring Climate Justice in all of yourclimate action and advocacy.
Accelerate your Carbon Reduction. Calculate their baseline Scope 1-3 emissions aligned
to an independent internationally recognised standard and commit to accelerate yourcurrent emissions reduction trajectory using the climate action module of the SDG Action
Manager to meet the global goals of a 1.5°C average temperature increase.
Develop a Net Zero Plan. Offset the remaining carbon emissions, emphasising carbon
removal projects, to balance emissions that cannot be eliminated to achieve net zero
emissions between 2025-2050.
Join the #RacetoZero by committing to Net Zero emissions before 2050 at the latest.
Go further and Commit to Net Zero by 2030. Join over 1000 companies in this bold,
unprecedented leadership commitment.
Join the B Corp Climate Collective. Become part of a global community of learning andpractice regarding climate action, Climate Justice and climate advocacy.

Foundational resources to improveyour company’s impacts
•

•

•
•

•

•

B Impact Assessment: Over 100,000 businesses around the world are using this free,
confidential, online assessment to measure, compare, and improve their company’s
impacts. This Assessment forms the backbone of the B Corp Certification, but any
company can use it.
SDG Action Manager: Developed by B Lab in collaboration with the UN Global Compact,
this free, online impact management solution enables businesses worldwide to set goals
and track progress against the global Sustainable Development Goals, with modules
matched to each of the Global Goals.
Best Practice Resources from the B Impact Assessment via B Lab.
1.5°C Business Playbook: Produced by the Exponential Roadmap Initiative and the
UNFCCC’s Race to Zero, this foundational playbook is made to prepare ALL businesses
for the fastest economic transition in history, halving emissions by 2030. It contains solid
guidelines for companies of all sizes to set targets, strategy and actions. Net Zero by2030 B Corps are committed to decarbonising even faster than what’s prescribed in thisplaybook, but the principles and practices are still the same.
SME Climate Hub: One-stop-shop for small and medium-sized businesses to make a
climate commitment and take concrete climate action. An initiative of the International
Chamber of Commerce, the Exponential Roadmap Initiative, the We Mean Businesscoalition and the Race to Zero.
Net Zero Climate: This tool connects users with research and tools on setting andachieving their net zero climate commitments across sectors and policy landscapes.
Created by Oxford Net Zero Climate Research and Engagement Team in allyship with the
SME Climate Hub partners including B Lab and leading global scientists.

67
Return to Contents

Climate Justice

Racial justice

•

•
•

•
•
•
•

A Just Climate Platform, vision for an inclusive and just national
climate agenda.
NAACP: Environmental & Climate Justice Resources
Framing Climate Justice; A guide to improving climate
communications
On Injustice. Mustafa Santiago Ali talks with Naomi Hollard ofSunrise Movement about the power of cross-class and multiracial
movements and the mandate for environmental justice.
The Solutions Project: a guide for journalists to cover climate
equitably.

•••

How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X Kendi'I’m a black climate expert. Racism derails our efforts to save theplanet,' by Dr Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, Washington Post, June 3,
2020
Why Every Environmentalist Should be Anti-Racist, by LeahThomas, Vogue, June 8, 2020
'How to Make Sure Racial Justice is Part of Climate Activism' byNatasha Pinon'Climate Change Ain’t the First Existential Threat' by MaryAnnaïse Heglar

Indigenous voices

Gender and climate

•

•
•

•
•

UN statement on the impact of Climate Change on Indigenous
Peoples
Indigenous Principles for a Just Transition
The Amazon is on fire – Indigenous Rights could help put it out
by Naomi Klein

68
Return to Contents•

Introduction to Gender & Climate, UNFCCC
All We Can Save by Dr Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and Dr Katharine
Wilkinson. Spotlights women climate leaders offering solutions
and inspiration to solve the Climate Emergency.
How Empowering Women and Girls Can Help Stop Global
Warming, TED talk by Katharine Wilkinson, Project Drawdown(13 mins)

Youth voices

Mindfulness and thepersonal journey

•
•
•

•

Greta Thunberg’s UNCOP25 remarks
Extinction Rebellion
Sunrise Movement

•
•
•
•

69
Return to Contents

Mindful of Race: Transforming Racism from the Inside Out by
Ruth King
Facing Climate Change with Heart, One Earth Sangha
What is Ecoanxiety, and How Can Mindfulness Help? by Joe
Flanders, 2019
Mindfulness, Climate Change and Environmental Justice byMaria Santiago-Valentin
Excerpt from Laudato Si’, Encyclical Letter of the Holy Father
Francis on Care for Our Common Home

APPENDIX 2: Glossary of terms

B Corp: A 'B Corp' or 'Certified B
Corporation' is a for-profit businessthat meets the highest standards ofverified social and environmental
performance, public transparency, andlegal accountability to balance profit andpurpose. B Corps voluntarily achieve
Certification from the non-profit B Lab
using the free, online tool called the B
Impact Assessment. By harnessing thepower of business, B Corps use profits andgrowth as a means to a greater end: positive
impact for their employees, communities,
and the environment. B Corps form acommunity of leaders and drive a global
movement of people using business as aforce for good. The values and aspirations of
the B Corp community are embedded in the
B Corp Declaration of Interdependence.
B Corp Climate Collective (BCCC):
A global community of businesses andbusiness leaders made up primarily of
Certified B Corps but open to all business,with local and regional chapters, that isaccelerating the buildout and disseminationof practices that businesses must implement
70
Return to Contents

to decarbonise their business models
and amplify their voice to advocate forpolicy change while they seek to centre
their work in Climate Justice. More than
1,500 active B Corp volunteers aroundthe world are leading this community ofpractice and shared learning, focused on
creating open-source resources the Action
Groups tackle specific climate challenges,
including Climate Justice, greenhouse gas
baselining, decarbonisation and offsetting,climate policy advocacy, regenerativemodels, employee engagement, sustainable
packaging, and more. This Climate JusticePlaybook for Business was inspired by thework of the BCCC, including the Climate
Justice Task Force which formed early in
2020.
Carbon removal
The IPCC defines removals as anthropogenic
activities removing CO2 from theatmosphere and durably storing it ingeological, terrestrial, or ocean reservoirs, orin products. Existing and potential carbon
removal measures include afforestation andreforestation, land restoration and soil

carbon sequestration, bioenergy with carbon
capture and storage, direct air carbon
capture and storage (DACCS), enhanced
weathering and ocean alkalinisation.
Climate action: Climate action is any
activity that helps combat climate change
and its impacts that results in a decline inclimate gas emissions or helps people copewith a changing climate. (reference)
Climate Justice: links everything we aredoing in addressing the climate emergency
to human rights and development, taking
a human-centred approach and placing
people and equity at the core. It recognisesthat those who are least responsible forclimate change are most likely to suffer
its gravest consequences. Climate Justiceacknowledges that climate change is rooted
in racism and inequality and is profoundly
unjust. As Generation green put it: Climatechange exacerbates every inequity, and every
inequity exacerbates the effects of climatechange on frontline communities. We needa multi-faceted, holistic understanding
and approach to climate solutions becauseclimate change is an amalgamation of social
ills (reference). Systemic racism and injustice
have left...the most vulnerable people subject
to more powerful storms and floods, intenseheat waves, deadly wildfires, devastating
droughts, and other threats from theclimate crisis.
Collective action: Collective action refers
to action taken together by a group of people
whose goal is to enhance their condition
and achieve a common objective. It is aterm that has formulations and theories inmany areas of the social sciences including
psychology, sociology, anthropology,
political science and economics. In the B
Corp movement, collective action is group(s)of people, anchored by B Corps with amulti-stakeholder approach, using theircollective power and voice for impact ona pressing global issue, at scale. Collective
action has a clear shared purpose and goals,
to collaboratively deliver specific measurable
impact(s).

71Return to Contents

Environmental justice: How local
communities are impacted by their local
environment and where inequalities
in this impact exist. The United States
Environmental Protection Agency defines
environmental justice as the fair treatment
and meaningful involvement of all people
regardless of race, color, national origin, orincome with respect to the development,
implementation, and enforcement ofenvironmental laws, regulations, andpolicies. In other words, your health should
not suffer because of the environment where
you live, work, play or learn. In the 1980s theenvironmental justice movement highlighted
that a disproportionate number of polluting
industries, power plants, and waste disposal
areas were located near low-income orminority communities and worked toensure fair distribution of environmental
burdens among all people regardless of
their background due to the realisation.
(reference).
Gold standard carbon offsets
Gold Standard was founded as a quality
label to ensure environmental integrity andthe delivery of sustainable development
benefits for compliance projects under the
UN Clean Development Mechanism. Gold
Standard certification ensures that theseemission reductions are real, 'additional,'
and permanent, coming from projects that
also contribute to a minimum of three
Sustainable Development Goals. Source:
The Gold Standard
Intersectional environmentalism: an
inclusive approach to environmentalismthat advocates for the protection ofpeople and the planet. It identifies theways in which injustices happening tomarginalised communities and the Earth areinterconnected. Leah Thomas (reference)
Returning citizen: a person returning
to the community after a period of time inprison. This terminology is in wide usage
in several parts of the world, but different
terminology is used in some regions,terminology that is often tinged withprejudice and mistrust. According to Shared
Justice, 'returning citizen' provides hopeand honors both [the person’s] humanity

and their capacity to contribute to aflourishing society. It gives space for hopeby acknowledging their capacity to act as a
citizen despite the barriers they may face.
Science-based targets
Targets adopted by companies to reducegreenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are
considered 'science-based' if they are in linewith what the latest climate science says
is necessary to meet the goals of the Paris
Agreement – to limit global warming towell-below 2°C above pre-industrial levels
and pursue efforts to limit warming to 1.5°C.
Source: Science Based Targets Initiative
Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions• Scope 1 emissions are direct emissions
from owned or controlled sources.
• Scope 2 emissions are indirect emissions
from the generation of purchased energy.
• Scope 3 emissions are all indirectemissions (not included in scope 2) that
occur in the value chain of the reporting
company, including both upstream anddownstream emissions.
Source: GHG Protocol
72
Return to Contents

Supply chain: A supply chain is a network
between a company and its suppliers to
produce and distribute a specific productto the final buyer. This network includes
different activities, people, entities,
information, and resources. The supply
chain also represents the steps it takes to
get the product or service from its originalstate to the customer. Sustainable supply
chain management involves integrating
environmentally, socially, and financially
viable practices into the complete supply
chain lifecycle, from product designand development, to material selection,(including raw material extraction or
agricultural production), manufacturing,packaging, transportation, warehousing,
distribution, consumption, return anddisposal.

‘When it comes to climate change
we cannot be radical enough’
Sir David Attenborough73
Return to Contents

Photo by Daniel Roe, Unsplash

Creative Commons LicenceThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons
Attribution 4.0 International License.