Jewish Climate Leadership Coalition

Any Jewish nonprofit organization can apply to join the Jewish Climate Leadership Coalition. While the Coalition is open to Jewish community organizations anywhere, our climate action resources are geared towards North American Jewish institutions.

Our 500+ members hail from across the United States, Canada, Israel, Argentina, Uganda, the UK, and Uruguay. Members include synagogues, day schools, JCCs, Hillels, Federations, camps, agencies, etc. and span Reform, Conservative, Reconstructionist, Orthodox, and non-denominational Jewish organizations.

Organizations can join the Coalition at any time! You can start right now by registering to join the Coalition or sending the registration link to the chief executive or senior rabbi/cantor of your organization. Once your organization registers, you will receive email confirmation and information about the upcoming orientation sessions. Orientations are hosted monthly year-round to welcome new members and are mandatory.

Not sure if you’re ready to join yet? Book an Info Session to find out more about the Coalition and see if this program aligns with where you are on your climate journey.

Wondering what a Climate Action Plan looks like? It’s simple! Organizations simply complete Adamah’s online Climate Action Plan submission form, which just involves checking boxes to show what climate actions your organization has done, is in process of doing, or is exploring. There is space to share more details if you like. The form is filled out and submitted each year before Tu B’Shvat.

The Climate Action Plan submission form covers all the areas in which you can take climate action as outlined in the “climate action” section on this webpage above. No organization is expected to take action in all of these areas, it is simply a menu of options.

Adamah encourages organizations to be bold and ambitious in their Climate Action Plans, which are non-binding. The process of filling out and submitting the form is designed to catalyze innovation, transformation, and action.

Climate action work can start immediately… only the filling out and submitting of the Climate Action Plan submission form needs to wait until Tu B’Shvat. Start anytime, whether it’s with baby steps or a big project, and build from there.

While organizations can join at any time, all Coalition members commit to filling out and submitting their Climate Action Plan submission form annually right before Tu B’Shvat (January/February).

Coalition members who join after Sept 30 in any year have the option to submit their Climate Action Plans on the very next Tu B’Shvat or wait until the following one.

Ready to get to work sooner than that? Great! Climate action work can start immediately… only the filling out and submitting of the Climate Action Plan submission form needs to wait until Tu B’Shvat.

An exception to the timeline: If you’re a new member, and/or didn’t submit a Climate Action Plan for the current year, and you wish to apply for funding from Adamah’s Climate Action Fund, we will ask you to submit a Climate Action Plan to be eligible for funding.

Tu B’Shvat, the fifteenth day of the Hebrew month of Shvat, is the new year for trees according to rabbinic Jewish tradition. Trees have their own new year, as a variety of traditional Jewish laws related to fruit trees depend on accounting for the tree’s age. In modern times, Tu B’Shvat has been embraced as a day of renewal and celebration for the Jewish environmental movement.

Tu B’Shvat is ultimately a Jewish day of nature accounting, taking stock of the past year and looking ahead towards the future. Similarly, we will use this date to account for our climate action work, each year noting the ways we are ensuring the future health and abundance of the natural world. What better way to honor the new year of the trees than by sharing our collective Jewish community response to the climate crisis!

Participation in the Jewish Climate Leadership Coalition is ongoing. Organizational membership is renewed annually by filling out and submitting the Climate Action Plan each Tu B’Shvat.

Coalition members should anticipate spending 2-5 hours/month engaging in climate action work. Your time might be spent participating in communities of practice meetings, attending Climate Action webinars, asking questions of Adamah staff during virtual consultations, and/or working with your organization’s staff and lay leadership team to fill out, submit, and implement your Climate Action Plans.

Nope! In fact, joining the Coalition offers your organization the possibility of receiving grant and loan funding for climate action through the Climate Action Fund.

Yes! When funds are available, Coalition members are eligible to apply for interest-free loans and matching grants through Adamah’s Climate Action Fund to support your efforts to reduce GHG emissions. Interest-free loans of up to $250,000, with a five year pay back, and matching grants of up to $20,000 are available. Learn more about available grants and loans.

Here are our recommendations for ensuring your organization gets the most out of the Coalition and is successful in your climate goals.

• Identify a strong staff liaison. Your staff liaison could be someone on your organization’s senior leadership team (or someone who has access to your senior leadership team) who cares about climate change and is eager to take on this role. While familiarity with climate solutions is helpful, it is absolutely not required.
• Develop a Climate Action Committee and engage your Board and lay leadership. While Coalition members are required to identify only a single staff liaison, the more support that person has, the more likely your organization will achieve its climate action goals. And since some climate actions will require Board approval to move forward, we recommend engaging your organization’s Board and lay leadership in your climate action work as early on and fully as possible, ensuring their buy-in and support (for example, you can have your Board pass a resolution approving the signing of the Founding Statement.)
• Take advantage of the wide variety of climate action resources and supports available to Coalition members. The Jewish Climate Leadership Coalition has been designed to provide the knowledge, support, and connections necessary to achieve your climate action goals. Make the most of the resources available:
  • Sign up for a Coalition Orientation after you register;
  • Attend relevant webinars;
  • Read the monthly newsletter (which will have information about upcoming learning and funding opportunities!);
  • Book a consultation with Adamah’s staff person to ask questions;
  • Actively participate in your organization’s community of practice (separate groups for JCCs, synagogues, etc.);
  • Consult the Climate Action Resource Guides.

Having a Climate Action Committee will help ensure your organization has the capacity to make use of all of these resources.

Yes! Each Coalition member’s Climate Action Plan reflects their unique situation. So whether you are a renter, building owner, or don’t even use a building, you can join the Coalition and identify climate actions that are meaningful and achievable for you, such as reducing food waste at events.

Yes, we can help you!

We at Adamah regularly feel overwhelmed by the climate crisis and we use the words of Rabbi Tarfon to remind us “Do not be daunted… You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it.”

Or, in the words of environmental activist Pattie Gonia: “Here is the truth: We don’t need a handful of people taking perfect action. We need millions of people taking imperfect action. Every. Single. Day. So, take your talent, skills, resources and all your forms of capital and ask yourself, ‘What I can I do for our planet today?’”

We are not asking you to solve the climate crisis. You can, however, do your part by joining the Jewish Climate Leadership Coalition and committing to the doable and high-impact program outlined above. We will guide you through, one step at a time.