Rihanna’s foundation donates £11m to Black, LBGTQ+ and women-led climate justice initiatives

‘Climate disasters, which are growing in frequency and intensity, do not impact all communities equally,’ the singer said in a statement

Rihanna’s Clara Lionel Foundation has pledged $15m (£11.1m) to climate justice organisations led by people of colour, members of the LGBTQ+ community, and women.

On Wednesday (26 January), the “Umbrella” singer announced the grants – a collaboration between her foundation and Twitter founder Jack Dorsey’s philanthropic initiative #StartSmall – on the social media platform.

Rihanna tweeted: “We are partnering with 18 organisations across the US and Caribbean to support the climate justice movement. These grants support entities focused on & led by women, youth, Black, Indigenous, people of colour & LGBTQIA+ communities.”

In a statement to the Associated Press, the Grammy winner said that marginalised communities bear the brunt of climate disasters, which are “growing in frequency and intensity”.

Some of the organisations who will receive funding by way of Rihanna and Dorsey’s collaborative initiative include the Climate Justice Alliance, the Black Feminist Fund, the Movement for Black Lives, the Indigenous Environmental Network, the Caribbean Climate Justice Project, the Caribbean Youth Environment Network.

Rihanna founded the Clara Lionel Foundation in 2012, in honour of her grandparents Clara and Lionel Braithwaite.

The foundation – which focuses on disaster response, holistic education systems and policy reform – runs primary and secondary education programs in countries like Senegal and Malawi, emergency response programs in the Caribbean, and the Clara Lionel Foundation Global Scholarship Program.

Rihanna was recently declared Barbados’s 11th national hero, after the Caribbean country officially removed the Queen as its head of state and became a republic last year.