PEOPLE. POWER. PROSPERITY.

The Biden-Harris administration, against the backdrop of economic and climate crises, now must fulfill its campaign promise to ensure that at least 40% of federal climate investments go directly to frontline communities most affected by poverty and pollution.

We are committed to ensuring that an accountability framework centered on racial justice and equity guides these investments. Our collective collaborated on a report, authored by the UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation, that provides a clear roadmap for federal agencies to successfully and equitably design and implement Justice40. The objective of our report is to help federal decision-makers improve upon current and planned Justice40 equivalents at the state level and be inspired by community-driven investment models. We highlight state lessons, both do’s and don’ts, from which the federal government can improve upon for a transformational and accountable Justice40.

  JUSTICE40:
The Need

The Justice40 promise seeks to create an equitable recovery for Americans facing challenges created by aging infrastructure, a frayed social safety net, natural disasters, and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Justice40 must address inequities that hinder a sustainable, just society, and that disproportionately harm low-income and communities of color across America.
These include:

Elevated exposure to pollution and associated health problems.
Uneven distribution of climate-related effects on the most vulnerable communities and residents.
Unequal local government resources, community capacity, and opportunities that make it harder for those most in need to apply for green investments and limit their access to resources.
Disproportionate access to jobs during the transition to a clean economy.
Uneven distribution of the costs and benefits of green investments and environmental programs designed to subsidize access to clean technology.

Who We Are

We are a collective of leading environmental justice movement leaders, academics, and advocates committed to working with the Biden administration to fulfill the Justice40 promise of directing 40% of climate and clean infrastructure investments to frontline communities.

Our Movement Leaders

Cassia Herron

Kentuckians For The Commonwealth
Miya Yoshitani

Asian Pacific Environmental Network
Jacqueline Patterson

The Chisholm Legacy Project
Mark Magaña

GreenLatinos
Helen Chin

Communities First

Miya Yoshitani
Asian Pacific Environmental Network

Jacqueline Patterson

The Chisholm Legacy Project

Our Research Partners

Colleen Callahan | Deputy Director, Luskin Center for Innovation (LCI)
at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)

Daniel Coffee | Associate Project Manager, LCI

J.R. DeShazo, Ph.D. | Dean, LBJ School of Public Affairs, University of Texas

Silvia Gonzalez, Ph.D. | Senior Researcher, LCI, and
Research Director, UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Initiative

Advising Scholar

Sacoby Wilson, Ph.D. | Associate Professor, University of Maryland

Our Funders

Funding for this research was provided by:

The Opportunity

Justice40 presents an unprecedented opportunity to address longstanding, critical environmental needs for America's frontline communities. Direct investments in the communities most impacted by climate injustice will be paramount to achieving an equitable Justice40. Our collective is focused on ensuring that the federal government capitalizes on this opportunity by implementing an accountable, effective Justice40. Our recommendations include:

Develop an Accountability Framework

Federal agencies must develop an accountability framework, building on effective strategies and lessons learned from state efforts to invest in disadvantaged communities.

This should begin by establishing an investment minimum requirement (not a goal) of at least 40% (a floor, not a ceiling) for direct investments in disadvantaged communities (rather than counting trickle down benefits).

Also establish strong guardrails that include justice-oriented funding criteria, implementation requirements, transparent reporting of results, objective evaluation, robust community engagement, Congressional oversight, and enforcement mechanisms to ensure Justice40 objectives are achieved across administering agencies and states.

Local Participation and Community Empowerment

Justice40 must pursue a community-anchored approach that ensures frontline communities have representation and power, both in Justice40 policy-level and local investment decision-making.

Federal guidelines must bridge the resource and expertise gap by providing technical assistance and capacity-building support to help ensure that under-resourced communities can apply for and manage complex, resource-intensive government grants and contracts.

Federal agencies must directly collaborate and engage with environmental justice organizations and frontline communities to identify specific needs for programs to address.

A Holistic Approach to Justice40 Investments

Justice40 must maximize restorative investments in frontline communities in order to correct their long history of uneven resources and federal funding.