January 13, 2026 – A letter from Global Greengrants Fund CEO Laura García on the year ahead in 2026 and our commitment to continue building grassroots power.
Dear friends, partners, and fellow changemakers,
As we welcome 2026, I find myself here in snowy Colorado thinking about glaciers and rivers and how they wind through the mountains, carving new paths even when the rocky terrain resists them. This past year felt much the same. The currents of uncertainty were strong, from climate shocks to political unrest and shrinking civic spaces for environmental defenders. And yet, grassroots climate justice movements continued to organize with steady resolve, like water flowing through a watershed into the ocean. Similarly, this year is off to a particularly unsettling start with the United States’ takeover of Venezuela, with US oil companies purportedly seizing control of their oil fields—the largest in the world—while simultaneously announcing their withdrawal from the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), along with dozens of other international conventions and agreements in an act of isolationism, imperialism, and climate denial. As we face the uncertainties to come, one thing is clear: grassroots climate justice movements hold the solutions, and it’s never been more urgent that we galvanize collectively to increase the flow of support and resources to communities that have been holding the line in the face of governmental failures to do so for decades.
In a moment when the world is confronting accelerating climate disasters, shrinking civic space, and the very real prospect of crossing irreversible warming thresholds, frontline communities already hold many of the answers we need. They are grounded in generations of ecological knowledge, collective care, and a vision for just futures. Over the past year, we have seen those rivers converge in powerful ways. From the rivers of Latin America to the coastlines of Asia and the forests of Africa, grassroots climate justice movements are not only resisting extraction and injustice; they are also building alternatives and restoring balance. They are proving that when resources reach the grassroots, transformation flows outward, nourishing everyone.
At Global Greengrants Fund, we are honored to play a distinct role in facilitating this flow. As a grassroots funder with a vast network of regional advisors and movement partners, we help channel resources through pathways that traditional philanthropy rarely reaches. This shared ecosystem, built over decades, ensures that support moves directly to those closest to the challenges and the solutions. Across continents and contexts, our partners remind us what it means to persist: feminist climate defenders in Africa advancing gender justice; Indigenous communities safeguarding the Amazon; youth networks pioneering food sovereignty solutions across Asia. None of them waits for conditions to be perfect. They act out of clarity, conviction, and care, because their communities cannot afford to delay. And because we are in community with you, we can accompany them with trust, humility, and steady support.
As we move into 2026, we do so with deep clarity about our role and responsibilities in a world that is demanding urgency, focus, and strategic action. While the future is uncertain, our purpose is not. Global Greengrants exists to move resources quickly, with trust, and at scale to the grassroots movements holding the line for our shared future and advancing solutions that we know work. In the year ahead, we are stepping into that role with greater intention. We are reinforcing the power and connective tissue of our decentralized advisory network—so decisions, resources, and learning flow where movements need them most—deepening partnerships across the philanthropic ecosystem, and investing in the infrastructure that frontline movements rely on to act, adapt, and lead. This includes transformational grantmaking, as well as expanding accompaniment and spaces for collective strategy, designing learning spaces for funders and allies, amplifying the stories and solutions emerging from grassroots climate justice movements, and continuing our own organizational journey to ensure we are accountable, effective, and movement-led in everything we do.
Thank you for being part of this community and for placing your trust in movement-led solutions. We’re excited about all of the momentum we’ve been building, and I can’t wait to share more as it all unfolds.
With gratitude,
Laura García
President & CEO, Global Greengrants Fund