The Chisholm Legacy Project logo. Image credit: The Chisholm Legacy Project
Afro-Descendant-led groups have long fought against their erasure and exclusions in international climate negotiations and in many other spaces. After decades of global climate events, the April 2026 Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels (TAFF) marked the first time that Afro-Descendants had their own delegation, finally receiving official recognition at a global climate convergence. This major achievement did not just happen. Rather, this historic moment comes after years of organizing labor and coalition building, led by Afro-Descendant Peoples. Integral to this process is the Chisholm Legacy Project (TCLP).
TCLP dedicates its efforts toward “Black Femme Leadership on Climate Justice.” According to the group’s website, “The mission of The Chisholm Legacy Project is rooted in a Just Transition Framework. The project serves as a vehicle to connect Black communities on the frontlines of climate justice with resources to traverse the path from vision to strategy to action plan to implementation to transformation. In support of frontline leadership, the project seeks to link movements and mainstream entities with the tools necessary to advance systems change centered in equity and justice. With Black women on the frontlines of advancing systems change, this project ensures that these leaders have the support they need as they transform society from extractivism to a living economy that cares for sacred relationships between people and with Mother Earth, through regenerative, cooperative, democratic systems.”
An indispensable movement force for these transformations is TCLP director and founder Ms. Jacqui Patterson. During the June 2026 Bonn climate talks, Jacqui spoke on a panel titled “How Can the Just Transition Mechanism Support Holistic Transition across Sectors?” She delivered a powerful vision of what Just Transition Climate Finance looks like through a Black liberation and feminist lens, including policies and projects modeling how these transformations are already happening. Jacqui’s full remarks are available on TCLP website.
Jacqui’s current climate justice work builds on decades of organizing with frontline communities. In a 2024 blog post, JTA focused on her efforts to hold funders accountable for how they distribute money. Jacqui persuasively advocated for shifting funds from Big Greens to grassroots groups engaged in daily frontline work. The Building Equity and Alignment for Environmental Justice participatory grant-making initiative exemplifies this effort. The blog post also highlights Jacqui’s role in ensuring that frontline groups are part of conversations that most affect them, an ongoing struggle at local, national, and international levels.
Though global conferences have their official start and end points, the fight for climate justice and just transitions led by Afro-Descendant Peoples tenaciously persists. TCLP will continue to be an indispensable guide for building collective, intersectional power that advances climate justice and just transition transformations.