Aligning Frontline Struggles
At the NC Climate Justice Collective, we believe that real climate solutions come from frontline communities—those most impacted by environmental injustice. Our work focuses on stopping extractive and polluting industries that threaten the health of people and ecosystems while building alternative models rooted in resilience, justice, and community power.
We strategize and take action to end:
- Fracked gas infrastructure – Pipelines, LNG facilities, and power plants that endanger communities and ecosystems.
- Coal ash pollution – Toxic waste from coal power plants that contaminates water and land.
- Factory farm biogas – Industrial-scale animal operations that exploit land, water, and workers.
- Wood biomass extraction – The destruction of forests for wood pellets sold as an energy source.
Program Branches
Our work is grounded in five core initiatives that drive environmental justice and community transformation across North Carolina:
Energy Democracy Leadership Institute (EDLI)
Through EDLI, we are growing a frontline-led energy democracy movement that challenges monopoly utilities and builds locally controlled, renewable energy solutions. Participants develop the skills to advocate for clean, just, and community-owned energy systems, ensuring that no one is treated as a sacrifice zone. Learn more about EDLI’s grassroots leadership training and policy advocacy.
NC Climate Justice Summits
Since 2014, our NC Climate Justice Summit has been the only statewide gathering in North Carolina led by and for frontline communities. These summits bring together youth, elders, artists, and organizers to strategize, heal, and build collective power for climate justice. Through deep dialogue, skill-building, and creative action, we foster multi-racial, intergenerational collaboration for systemic change. Learn more about our Summit and past gatherings.
Resiliency Organizing Hubs
Our Resiliency Organizing Hubs provide a regional infrastructure for climate justice organizing. These hubs serve as spaces for:
- Community-based emergency preparedness
- Participatory action research
- Green job training & cooperative business development
- Organizing and advocacy skills-building Rooted in the 4Rs framework (Resist, Reform, Reimagine, Recreate), these hubs build power from the ground up to drive a Just Transition. Learn more about how Hubs strengthen climate resilience.
TapRoot Cultural Troupe
Culture is a powerful tool for movement-building. TapRoot Cultural Troupe integrates art, storytelling, and performance to uplift social movements and inspire action. Our work includes:
- Multimedia performances like Finding Our Balance, which explores climate justice through music, movement, and visual art.
- Community-based art activism that weaves cultural resistance into direct action campaigns.
- Collaborations with national and local artists to create transformative experiences that connect creativity with climate justice. Learn more about TapRoot’s work in cultural organizing.
Training Cooperative
Our Training Cooperative provides customized, interactive, and culturally relevant workshops to equip communities with the tools they need to organize, advocate, and implement just solutions. Our workshops cover:
- Just Recovery & emergency preparedness
- Climate justice & resilience planning
- Building regenerative economies
- Organizing & advocacy skills From municipalities to grassroots groups, our training programs help leaders take action for climate justice. Learn more about our workshops and training sessions.
Through these interconnected programs, NCCJC is winning the world we want—one rooted in justice, sustainability, and collective power.