The Kiribati Climate Action Network (KiriCAN)

Partner Details

About

The Kiribati Climate Action Network (KiriCAN) improves community well-being in Kiribati by advocating for climate action, environmental protection, and sustainable development. KiriCAN achieves climate justice by building resilience and defending the rights of those impacted by climate change, including the challenges from displacement.  

They work collaboratively to meet community needs and raise awareness about climate change. Its activities include community and youth engagement, environmental initiatives such as tree and mangrove planting, and climate education that draws on local knowledge and cultural traditions. In addition, KiriCAN also connects climate action to community initiatives like water conservation and food security through projects with St. Louis High School using vertical gardens and hydroponics.  

The organization also records the less visible effects of climate change, such as losses that affect cultural identity, traditional knowledge, and community connections. KiriCAN works to ensure regional and international climate discussions consider the experiences of people in Kiribati, and that climate responses protect livelihoods and cultural heritage.   

UUSC partners with KiriCAN through Pacific Rising , a network of frontline leaders based in the Pacific region, leading an intersectional, human rights-based response to climate change that is community-led. 

“As a network of organizations, KiriCAN’s approach to climate action is deeply intersectional. The network brings a gender framework to its climate work and is also committed to disability justice and LGBTQI+ rights, ensuring that its responses to the climate crisis are inclusive of, and led by, people who face multiple and intersecting forms of marginalization” 

-Lis Marie, Senior Partnership Officer for Climate and Disaster Justice