Rihanna calls on global financial leaders to commit to climate finance

There’s no doubting that Rihanna has long been a social justice warrior, but her contributions to climate funding have ramped up significantly in recent years.

Just months before she welcomed her first child into the world in 2022, she announced her pledge of $15 million USD to climate aid through the Clara Lionel Foundation.

The large sum was split between 18 climate justice organisations located across the Caribbean and the US, including the Climate Justice Alliance, the Indigenous Environmental Network and the Movement for Black Lives.

This followed the launch of the organisation’s Climate Resilience Initiative in 2019, which was set up to help countries more vulnerable to climate disasters boost their emergency preparedness.

Making the announcement, Rihanna said, ‘At the Clara Lionel Foundation, much of the work is rooted in the understanding that climate disasters, which are growing in frequency and intensity, do not impact all communities equally, with communities of colour and island nations facing the brunt of climate change.’

Her annual Diamond Ball, held annually in December, has been auctioning off luxury items, vacations, and experiences to swathes of notable celebrities and elites since 2014.

The money raised is funnelled back into Rihanna’s foundation to help continue its mission.

That said, Rihanna definitely has the right to call out world leaders in finance for not making the right decisions. We’ll have to wait and see if they respond accordingly, but when Rihanna @’s you – do you ignore it?

I think not.