A “dark money” climate activist group has been exposed as having spent millions of dollars last year on disruptive activist rallies that blocked busy highways and vandalized iconic artwork in cities across the world.
As shown by tax documents obtained by Fox News Digital, the Climate Emergency Fund (CEF), which has been sponsored in large part by Hollywood actors and producers since its inception in 2019, appears to be behind a worldwide criminal enterprise to engage in cultural vandalism and the disruption of public thoroughfares.
“Climate Emergency Fund is proud to support some of the boldest, bravest climate activists in the world who are not just fighting but are winning,” Margaret Klein Salamon, CEF’s executive director, told Fox News Digital in a statement. “Throughout history, organized, passionate, and dedicated people have awakened the public’s conscience to injustice and achieved change that was once considered impossible.”
“That’s why the Climate Emergency Fund supports activist organizations that engage in non-violent protest and civil disobedience worldwide,” she said. “We are experiencing global catastrophic climate events, and they are accelerating – from the months-long summer heat waves in Europe to record-low levels of Antarctic sea ice to ocean temperatures that topped 100 degrees off the coast of Florida.”
According to CEF’s tax filings, the activist organizations it financed last year “brought new life and vigor” to the climate fight. It further stated that its grantees trained over 15,000 individuals, that their protests drew 47,000 people, and that their activities were covered by worldwide media sources 25,000 times.
The majority of the CEF’s 2022 donations, roughly $4 million, were transferred to climate campaigners in the United Kingdom. Just Stop Oil, a British activist organization that has regularly made headlines for blocking traffic and disturbing public areas around the UK, seems to be the greatest beneficiary of CEF’s money.
CEF also provided $800,000 to other foreign organizations such as France’s Dernière Rénovation, Canada’s Save Old Growth, and Italy’s Ultima Generazione, all of which conducted disruptive demonstrations in 2022. It also sent at least 50,000 Euros to a German climate activist group called Letzte Generation.
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In a related groundbreaking decision, a district court in Germany recently designated the extremist climate group Letzte Generation as a ‘criminal organization.’ This conviction is a huge setback for the organization, which is known for its disruptive protest techniques intended at drawing attention to climate change concerns.
“The criminal organization ‘Letzte Generation’ is primarily financed by the “Climate Emergency Fund” based in California, DiscloseTV reported. “One of the fund’s founders is the American philanthropist Aileen Getty.”
Climate protester run over by lorry in Germany pic.twitter.com/Gkkl1meajj
— GainWithMacharia 20.5K✈️? (@gwithmacharia) July 25, 2023
However, the Letzke Generation denies that the CEF “directly” funds these disruptive operations in a convoluted note on its 2022 Transparency Report.
We do not employ people and do not receive any direct funding from the Climate Emergency Fund (CEF). The initiative “Non-profit educational work to support the last generation” as part of the change alliance receives funding from the CEF and invests the money in cooperation with us in educational work in line with the charitable purpose of the change alliance, e.g. for climate lectures. The initiative also employs people for this purpose.
Since these costs are billed directly through the initiative, there are no cash flows for us, which is why the area is not shown here. But it is around €50.000. In addition, there is the financing of the 41 people who were employed by the Change Alliance for the initiative so that they can continue to pay their rent during their voluntary commitment to climate education.
Contrary to what is often claimed, neither the Last Generation nor the above-mentioned Change Alliance initiative pays people for resistance on the streets. That wouldn’t be possible either because it doesn’t correspond to the charitable purpose of the Wandelbündnis.
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On X, however, the Letzke Generation more openly admits to the connection to the CEF.
❓Welche Rolle spielt der Climate Emergency Fund (CEF)?
Der CEF unterstützt weltweit verschiedene Klimaschutz-Projekte aus dem @a22network in den Kosten für deren gemeinnützige Bildungsarbeit, wie z.B. Vorträge. Der CEF gibt Geld an das Wandelbündnis.https://t.co/LlFJetGkiT
— Letzte Generation (@AufstandLastGen) January 13, 2023
“What role does the Climate Emergency Fund (CEF) play?” the post reads in German. “The CEF supports various climate protection projects worldwide from the @a22network in the costs of their non-profit educational work, such as lectures. The CEF gives money to the changing alliance. climateemergencyfund.org.”
The CEF website says openly, “We support the brave activists waking up the public to the climate emergency. We raise funds for and make grants to the disruptive nonviolent climate movement.”
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“We provide a safe harbor for donors who want to fund disruptive activism. We accept anonymous donations,” the CEF website adds.
CEF raised $6.1 million in 2022, a 165% increase over the $2.3 million it raised in 2021. The major spike in finances led to the CEF transferring $5 million to left-wing protest organizations, an increase of 274% year-on-year.
Another CEF-financed group that engages in criminal activity is Just Stop Oil.
The group’s ‘adviser,’ according to a Time article, identified elsewhere as a co-founder, is Roger Hallam. He has said he was ‘an organic farmer in Wales’ before turning to activism. Hallam also founded climate protest group Extinction Rebellion.
As the Guardian reported, Just Stop Oil gets its funding via donations from the public, private individuals and grants. It notes that from March to August 2023, the group received 51% of its funding from public donations, 21% from donations over 20,000 British pounds, 16% from green energy industrialist Dale Vince, 10% from Hollywood filmmaker Adam McKay and 2% from the U.S.-based Climate Emergency Fund, the group told Time in a statement.
In November, two Just Stop Oil activists were arrested for smashing the glass of a work of art protecting the Rokeby Venus painting at the London National Gallery. Police said about 100 Just Stop Oil protesters were arrested after slow marching in the road at Whitehall, as reported by the BBC.
The worldwide climate activism network engaging in criminal activity such as vandalism and obstruction of public business has not been vigorously prosecuted in the U.S.
If this were a right-wing campaign to sow public chaos, the activists and financiers would undoubtedly be facing racketeering charges by the Department of Justice. Americans are justified in wondering why there is a legal double standard.
