Our Climate Action Plan
As a member of the Jewish Climate Leadership Coalition, Adamah has committed to develop, implement, evaluate, and share our organizational Climate Action Plan annually which sets measurable goals for how we will reduce our own greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and mobilize the broader Jewish community to engage in meaningful climate action in the coming year.
Read highlights from our 2024 plan below, or review the complete summary of Adamah’s 2024 Climate Action Plan.
Adamah’s Climate Action Fund
• In 2023, Adamah launched a $1.2M Climate Action Fund, which distributed $134,450 in matching grants and $318,500 in interest-free loans to support the implementation of climate solutions in Jewish community organizations across North America.
• This total distribution of $452,950 leveraged over $1 million in government investment. Collectively, the 14 projects funded will eliminate over 900 metric tons of annual CO2 emissions and save over $400k each year: a payback horizon of one year!
• In 2025, we intend to distribute an additional half million dollars, while continuing to leverage government and private funding to further the climate actions goals of Coalition members.
Ground-Mount Solar Array
In 2023, Adamah laid the groundwork to dramatically increase our solar energy production at the Pearlstone Campus in Reisterstown, MD. This year we will complete planning and select a contractor for Pearlstone’s future on-site solar pasture that will help cover our electricity needs and achieve an all-electric campus.
Energy Audits
In 2024, we will audit every pre-2015 building or renovation across our two campuses that is not already slated for renovation or demolition. With that information in hand, we will explore and develop implementation plans for new technologies and/or services that can increase the efficiency of our buildings and operations.
Rain Gardens
In 2023, we solicited and received Chesapeake Bay Trust and private dollars to add three raingardens in 2024 to our one existing raingarden at Pearlstone that will filter runoff, decrease mowing, and increase native perennial vegetation, functioning as an important carbon sink.
Weaving Climate Action into Jewish Education
At Adamah, we will continue to grow our signature climate programs, including the Jewish Climate Leadership Coalition, Jewish Youth Climate Movement, Adamah on Campus, and Adamah Detroit’s Shomrei Adamah program. We will weave climate action into all other Adamah program offerings, including retreat programming, Adamah Farm Fellowship, Teva, and community events, engaging thousands of community members this year in Jewish climate action.
A Roadmap to Decarbonize American Jewish Life
Through surveys and data collection from our partners, Adamah now possesses important climate action data, renewable energy ambitions, and energy efficiency plans at over 600 American Jewish organizations.
We are poised to scale and accelerate our climate action work by working closely with our partners at Rewiring America (RA), the leading electrification nonprofit, focused on electrifying homes, businesses, and communities. They develop accessible, actionable data and tools, and build coalitions and partnerships to make going electric easier for households and communities.
Together, we plan to create a Roadmap to Decarbonize American Jewish Life, a national plan and timeline to lower our energy consumption, electrify and decarbonize our communal buildings and homes, transition to renewable energy, reduce food waste, decarbonize private transportation, activate and support nature-based solutions, and more. The report will inspire meaningful climate action by:
- providing a preliminary national cost estimate for this massive transition
- identifying a variety of funding sources to help reduce the private investment needed
- developing a strategic, aggressive public relations campaign to call the attention of the most influential Jewish leaders
- speaking directly to the Jewish philanthropic community to attract investments across the Jewish world
- offering a replicable model for change in other faith, ethnic, and cultural communities
The Roadmap to Decarbonizing American Jewish Life is expected to be published in late 2025.
More information on our current sustainability efforts
