EarthAction

Professor Sachs Speaks to Subcommittee on Environment

Jeffrey Sachs spoke to the U.S. Congress today about climate change. He speaks first. You can watch it above.

Plastic Pollution Deadline

We need to crank up the pressure against Nestlé's plastic pollution before April 11!

Tell Nestlé to protect communities and wildlife - ditch single-use plastic packaging today!

SIGN NOW

Can you believe that the world's largest food company has built its entire business model on throwaway packaging?

It makes me furious, but it's true. 98% of Nestlé's products are sold in single-use packaging.

We need Nestlé to make big changes this year and that means we need to crank up the pressure before the corporation's annual shareholder meeting in two weeks.

ADD YOU NAME to demand Nestlé make real commitments to protect our oceans and communities by phasing out single-use plastic packaging! We need hundreds of thousands of signatures before April 11 to make Nestlé feel the heat.

There is no time to lose. Have you heard that every minute a truckload of plastic enters the oceans? Corporations - starting with Nestlé - must reverse their tie of plastic pollution or even more communities, whales, sea turtles and birds will suffer.

I know people-power can force Nestlé to go from pollution to solutions. How?

• We're building off your successes. Some of the biggest food service and supermarket companies are stepping away from plastics and that will put pressure on corporations like Nestlé.
• Nestlé is already feeling the heat. Because millions of people like you have already spoken out. Nestlé has finally acknowledged that recycling alone won't solve the plastic pollution crisis. Now it's up to you to make sure Nestlé goes beyond greenwashing and makes real commitments to phase out single-use plastic. It knows its reputation is at stake.
• We're building a global movement. Millions of people, and dozens of organizations, from every continent, are posed to take creative action calling out Nestlé. That is a force that cannot be ignored!

But for your voice to have the biggest impact, I need you to speak out right now before Nestlé's Annual General Meeting for shareholders on April 11. This is the most important day of the year, and our biggest chance to expose its massic plastic pollution.

Sign the petition to Nestlé today!

By taking action today, you will help change history. Nestlé is such a big corporation that commitments to phasing out single-use plastic will shift the entire industry.

You can make Nestlé - and other mega-corporations - see that breaking free from plastic isn't a passing trend, but a movement that won't stop until we have a circular economy based on reuse, instead of waste. It won't happen unless you start taking action right now.

Thanks for all you do,

Annie Leonard

Executive Director, Greenpeace USA

P.S. Nestlé's Annual General Meeting for shareholders is April 11. This is the perfect time to crank up the pressure on Nestlé. Sign the petition to demand Nestlé immediately move toward phasing out single-use plastics and embracing systems of refill and reuse.

Learn more at Greenpeace

Stop the Slaughter

The Government of Iceland announced that they had authorized the slaughter of more than 2,000 whales over the next five years. 

Earth Day Network stands in solidarity with those voices condemning Iceland for this decision, and we ask that you join us in sending a clear message of opposition to the Icelandic Government.

Join Earth Day Network and citizens worldwide telling the Government of Iceland that you oppose the recent decision to allow the killing of these innocent creatures. If enough of us speak up, they will have to listen!

Send a letter urging the Icelandic Government to reverse this decision. For your convenience, we've drafted a letter for you to send directly.

Please click here to send your letter

We can't afford to be silent. We must push back, speak up, and tell them that what they are doing is unacceptable.

Share our video and help save our whales.

Thank you for acting to Protect Our Species!

Learn more at Earth Day Network

Top 10 Animals Going Extinct Because of Climate Change

NASA scientists announced yesterday that 2018 was the fourth hottest year on Earth, exceeded only by 2017, 2016 and 2015. After 140 years of record-keeping, 18 out of 19 of Earth's warmest years have occurred since 2001.

For humans, this means more destructive hurricanes, floods, forest fires, droughts, and bone-chilling Arctic blasts resulting in thousands of deaths, billions in property destruction and massive interruptions of life as we know it.

But let's stop and think about what extreme weather and changes in climate caused by humans means for species.

By 2100, an estimated 50% of all world's species could go extinct because of climate change. We can't let that happen. At Earth Day Network we're working to Protect Our Species.

Here are 10 animals threatened with extinction because of climate change.

1. Bumblebees: Rising temperatures force bees north, disrupting access to the nectar and pollen they need to survive.
2. Whales: Migration, feed, and reproduction necessary for survival are disrupted by warming waters.
3. Asian Elephants: Habitat is disappearing due to lower rainfall and higher temperatures.
4. Giraffes: In addition to illegal poaching, shrinking habitat and disappearing food sources threaten their survival.
5. Insects: 18% of insect species will die off due to warming by 2100; if the planet warms 3.2 degrees C, that number rises to 49%.
6. Oceanic Birds: Rising waters threaten to submerge their coastal habitats and nests completely.
7. Sharks: Difficulty hunting and lower birth rates threaten sharks as ocean temperature and acidity rise worldwide.
8. Monarch Butterflies: Monarchs can't survive without milkweed, now being destroyed by hotter dryer land often damaged by pesticides.
9. Great Apes: With nearly 75% of forest cover at risk due to climate change, their habitat is disappearing.
10. Coral: Sustained heat stress causes coral bleaching, an often deadly occurrence in which coral starves from a loss of nutrition.

Join Earth Day Network's campaign to Protect Our Species, Together we can slow the pace of extinction.

Got ideas? Please share your plans to Protect Our Species.

Thank you for being part of our global movement.

From Earth Day Network. Read more here.

Earth Day 2019: Protect Our Species

This year, Earth Day Network is working to Protect Our Species, and we urge you to join us.

Nature's gifts to our planet are the millions of species that we know and love. Many more species remain to be discovered. Unfortunately, the world is facing the greatest rate of extinction since that of the dinosaurs more than 60 million years ago.

Today's unprecedented global destruction and rapid reduction of plant and wildlife populations are directly linked to human activity: deforestation, habitat loss, unsustainable agriculture, climate change, trafficking, poaching, pollution, and pesticides.

The good news is that through advocacy, education, changes in consumer behavior, preservation of current legal protections and advancement of new policies, species extinction can be slowed!

That where YOU come in.

We're offering the resources below to help you educate, inspire, and organize your communities and networks to protect species locally and globally.

• 10 Facts on Global Species Decline
• What you Need to Know About Declining Species
• Earth Day 2019 Organizers Toolkit
• Earth Day 2019 Teach-In Toolkit
• Climate Education Week Toolkit for Educators and K-12 Students
• Plan a "Protect Our Species" communications campaign using the hashtags #EarthDay2019 and #ProtectOurSpecies and tagging us @EarthDayNetwork.

Together we can slow the pace of extinction and Protect Our Species. Got ideas? Please share your plans to Protect Our Species with us.

Thank you for being part of the global movement to make Earth Day Every Day!

From Earth Day Network. Read more here.

Climate Change is Real and What Governments Do Matters

The impact of changes (both positive and negative) in political leadership, climate change adaptation policies stemming from extreme weather events, and more and more countries moving toward low carbon energy transitions are covered in this month's global report that looks back on significant activities in 2018. 

READ THE REPORT HERE

 

Become a Partner: We must save the Paris Agreement!

Our campaign is focused on raising public awareness and putting public pressure on leading greenhouse gas emitting countries.

LEARN MORE

 

Donate Today: Every donation helps our work!

Our global, grassroots organization relies on the support of other committed individuals.

LEARN MORE

Climate Scorecard Spotlight Report: Significant Greenhouse Gas Emission Activities

Less Coal, More Carbon Tax

This month, our Country Managers focused on significant greenhouse gas emissions activities. The results were a mix of positive and negative.

Germany's AfD, Brazil's Jair Bolsonaro, less coal and more carbon taxes are some of the most significant climate change activities this month.

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE ACTIVITIES

Become a Partner

We must save the Paris Agreement!

Our campaign is focused on raising public awareness and putting public pressure on leading greenhouse gas emitting countries. 

Learn More

Donate Today!

Every donation helps our work.

Our global, grassroots organization relies on the support of other committed individuals.

Learn More

Read more at Climate Scorecard

Mapping the Connections Between Oil, Power, and War

Dear Friend,

Much of my career has centered on energy - particularly on the central role that fossil fuels have played in the modern world, and our need to transition away from them. This has been a challenge, to say the least, because most of us are blissfully unaware of our tremendous dependence on fossil fuels (oil most especially) or the cost of that dependence on people and the planet.

Recently Post Carbon Institute partnered with Chelsea Green Publishing to translate, update, and publish French author Matthieu Auanneau's powerful opus on the history of oil. His book, Oil, Power, and War is about oil's rise and eventual fall and will be available to American audiences in mid-November. I was honored to write the foreword.

We want to get this book in front of as many people as possible. And you can help by pre-ordering it now.

"Beautifully written and marvelously translated, Oil, Power, and War provides a detailed history of oil's impact on economic and technical advances - and, in turn, their impact on oil - over the past century. Extending its narrative through the events of early 2018, it offers a profound new understanding of oil's role in war and peace, growth and stagnation; and it casts new light on the foundations of national power and the challenge that lies ahead. A terrific education and an engrossing read."

- Dennis Meadows, co-author of The Limits to Growth

"The definitive history of the rise and eventual fall of oil, brilliantly told. Auzanneau illuminates the history of our time driven by cheap oil and the persistent search for more at all costs. Insightful, authoritative, and essential reading. A dazzling and wise book."

- David Orr, author of Dangerous Years; Paul Sears Distinguished Professor of Environmental Studies and Politics, Oberlin College

Translated from the French, Auzanneau's book offers a comprehensive view of the role oil has played in global conflict, periods of peace, unchecked growth, and ongoing waves of destruction. 

I hope you'll pre-order your own copy today and help us get the word out about this incredible book.

With appreciation,

Richard Heinberg

PCI Senior Fellow

Will We See the Trial of the Century?

The midterm election on Nov. 6 is one of the most important in memory. It will decide whether checks and balances will be restored to the federal government and especially to our out-of-control president.

An even more important event is scheduled to take place nine days earlier, however. It could make history by ensuring that our children and future generations have a constitutional right to a livable world. 

On Oct. 29, the United States government is scheduled to go on trial for contributing to global climate change. The trial is the result of a lawsuit, Juliana v United States, filed three years ago by a group of 21 young adults and children. They allege that the federal government is violating their constitutional rights by promoting the use of fossil fuels. Fossil fuel pollution is the principal cause of global warming. 

The Julianas, as I’ll call the young plaintiffs for the sake of simplicity, want the courts to rule that the federal government must stop subsidizing fossil fuels, opening public lands to fuel production, and doing other things that result in carbon pollution. They want the government to rapidly phase out carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from fossil fuel combustion and to develop a national plan to stabilize the climate system and “restore Earth’s energy balance”.  

Finally proceeding to trial would obviously be a big milestone in the Julianas’ long fight through the federal court system. It is not motivated by partisanship. It was filed when Barack Obama was president and it named his as well as many federal agencies as defendants. Now, the Trump Administration is on trial and the U.S. Department of Justice has been fighting furiously to keep the case from being tried.  

Justice Department lawyers have filed motion after motion to have the case dismissed, including legal maneuvers one judge called “rare as hen’s teeth”. But so far, the legitimacy of the case has been upheld repeatedly by a U.S. District Court, a Circuit Court of Appeals, a three-judge panel and even the U.S. Supreme Court.  As I write this, the Supreme Court is deciding yet another late motion by the Justice Department to keep the trial from happening.

By William S. Becker

Read more here

The Status of Climate Finance in Leading Greenhouse Gas Emitting Countries

For Global Report #8 Climate Scorecard Country Managers identified key issues affecting international climate finance in leading greenhouse gas emitting countries. The first identified whether their country was an international climate finance donor or recipient and then described the effectiveness of their efforts (if they were a donor country) or the impact of international assistance (if they were a recipient country).

There are many insights that can be gleaned from reviewing the totality of the country posts in this global report. For example, countries are using a wide range of international climate funding mechanisms, such as multilateral development banks, UN agencies, bilateral assistance, and private sector investment. The Green Climate Fund, which remains undersubscribed, is only a small part of global international climate finance.

May recipient countries (e.g. Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Thailand) report the lack of a system for targeting international climate finance with the needs of recipient countries for specific mitigation or adaptation efforts. Conversely, several donor countries, e.g. Canada and the EU, have a need for better mechanisms to report on and account for the impact of their investments.

It also is clear, that despite the diversity of funding mechanisms, the overall level of donor finance support is too low to meet the needs of poorer countries. Several donor countries, such as France and the UK, report that their level of funding is diminishing. Only a few countries (Canada, China, France, the UK, the EU and Japan) have made substantial commitments, and the US has reneged on $2 billion of its $3 billion pledge to the Green Climate Fund.

Hopefully there will be an effort at COP 24 to ramp up and better coordinate international climate finance. The Green Climate Fund seems to be in a state of disarray after the resignation of its Director. There also is an overall sense, at least based on our reports, that the flow of finance support is somewhat random, based more on political considerations than climate mitigation/adaptation needs. Hopefully, discussions at COP 24 and elsewhere will lead to making the international climate finance system more inclusive, transparent and accountable.

Download the full report here

From Climate Scorecard. Read more here