EarthAction

New Name | Same Mission

Over six years of working across the globe to fight wildlife crime through our intelligence-led approach to conservation, it has become clear that Elephant Actions League’s scope of work has expanded well beyond its name. As we continue to broaden that scope, we need a name that better reflects what we do and will do in the field. Therefore, we are excited to announce that Elephant Action League will now be EARTH LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL.
 
We are so grateful to the world’s elephants and how far these incredible creatures have taken us in only six years. Our investigative work on international ivory trafficking, from our landmark research on links between ivory trafficking and the Somali group al-Shabaab, to our undercover investigation on ivory trafficking in China, Hong Kong and Vietnam, published in the report “Blending Ivory" and featured in the Leonardo DiCaprio executive produced Netflix documentary The Ivory Game, has allowed us to hone our approach, build a world-wide team and informant network, and expand our operations.

These beginnings propelled us to many important operations and investigative activities around the world, including the first undercover investigation on rhino horn trafficking in China and Vietnam, jaguar trafficking in Latin America, and our seminal work to help save the vaquita through our investigation into the totoaba trade from Mexico to China, originally published in the report “Operation Fake Gold” and featured in the upcoming documentary Sea of Shadows, executive produced by Leonardo DiCaprio and distributed by National Geographic.

that we have many more exciting projects and operations ahead of us, some working along side a number of important partners, we feel that the name Earth League International will help our supporters better understand our approach to protecting and fighting for wildlife and wild spaces, our ideas, and our potential.  
 
Earth League International’s mission will continue to be the protection of wildlife, oceans, and forests through intelligence and investigative operations, and cooperation with key government agencies around the world. This means continuing to operate at the nexus of civil society and law enforcement – bridging the resource, knowledge, and priority gaps exhibited by many government and law enforcement agencies around environmental crime.

Earth League International team will continue to manage WildLeaks, the world's first whistleblowing initiative dedicated to environmental crime. And, finally, we will launch international campaigns, educational programs, and media projects, in collaboration with other organizations and professionals, in line with our mission.
 
Thank you for having followed and supported us thus far. We hope you will help Earth League International become a strong, independent global player in the defense of Earth and nature against crime, greed, corruption, and overexploitation.

From Earth League International. Read more here.

Renewables 2019 Global Status Report: Now Available!

RN: Use the searchable microsite to access the report

• Read the press release in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, German, Greek, Japanese, Portuguese and Spanish.
• Use figures and infographics to tell the story                                                            

PARTICIPATE: Join us at an event: 

• Overcoming Africa´s Energy Access Gap: Strategic Priorities for Scaling up Renewables (Addis Ababa) 19 June
• EU Sustainable Energy Week (Brussels) 19 June
• 7th International Symposium on Environment & Energy Finance Issues (Paris) 2 July 

Or via a webinar:

• The Global Renewable Energy Transition: Who is leading?: two webinars with a focus on Europe (18 June) and Asia (19 June).
• Presenting: The Global Status Report of Renewables - REN21's 2019 GSR Report with a focus on the role of solar (26 June)                           

DISCOVER: Our new logo and website.
                                                                              
ENGAGE: We love to hear what you think about our new Renewables 2019 Global Status Report. Please tweet with the #GSR2019 hashtag and tag us (@ren21) so we can share your content! 

From REN2. Read more here

PlanetHood: The Key to Your Survival and Prosperity

PlanetHood: The Key to Your Future was written by Benjamin B. Ferencz and Ken Keyes, Jr. in 1980. This non-copyrighted work was written to advance the argument for a system of international law complete with courts, enforcement, and an international congress. A central theme of the book is the threat to civilization posed by nuclear weapons. Optimism is the central tone of the book and it was designed to inspire its readers into replacing what they call the "law of force" with the "force of law."

Seeing the worst of what we can do to each other, during and after his military service in WWII, Ben Ferencz stated that he had “peered into Hell,” and decided he wanted to do something about it.

Ferencz was Chief Prosecutor of the Einsatzgruppen trial at Nuremberg one of the subsequent proceedings following the International Military Tribunal. Ferencz argued the case against Nazi war criminals – and won.

Those experiences created an amalgam of grim awareness, compassion, focused skill, and an unwavering vision for justice and well-being for all people.  These qualities have infused his life ever since – even up to the current Hell we have been living through with an administration encouraging endless war, nuclear provocation, family separation, gross income inequality, climate indifference, and the rise of malignant nationalism, among so many others,

We may barely be able to remember that at one time we felt secure in the knowledge that we deserve to live in a world better, and safer, than the one we currently find ourselves in. Ferencz reminds us of this right out of the starting gate, and goes on to outline his distillation, from decades of involvement with international law, his message and strategy of hope.

"Planethood makes sense! It opened my eyes to see the world and how we humans relate to each other in a new way. A valuable ‘must read’ for everyone who cares about our planet. It has my highest recommendation.” 

-Lois Barber, Founder and Director, EarthAction & 2020 Action

Recent coverage of Ferencz was in the Washington Post.

ODT's founder, Bob Abramms, found both Ben Ferencz and Ken Keyes to be inspirational in charting the course of his career, as a professional speaker, Human Resource Management consultant, trainer, and eventually a publisher of innovative world maps.  In the 1980's Abramms, along with his visionary coworker, Diane Johns, undertook to print and distribute over 25,000 copies of this paperback book as an act of service, hoping the world might become a better place if some of the principles in the book were put into practice. 

As Abramms retires and sells ODTmaps in 2019, digitizing the PlanetHood book is one his last acts of hope, sharing this work as widely as possible. Abramms and Ferencz kept in touch over the past 40 years.  And since this work is not copyrighted, anyone can take the digital version and circulate it, excerpt it, or post it on-line. The world has changed dramatically, and not always for the better, since the release of the original paperback in 1980. But as Ferencz's story and his experience as one of the prosecuting attornies at WW2's Nuremberg war crimes trials reveals, his insights on how to create a better world can still be taken in as a message of possibility and hope, grounded in skill, expertise, and heart.

Download the free e-book here

Monday, June 17th is World Day to Combat Desertification: It Will be Observed All Over the World

Download the message from Mr. António Guterres, United Nations Secretary General, by clicking on this link:
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIJf-5FUg4k&feature=youtu.be>

Download the message from Mr. Ibrahim Thiaw, Executive Secretary, United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Spanish or Russian.

Background materials about the World Day are available here:
<https://www.unccd.int/actions17-june-world-day-combat-desertification/celebrate-2019wdcd>

A press release (Arabic, Chinese, French, English, Spanish and Russian) from the global observance event taking place in Ankara, Turkey, will be circulated on June 17th.

From the UNCCD Media Advisory

This is HUGE - Europe's leaders are about to decide whether to END carbon pollution completely!

 

This is HUGE -- Europe’s leaders are about to decide whether to END carbon pollution completely! 

If they do it, it’ll be a giant leap towards a safe climate for all. But dirty energy blockers, like Poland, are already trying to derail the plan -- and it’s up to us to defend it. 

We urgently need a massive show of public support from the whole world for the plan. Key leaders like French President Macron and German Chancellor Merkel are deciding right now whether to get on board -- let’s flood them and other leaders with messages from around the world calling on them to back 100% clean energy to tackle the climate emergency!   

Tell Europe: End Carbon Pollution! 

Can you imagine how big a deal it would be if an entire continent announced a plan to abandon the filthy fossil fuels that are choking our skies with carbon? It could really happen -- and soon! 

Under the Paris climate deal we fought so hard for, countries are required to develop new plans to meet a goal to end carbon pollution by the middle of the century. The EU’s will be one of the first plans to be published -- and experts say it will set the tone for other plans all over the world. 

Nearly 4 million of us have added our names to the call for 100% clean energy and zero carbon pollution! And we just went all out to face down the far-right in Europe so we’d have opportunities like this one. Now we need to take it! Send a message now, and let’s show Europe they have massive backing to face down the polluters, and bring an end to dirty climate pollution!  

Tell Europe: End Carbon Pollution! 

Years ago, when our movement started campaigning for 100% clean energy, they said it was impossible. But we didn’t give up, and now we could be on the cusp of a huge victory in the fight for humanity’s future. Now it’s up to us to make it happen -- and end the era of fossil fuels for good.

Learn more at Avaaz

 

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.