Your ongoing support is what will sustain this movement and it’s needed more today than ever. Please continue to take action with our Forest Justice Campaign network. You can help protect forest worldwide and stop deforestation with a strong climate bill in moments. More importantly, you can influence others to take action by directing them to our website. With Earth Day around the corner and our Earth Day Revolution underway, now is a great time to remind people to stay active. Let your voice be heard because when they thrive, we all thrive!

Photo: Rachel Kramer/NWF

“The first Earth Day was a success because 20 million Americans demonstrated an urgent need for environmental protection and action. Together, we can make the 40th anniversary of Earth Day a pivotal moment in the environmental movement. We will use the next 40 days to build momentum around a demand for comprehensive climate legislation and culminate our charge to Congress with The Climate Rally on April 25.” said Kathleen Rogers, President, Earth Day Network.

Now is our time to apply pressure on Congress and urge them to stop stalling and start taking action on clean energy solutions for America today, this is what a revolution is all about – a radical and persuasive change in society.

Join the Earth Day Revolution and sign the Delcaration.

But don’t stop there! Help us promote these efforts by blogging, tweeting, joining the facebook group, and even plot your own revolution. We can fuel the change needed to protect the environment with your help!

Photo by Rachel Kramer

Our President understands the urgency and importance of protecting tropical forests and reducing climate change; he demonstrated that by breaking the stalemate in Copenhagen. The U.S. is essentially ready to “put our money where our mouth is” and with the clean energy and climate legislation, pending in the Senate, the projected amount allocated could grow to 10 billion dollars over three years.

Our Forest Justice Campaign plans to build out action to oversee and ensure successful allocations of the funding. It’s critical that we let our administration know that we expect the U.S. to fulfill their promise of $1 billion towards protecting tropical forests. Stay tuned for action alerts to show your support!

Agenda:
1. Introduction (Erica Anderson, Forest Justice NWF)
2. Policy overview on tropical rainforest protection (Gustavo Silva-Chavez, EDF)
3. Indigenous perspective on REDD (Alex Page, Indian Law Resources Center)
4. Youth Perspective & Engagement in International Negotiations (Kyle Gracey, SustainUS)
5. What’s Next: US Legislation and Mexico (Barbara Bramble, NWF)

Don’t miss this informative event! RSVP to campus@nwf.org so we can send you the link to the presentations and call-in details. Of course, pass this message on to your friends and others who would be interested in attending. We’re looking forward to your participation!

Photo by Rachel Kramer

The launch of the review also included a presentation by Brazilian experts on the impact that the meat and leather industries have on the Amazon forest. They also discussed initiatives currently underway to encourage sustainable cattle ranching in forest areas. Jeremy Oppenheim of the Mckinsey & Co. Climate Change Special Initiatives laid out a compelling framework for understanding Forest Risk Commodities like palm oil, soy, timber, beef, and leather.

In the upcoming months, our Forest Justice Campaign will also embark on initiatives to help our networks better understand Forest Risk Commodities and to encourage companies to take action on minimizing the forest footprint of their organizations – stay tuned!

Photo: Rachel Kramer/NWF

Landmark litigation is being pursued against Chevron, demanding clean-up and compensation for the resulting epidemic of cancer, birth defects, and premature deaths. Communities in Ecuador are looking to John Watson, the new Chairman and CEO of Chevron Corporation, to take responsibility and find a new approach. Justino Piaguaje, President of the Secoya people has sent a clear message to Chevron’s new president saying, “It’s not necessary for people to continue dying. We want him, John Watson to come to Ecuador and see for himself what has happened to our people.”

Unfortunately, these cries for help have gone unanswered and Chevron has launched a campaign to evade responsibility. Tell Chevron to clean up its toxic legacy.

Photo By Rachel Kramer

Negotiators in Copenhagen are working on deals to compensate countries for preserving forests.  Forests are essential to combating climate change because they are able to efficiently capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

With climate change activist eager to ratify a global climate treaty, forest preservation could be the most significant achievement to come out of the Copenhagen climate talks. A final draft of the compensation program REDD, Reducing Emissions From Deforestation and Forest Degradation, will be submitted to ministers of nearly 200 countries in an effort to hammer out a framework for the treaty on Wednesday.  

Prince Charles  sums up the program well by saying “It seems the quickest and most cost-effective way to buy time in the battle against catastrophic climate change is to find a way to make the trees worth more alive than dead.”  Much progress is left to be made but this is a good place to start.