Environmental Defense Fund Incorporated

TO PRESERVE THE NATURAL SYSTEMS ON WHICH ALL LIFE DEPENDS. GUIDED BY SCIENCE & ECONOMICS, WE FIND PRACTICAL & LASTING SOLUTIONS TO THE MOST SERIOUS ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS.

REGIONS - CLIMATE: TO STABILIZE THE CLIMATE, WE MUST EVENTUALLY STOP PUTTING MORE GREENHOUSE GASES INTO THE ATMOSPHERE THAN WE TAKE OUT THROUGH REFORESTATION, AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES THAT INCREASE CARBON IN SOILS, AND CARBON-CAPTURE TECHNOLOGIES THAT ARE EMERGING. OUR STRATEGIES ARE DESIGNED TO ADDRESS LONG-LIVED CLIMATE POLLUTANTS - CARBON DIOXIDE FROM FOSSIL FUEL COMBUSTION AND DEFORESTATION, AS WELL AS NITROUS OXIDE FROM AGRICULTURE - THAT WARM THE ATMOSPHERE FOR A CENTURY OR MORE. THEY ALSO ADDRESS EMISSIONS OF POTENT, SHORT-LIVED CLIMATE POLLUTANTS SUCH AS METHANE. REDUCING SHORT-LIVED POLLUTANTS WILL LESSEN THE RISKS FROM EXTREME WEATHER AND SEA LEVEL RISE FOR PEOPLE AND ECOSYSTEMS ALIKE AND HELP FORESTALL DANGEROUS CLIMATE TIPPING POINTS THAT CAN ACCELERATE WARMING OVER THE COMING CENTURIES. ENERGY, TRANSPORTATION, LAND USE: THESE ARE THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF ECONOMIES AROUND THE WORLD. CHANGES TO BUSINESS AS USUAL IN THESE SECTORS CAN HAVE FAR-REACHING IMPACTS. BY LEVERAGING MARKET FORCES THROUGH WELL-DESIGNED POLICIES AND PRIVATE-SECTOR ACTION, EDF LINKS CLIMATE PROGRESS IN STRATEGICALLY IMPORTANT PARTS OF THE GLOBE TO POLITICALLY POTENT LOCAL GOALS FOR POVERTY ALLEVIATION, HEALTH, JOBS AND ECONOMIC GROWTH.

RESEARCH AND EDUCATION - IN FY2022, CLIMATE WAS EDF'S SINGLE LARGEST AREA OF EDUCATION, WITH MAILINGS AND ONLINE INFORMATION EDUCATING EDF MEMBERS AND THE GENERAL PUBLIC ABOUT THE SCIENCE OF CLIMATE CHANGE AND THE NEEDED POLICY RESPONSE, AS WELL AS OTHER CRITICAL ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES. FOUR ISSUES OF THE QUARTERLY SOLUTIONS MAGAZINE WERE PART OF THIS PROGRAM, BOTH ONLINE AND IN PRINT.

PEOPLE AND NATURE - FROM FORESTS TO FARMS TO COASTS, EDF WORKS TO PROTECT AND RESTORE VITAL ECOSYSTEMS TO FIGHT CLIMATE CHANGE, PROMOTE FOOD AND WATER SECURITY AND BUILD RESILIENT COMMUNITIES. IN THE U.S., EDF'S CUTTING-EDGE SCIENCE IS QUANTIFYING THE THREATS CLIMATE CHANGE POSES FOR STAPLE CROPS - WHEAT IN KANSAS, CORN IN IOWA AND SOYBEANS IN MINNESOTA - AND FINDING WAYS TO HELP FARMERS ADAPT AND THRIVE. THIS YEAR, THE FOOD AND AGRICULTURE CLIMATE ALLIANCE, WHICH EDF CO-FOUNDED, ADVOCATED FOR FEDERAL FUNDING OF PROJECTS THAT REDUCE GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS AND SEQUESTER CARBON. IN TROPICAL NATIONS, WE ARE WORKING WITH MORE THAN 100 COMMUNITIES ACROSS 12 COUNTRIES TO HIGHLIGHT THE ROLE OF SEAFOOD IN MEETING NUTRITIONAL NEEDS, INCLUDING: - INDONESIA, TO HELP SUSTAINABLY MANAGE THE BLUE SWIMMING CRAB FISHERY IN TWO KEY PROVINCES WHERE CRABS PROVIDE LIVELIHOODS TO HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE; - BELIZE, TO HELP DEVELOP A FINFISH MANAGEMENT PLAN THAT FURTHER ESTABLISHES THE COUNTRY AS A MODEL FOR CLIMATE-RESILIENT FISHERIES MANAGEMENT; - CHILE, PERU AND ECUADOR, TO LAUNCH A MULTINATIONAL SCIENTIFIC COLLABORATION TO PREDICT AND ALERT COUNTRIES TO THE IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON OCEAN HEALTH AND FISHERIES THAT FEED HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE. IN THE U.S., WE LAUNCHED THE COALITION FOR SUSTAINABLE AQUACULTURE TO ADVOCATE FOR RIGOROUS STANDARDS FOR OFFSHORE AQUACULTURE THAT WOULD FACILITATE A HOMEGROWN INDUSTRY IN HEALTHY, MORE CLIMATE-FRIENDLY SEAFOODS WHILE BENEFITING HISTORICALLY DISADVANTAGED AND EXCLUDED COMMUNITIES. IN CALIFORNIA'S CENTRAL VALLEY, OVER A MILLION PEOPLE ARE WITHOUT A RELIABLE SOURCE OF DRINKING WATER. THIS YEAR, THE CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF WATER RESOURCES TEAMED UP WITH EDF TO WORK TOWARD MAKING AN OPEN-SOURCE WATER ACCOUNTING AND TRADING PLATFORM - WHICH EDF DEVELOPED - AVAILABLE TO MORE THAN 260 GROUNDWATER SUSTAINABILITY AGENCIES, RESPONSIBLE FOR MANAGING UP TO 60% OF CALIFORNIA'S WATER SUPPLY. IN TROPICAL FORESTS, EDF IS HELPING ENSURE INDIGENOUS PEOPLES HAVE THE LOCAL CONTROL AND FINANCIAL RESOURCES TO KEEP FORESTS THRIVING FOR US ALL. OUR TROPICAL FOREST CREDIT INTEGRITY GUIDE, DEVELOPED BY INDIGENOUS PEOPLES' ORGANIZATIONS AND A GROUP OF LEADING ENVIRONMENTAL NONPROFITS, INCLUDING EDF, SETS OUT FIVE PRINCIPLES TO HELP COMPANIES INVEST IN FOREST CONSERVATION THAT DELIVERS LASTING CLIMATE AND BIODIVERSITY BENEFITS AND DIRECTLY SUPPORTS FOREST COMMUNITIES. THE LEAF COALITION, WHICH WE HELPED LAUNCH LAST YEAR, CONTINUED TO GROW IN SIZE AND SCOPE. THE PROGRAM, BACKED BY THE U.S., THE U.K., NORWAY AND SOME OF THE WORLD'S BIGGEST COMPANIES, INCLUDING AMAZON, IS THE LARGEST-EVER PUBLIC-PRIVATE INVESTMENT IN TROPICAL FORESTS. IT HAS NOW RECEIVED 37 PROPOSALS FROM JURISDICTIONS IN AFRICA, ASIA AND THE AMERICAS SEEKING TO SELL FOREST CREDITS THAT WOULD PRESERVE MORE THAN HALF A BILLION HECTARES OF FOREST - AN AREA LARGER THAN THE EUROPEAN UNION.