Spring 2020

Lost in Smoke - The Australian Wildfires

A Magazine By

From the Executive Director

Photo of Annie Leonard, Executive Director

As Greenpeace’s extraordinary “Pole to Pole” expedition from the Arctic to the Antarctic now reaches its grand finale, our campaign for the most ambitious conservation effort in human history is more energized than ever. All along the route the ship’s crews and campaigners teamed up with scientists and researchers to study the state of our oceans and marine life, making both exciting discoveries and also gathering heartbreaking and alarming data on the impacts of plastic pollution and the climate crisis.

Our findings are contributing to the world’s understanding of why the United Nations must agree on a strong Global Ocean Treaty this year—one that leads to the creation of fully protected marine sanctuaries covering at least 30% of the world’s oceans, which the science tells us is a must if we are to succeed in buffering the impacts of climate change and saving wildlife.

The impact of the climate crisis on our oceans, and all of the planet, has far-reaching implications for wildlife and humankind, requiring an urgent global political response. Greenpeace’s climate campaigns are escalating and amplifying—from the work being done in countries all over the globe to achieve a world beyond oil, to our push for California to lead the way in phasing out fossil fuels, including holding Fire Drill Friday climate action rallies in Los Angeles and other Golden State cities, to engaging people in communities all across the country to strengthen our demand for climate leadership nationwide.

Our grassroots power is growing, and, with it, our capacity to create the change we need for a livable, sustainable planet. Thanks to your support, Greenpeace is able to give it our all in the fight for our climate, oceans, forests, and all life on Earth. We couldn’t be more grateful to have you with us, and I hope you are pleased to see in these pages how your support is helping us rise up in defense of the natural world you love.

For a green and peaceful future,

Annie Leonard, Executive Director

Greenpeace USA

Our Mission

Greenpeace, Inc. is the leading independent campaigning organization that uses peaceful direct action and creative communication to expose global environmental problems and promote solutions that are essential to a green and peaceful future. Please visit greenpeace.org to learn more about Greenpeace, Inc., and greenpeacefund.org to learn more about Greenpeace Fund, Inc.This update is intended to provide a comprehensive summary of all Greenpeace campaign activities. Please note that all donations to Greenpeace Fund, Inc. were solely used in connection with 501(c)(3) permissible activities. ISSN: 8899- 0190. Unless otherwise noted, all contents are © Greenpeace, Inc.

Catastrophic Australia Fires are the Latest Climate Change Horror

By Helle Abelvik-Lawson

Apocalyptic scenes from Australia have shown the devastation being caused by the raging fires. Lives have been lost and thousands forced to flee their homes as millions of hectares have been consumed. Wildlife has also perished in the flames. Each day, more evidence emerges showing that climate change is driving catastrophic bushfires, causing extraordinary human suffering and environmental devastation.

Severe and long-term drought and record-breaking heatwaves are to blame. Southeastern Australia, which is experiencing the worst of the fires, is in the grip of the worst drought on record. In 2019, many of the affected areas had their driest January-to-August period on record.

Temperatures are soaring, breaking records in mid-December and continuing upwards into 2020, with many parts of the affected areas experiencing temperatures upwards of 105°. A Sydney suburb was the hottest place in the country in the first week of January at 120°.

Australia has a yearly bushfire season, but this is starting earlier and lasting longer, and is more severe and unpredictable due to climate change. The weather conditions are also making it much harder to control fires through the usual methods.

The military was sent in to help with evacuation and the firefighting effort, in a deployment on a scale not seen since WWII. But the prime minister, Scott Morrison, has downplayed the role of climate change, and the government is not doing a whole lot about it. Morrison refused for a long time to link the fire-causing conditions to climate change, saying it wasn’t “credible” to do so.

In 2019, Australia was the second-largest exporter of coal in the world. Coal is one of the biggest drivers of climate change, which is making their bushfire seasons worse. Australia’s emissions have been rising for four years and the government has no credible plan to reverse this trend.

As well as dealing with the immediate devastation, the Australian government must take serious action to reduce emissions in order to limit the impact of the climate crisis on Australians and the world. Governments across the world also have a responsibility to make a clear link between Australia’s fires crisis and the global climate emergency. Only a reduction in the burning of fossil fuels worldwide can prevent these catastrophic impacts of a warming planet.

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Helle Abelvik-Lawson

Greenpeace Comms UK

Greenpeace Brings Jane Fonda's Fire Drill Fridays to California and Beyond

By Madeline Carretero

In mid-January, actor, activist, and Greenpeace supporter Jane Fonda handed over the mantle of leadership for her Fire Drill Fridays to Greenpeace. She had to return to Los Angeles to film the last season of Grace and Frankie and wanted to keep building the incredible momentum that her weekly climate rallies and demonstrations had created.

Since then, on the first Friday of every month, Greenpeace has been convening Fire Drill Fridays together with Jane and other activists, celebrities, experts on various aspects of the climate emergency, and representatives from frontline communities directly affected by climate impacts. Fire Drill Fridays are happening not only in Los Angeles but also in cities like Sacramento, where Greenpeace will be working with Governor Gavin Newsom to make California a model for climate action nationwide and internationally.

Greenpeace has also created a dedicated supporter mobilization team to expand Fire Drill Fridays across the country, functioning as a distributed organizing model to recruit and engage people all over the U.S. (and even the world!) to mobilize and create their own Fire Drills. Hundreds of people who attended the rallies and watched from afar reached out to us to ask how they could hold Fire Drill Fridays in their own communities, or host watch parties for teach-ins, and otherwise take personal action on the climate emergency. Now, Greenpeace is helping them do that, galvanizing our movement even more.

Join the movement at firedrillfridays.com!

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Madeline Carretero

Greenpeace USA Supporter Engagement & Creative Partnerships

Eight Reasons Why We Need to Phase Out the Fossil Fuel Industry

By Tim Donaghy

Fossil fuel corporations are profiting from the continued consumption of coal, oil, and gas, which are driving global warming to dangerous levels. But the fossil fuel industry’s bad behavior doesn’t stop with greenhouse gas emissions. Fossil fuel companies are also responsible for significant air and water pollution. The burden of this pollution is borne most heavily by low-income and communities of color—and by the industry’s own workers. Here are eight reasons why we should kick off a managed decline of the fossil fuel industry. Because fossil fuel companies:

Are wrecking our climate
Are spending to lock in climate pollution
Cause deadly air pollution
Cause water pollution
Perpetuate environmental injustice
Don’t treat workers fairly
Have misled the public about the climate threat
Are attacking solutions, while raking in tax breaks

Learn more at greenpeace.org/usa/8-reasons

Real Climate Leadership: Why The Next President Must Prioritize A Fossil Fuel Phase Out

A recent Greenpeace report illustrated the need for a managed phase out of fossil fuel production as part of any comprehensive climate policy effort like a Green New Deal. The report shows that without specific policies to constrain fossil fuel supply, a significant fraction of emissions reductions achieved by policies to reduce demand for fossil fuels could be wiped out.

Fossil fuel companies have also misled the public about the impacts of climate change, corrupted our democracy, and attacked renewable energy solutions.

North Dakota Pipeline Spill Illustrates the Risks of New Fossil Fuel Infrastructure

In late October 2019, the Keystone pipeline leaked an estimated 383,000 gallons (9,120 barrels) of oil into wetlands in North Dakota. The leak is already the eighth-largest pipeline oil spill of the last decade. The fossil fuel industry is furiously building out even more new pipelines across the country in order to get their oil and gas from the drilling fields to refineries and markets along the coast. This latest spill shows the risks that these pipelines pose for water and communities along their path—not to mention sparking an increase in fossil fuel production that threatens our global climate.

We call on the next President to reject permits for new fossil fuel infrastructure that would increase greenhouse gas pollution, and instead enact a phase out of fossil fuels and a Green New Deal.

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Tim Donaghy

Greenpeace USA Senior Research Specialist

Violence, Illegality, and the Devestating Destruction of the Forests in Brazil

By Diana Ruiz

Brazil’s forests and savannahs remain at the front line of industrial agriculture’s war on the world’s climate, the environment, and traditional communities. The situation in Brazil has worsened under President Jair Bolsonaro, whose government appears to have adopted attacks on forests and Indigenous Peoples as pillars of its economic policy. Bolsonaro’s government has given tacit endorsement to land grabbing and incursions into Indigenous lands by illegal loggers, miners, and ranchers.

A recent Greenpeace International investigation uncovered that mega-traders Cargill and Bunge are exporting soy from an agricultural estate in Brazil with a long record of violence, illegality, and environmental destruction. Cargill and Bunge, both U.S.-based corporations, supply soy to numerous international companies—including fast food brands McDonald’s, KFC, and Burger King—as well as many retailers and consumer goods brands. Nearly ten years ago these companies promised to eliminate deforestation from their supply chains by 2020. Instead, the failure to achieve these commitments can be measured by the dramatic increase in deforestation since 2014.

Greenpeace International’s report, Under Fire, details multiple accounts of illegal land clearance, land grabbing, and the use of slave labor and violence on the Agronegócio Estrondo estate. Estrondo operates in areas where the land-use rights of traditional afro-descendent geraizeira communities have been legally recognized. However, the communities are subject to frequent violence and harassment. Documentary footage captured by a German news outlet during an investigation by Greenpeace Brazil shows an armed raid on one such community by a group claiming to be Bahia state police. The report also documents the shooting of a cattle herder by a member of a private security force, harassment of a community member at a security checkpoint, the use of armed patrols, and security fences cutting across community lands.

The deforestation, human rights, and legal issues with this estate are well known, and have been widely covered by the Brazilian media and Greenpeace. As this report documents, even the Brazilian authorities acknowledge that the estate was based on a land grab. It was founded with slave labor, and has engaged in illegal land clearance. Despite this, in May 2019 officials renewed a deforestation permit to clear an additional 25,000 hectares within the estate.

The full Under Fire report may be accessed here:
greenpeace.org/usa/underfire

Bolsonaro Decree Shows that Crime Pays in the Amazon

In late 2019 Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro signed a decree that will allow the legalization of large amounts of illegally deforested and occupied public land in the Amazon. Legalizing these lands is a gift to land grabbers and in practice represents amnesty and tacit support for illegal forest destruction.

Take Action: Amazon Forest Guardians Under Fire in Brazil

With the Brazilian government failing to protect Indigenous regions from loggers and land grabbers, Indigenous “Forest Guardians” are risking and losing their lives to defend the integrity of their home. Greenpeace stands in solidarity with the brave Guajajara warriors of the Arariboia Indigenous Land and the Forest Guardians in Maranhão and throughout Brazil. We call on the Brazilian government to take immediate action to prevent further violence and death in the region.

Greenpeace Blows the Whistle on Rubber Giant Halcyon Agri’s Human Rights Violations

Following the 2018 exposure of the Congo Basin’s most devastating new forest clearance for industrial agriculture, late last year Greenpeace Africa released a new brief describing human rights violations of Indigenous Baka communities in the South of Cameroon. The brief reveals how the operations of Sudcam—a subsidiary of Singapore-based rubber company Halcyon Agri—have led to destruction of Baka people’s camps, restricted their access to land used for farming, fishing, and hunting, and contributed to the loss of their language and culture.

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Diana Ruiz

Greenpeace USA Senior Palm Oil Campaigner

Greenpeace Explores Enormous Mountains Under the Sea

By Helena Kowarick Spiritus

Seamounts are large submarine mountains, formed through volcanic activity and submerged under the ocean surface. Though they were once seen as nothing more than a nuisance by sailors, scientists have discovered that the structures of seamounts form wildlife hotspots. The steep slopes of seamounts carry nutrients upwards from the depths of the seafloor towards the sunlit surface, providing the sea life with nutrient-rich food.

During Greenpeace’s epic journey sailing from the Arctic to the Antarctic in our “Pole to Pole” ship tour, we stopped along the way to do research, including at the Mount Vema seamount. A few things to note:

Mount Vema is as high as 767 giraffes piled on top of each other.

The Vema seamount was discovered in 1957 (some sources say 1959) by an Oceanographic Research vessel with the same name. From the ocean floor, it stretches 4,600 meters high. That is 4.5 times higher than the iconic Table Mountain in South Africa, or as high as 767 giraffes piled on top of each other. Which also means that the peak of Mount Vema is just 26 meters below the ocean surface, so it was possible for Greenpeace to go there with divers and show the amazing biodiversity of the region.

The first explorers of Mount Vema were on a hunt for diamonds.

The discoverers initially hoped to find large diamond deposits on Vema. Instead they found another kind of wealth: the Tristan rock lobster or Jasus tristani, a lobster species that is otherwise found only on the Tristan da Cunha archipelago about 1,000 nautical miles away. This kind of lobster enjoyed great fame among seafood lovers and sold for a good price before it became virtually extinct at Mount Vema due to overfishing. The population of Tristan lobsters still hasn’t recovered to this day.

Mount Vema is littered with abandoned fishing gear.

Now, instead of Tristan lobsters, surveys in the area only find old discarded fishing equipment, a deadly trap for numerous animals. Abandoned fishing gear, called “ghost gear,” continues to catch sea creatures as if they were still being used, snaring and entangling species that cannot free themselves and end up dying. This damages both marine life and the fishermen who lose part of their potential catch.

An estimated 640,000 metric tons of “ghost gear” enters the ocean every year, equivalent in weight to more than 50 thousand double-decker buses. In total, the equipment makes up around 10 percent of the plastic waste in our oceans, entangling and killing marine life, warns a new Greenpeace Germany report, Ghost gear: the abandoned fishing nets haunting our oceans.

“The impact of abandoned or lost fishing gear has increased dramatically as the industry has switched from natural fibers, ceramic pots, and wood buoys to plastic,” said John Hocevar, Oceans Campaign Director for Greenpeace USA. “Together, plastic fishing gear and single use plastic packaging make up the bulk of debris in our oceans.”

A Global Ocean Treaty could help protect this place.

Seamounts like Mount Vema are often found miles from countries’ national waters, far out on the high seas. That makes it difficult to give them proper protection, as the gaps in existing regulations can be easily exploited by destructive industries. This is why Greenpeace is campaigning for a global treaty to protect the high seas, so that unique ecosystems like Vema’s can finally be protected effectively.

Join us to cover our planet in ocean sanctuaries at greenpeace.org/usa/protect-the-oceans

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Helena Kowarick Spiritus

Greenpeace Germany Oceans Campaigner

New Greenpeace Report Exposes How Corporations are Pretending to Solve the Plastics Crisis

By Ivy Schlegel

In our new report, Throwing Away the Future: How Companies Still Have It Wrong on Plastic Pollution “Solutions,” Greenpeace USA warns consumers to be skeptical of the so-called solutions announced by multinational corporations to tackle the plastic pollution crisis. These false solutions, such as switching to paper or “bioplastics,” or embracing chemical recycling, are failing to move us away from single-use packaging and divert attention away from beneficial systems that prioritize refill and reuse.

Despite the increasing scientific understanding of the irreversible damage plastic can cause to our environment and communities, plastic production is projected to dramatically increase in the coming years. Multinational consumer goods companies continue to promote so-called sustainable alternatives that would put unacceptable pressures on natural resources such as forests and agricultural land, which have already been overexploited. To solve the plastic pollution crisis, companies need to rethink how products are delivered to consumers and invest significantly in reusable and refillable delivery systems.

Many of the world’s largest consumer goods companies, including Nestlé, Unilever, PepsiCo, and Procter & Gamble, have signaled their intent to make plastic packaging more recyclable, reusable, compostable, or from recycled content. Meanwhile, they are aiming to continue, and even increase, the manufacturing of products wrapped in single-use plastic or disposable packaging made from other materials.

Our report exposes that companies are investing in risky emerging chemical conversion “recycling” technologies, which offer false hope and lock in demand for plastic packaging. Companies have obscured the true impacts of packaging behind confusing marketing terms, sustainability language, and industry alliances, hoping that consumers will continue to believe the false promise that plastic can be improved. These misleading claims that a product is compostable, biodegradable, or made from plants, does not mean that product is good for the environment or will reduce plastic pollution.

By the end of 2019, globally, it is estimated that plastic production and burning will emit the carbon equivalent of 189 coal-fired power plants. And it is estimated that by 2050, there will be 12 billion metric tons of plastic waste in natural environments. As companies recognize the threat of plastics, Greenpeace is demanding that they not simply embrace a quick fix that harms the planet elsewhere.

Read the report at greenpeace.org/usa/false-solutions

Demand that corporations take action to end the plastic pollution crisis by signing Greenpeace’s petition at greenpeace.org/usa/plastic-petition

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Ivy Schlegel

Greenpeace USA Senior Research Specialist

Victories for People and the Planet

Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines declares fossil fuel companies can be held responsible for climate-related human rights harms.

This is the first time that a human rights body has stated that fossil fuel companies can be found legally and morally liable for harms linked to climate change—a huge win for frontline Filipino communities who are considered among the most vulnerable to the devastating impacts of the climate crisis. This also marks a victory for the global movement for climate justice, as it will likely be a precedent for further legal actions demanding fossil fuel companies put people’s rights over profit. It marks the beginning of the end of the fossil fuel industry’s stranglehold over our political systems.

Murray Energy Corporation files for bankruptcy.

In late October 2019 the fifth-largest coal mining company in the United States announced that it has filed for bankruptcy. The decision makes seven major coal companies that have filed for bankruptcy since 2014. CEO Robert Murray—who once described global warming as “hysterical global goofiness”—has close ties to Donald Trump. Murray has been instrumental in the president’s extensive attempts to roll back environmental regulations since taking office. But not even Robert Murray’s close relationship with the Trump administration can keep the dying coal industry afloat, as we unleash the clean energy revolution.

Unilever announces plan to reduce single-use plastic packaging.

Acknowledging that reduction and new business models are critical to tackle plastic pollution, Unilever plans to reduce 100,000 metric tons of its single-use plastic packaging and focus its efforts on collection and switching to recycled content by 2025. The announcement came just days after a Greenpeace USA report called out companies for opting for false solutions, such as emphasizing recycling and switching to other throwaway materials such as paper or bioplastics, rather than refillables.

Blue Bottle Coffee announces landmark zero waste commitment.

Blue Bottle Coffee announced that it would be transitioning all of its US cafés to zero waste by the end of 2020, eliminating single-use cups and throwaway bags for coffee. The company will launch its first zero single-use-cup program in the San Francisco Bay area. The program will ask customers to either bring their own cup from home, order drinks for-here, or put down a deposit for a reusable cup they can exchange the next time they come in. Since 2017, Nestlé has owned a 68 percent stake in Blue Bottle, and this precedent-setting commitment puts direct pressure on Nestlé to do more to end its reliance on single-use plastics.

Read more stories and victories for the planet at greenpeace.org/usa/stories-victories

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Ten Key Facts about the Southern Right Whale and Why It’s Important to Protect Their Habitat

Whales are very important for the oceans. It could be said that they are “ecosystem engineers” because they help, in various ways, to keep life at sea healthy by redistributing nutrients across the oceans and even mitigating climate change. The Southern Right whale is no exception, but today its habitat, the international waters of the southwest Atlantic, faces the threat of industrial fishing. On the following page are 10 key facts about this incredible whale and why it is important to protect the oceans.

How does industrial fishing affect the Southern Right whale?

Tragically, the whale’s home is being invaded by industrial fishing vessels, many of which have traveled thousands of miles. Krill, the shrimp-like crustaceans that are an important part of right whales’ diet, are being vacuumed out of the ocean in their summer feeding grounds off Antarctica. While they are far too large to be hauled aboard, the whales can still get entangled and caught in fishing gear. Destructive fishing techniques can also have a devastating impact on the healthy ecosystem whales need to thrive. Finally, noise pollution in the ocean, especially that caused by boats and seismic blasting for oil exploration, is on the increase, potentially threatening communication between whales.

How can we protect the home of whales?

Globally, whales are facing more and more threats from destructive human activities. Climate change, toxic pollution, plastics in the ocean, vessel collisions, habitat loss, and industrial overfishing depleting their food sources are all having devastating impacts on most species.

And even as the populations of many species are still recovering from decades of industrial whaling, key whale migratory routes are filling with industrial shipping, increasing the threat of ship strikes. Unfortunately, there is no effective mechanism for the protection of oceans and areas that are outside national waters. That is why Greenpeace is asking governments to agree to a strong Global Ocean Treaty that could protect the incredible life of the oceans, including migratory species such as the Southern Right whale.

Join our campaign to protect the home of the Southern Right whale at greenpeace.org/usa/southernrightwhale

Number One The Southern Right whale (Eubalaena australis) can be found in subtropical waters of the southern hemisphere. They are quite curious and playful when they are close to humans.

Number Two It is one of the largest species of whale: the average male is 13 to 15 meters long and the average female is about 16 meters. They weigh around 40 tons.

Number Three The characteristic calluses on southern right whales’ skin function like fingerprints and identify each whale throughout its life. Calluses are elevated areas of skin (more than 5cm thick) on different parts of their heads.

Number Four They are calm, curious, and quite slow to swim (reaching maximum speeds of 9 to 11 km / h). To communicate they jump and splash their fins in the water.

Number Five They can live to be 100 years old!

Number Six Unlike the North Atlantic and North Pacific whales (both endangered), the Southern Right whale has started to recover from centuries of commercial hunting.

Number Seven Instead of teeth these whales use baleen plates to catch their food. Baleen are long sheets of keratin (the same as hair and fingernails) that hang from the top of the mouth. These baleen allow them to feed “by filter”—they open and close their jaws as they swim, using their throat and tongue to push the water back out of their mouths through the beards. This allows the water to flow out while catching the prey.

Number Eight This species of whale feeds mainly on krill and small fish.

Number Nine A third of all southern right whales in the world use the protected bays of the Valdés Peninsula in Argentina to mate and give birth between the months of May and December.

Number Ten These whales can be seen in Argentina (Valdés Peninsula), Australia, South Africa, Chile, Uruguay, Tristán de Acuña (British overseas territory), and New Zealand.

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The Smart Supermarket: Envisioning a Store Without Plastic

By Kate Melges

Globally, we’re starting to see retailers moving away from plastics and throwaway packaging, but not with the urgency needed to address this crisis, especially in the U.S. To help retailers with this transition, a new Greenpeace USA report, The Smart Supermarket, offers concrete suggestions and real world examples for supermarkets to move beyond single-use plastics and packaging.

From store aisles to the checkout counter, this report shows retailers the many ways they can help end our throwaway culture. Some of the promising solutions outlined in the report include removing unnecessary plastic packaging on produce (or replacing it with natural products), selling food staples through bulk buying dispensaries, and providing incentives for customers to bring reusable food containers, shopping bags, and beverage cups.

For the sake of our oceans, waterways, and communities, retailers and consumer goods companies must work together to accelerate a shift away from single-use plastics and towards reuse systems.

Greenpeace USA Santas Descend on Target’s Headquarters

At the height of the holiday shopping season, Greenpeace USA activists dressed as Santa and his Elves made a special visit to Target’s flagship store in Minneapolis, where they delivered two six-foot-tall stockings full of single-use plastic trash to highlight the company’s failure to act on single-use plastics. After the protest, the activists passed out hundreds of holiday cookies to the company’s employees which read, “Do More. Ditch Plastic.”

Going Plastic-Free: 4 Zero-Waste Strategies for Business

Four potential business models are emerging as building blocks of a single-use, plastic-free future that reimagines the way we deliver, consume, and pack products.

A circular shopping experience with reuse & refill systems.
Circular consumption: Value chain innovations use resources all along the chain as efficiently as possible and connect producers and consumers directly.
Consumers become creators—do-it-yourself (DIY) & home making solutions enable the consumer to make common food and non-food products at home, without purchasing packaged goods.
Material Innovation: New materials for the reuse case—radically innovative materials that are durable, affordable, hygienic, smart, and practical for reusable delivery concepts.

Skipping single-use plastic is an increasing economic opportunity and inspiring solutions are on the horizon that might change the way we consume forever, for the better.

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Kate Melges

Greenpeace USA Senior Ocean Plastics Campaigner

The Climate Crisis Is an Ocean Crisis

The breakdown of the oceans due to fossil fuel usage is rapid and large-scale, already disrupting ecosystem structure and functions across the globe, and resulting in ocean heating, sea level rise, ocean acidification, and deoxygenation. A new Greenpeace International report, In Hot Water: The Climate Crisis and the Urgent Need for Ocean Protection, warns that the impact of the climate crisis on our oceans has far-reaching implications for biodiversity and humankind, requiring an urgent global political response in the next 12 months.

The ocean is heating, it’s rising, and its very chemistry is changing. For people and for wildlife, the climate crisis is an ocean crisis, and we’re already in hot water. The ocean isn’t something that happens “over there.” It’s a livelihood for so many people, it’s food security for over a billion more, and it’s the oxygen that every one of us on this blue planet breathes.

The science isn’t a debate, it’s a prescription. Governments need to drastically reduce our fossil fuel emissions and urgently create a network of ocean sanctuaries. Free from harmful human activity, these safe spaces would allow our oceans and wildlife to recover and in turn help us to avoid the worst impacts of climate breakdown.

2020 is a crucial year for protecting our oceans and tackling the climate crisis. Governments must seize the opportunity to agree on a historic Global Ocean Treaty at the UN and pledge to protect at least 30% of the oceans by 2030 at the biodiversity summit in China. The ocean is a crucial ally in the fight against climate change. With millions worldwide calling for action, it’s time we protect the ocean like people’s lives depend on it, because they do.

Read the report at greenpeace.org/usa/in-hot-water

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Why the 2020 Census Matters to the Environment

By Jonathan Butler

The 2020 Census process, including attempts to suppress communities from reporting, will have a ripple effect across the nation.

Census data not only determines political representation, it also guides the allocation of billions of dollars in federal resources. If frontline communities directly impacted by climate disaster are suppressed in the 2020 Census count, it will fuel inequity in our democracy—especially when they need emergency resources and fair representation from elected officials on environmental policies.

With statistics from census data we can better assess the impacts of the climate crisis and environmental hazards on a community, and the effect of government policies. Census data can also be used to enforce equitable environmental protections, including those in the Clean Air Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act, for example.

And with a fair and accurate count, 2020 Census data can be used to promote environmental justice and climate action.

Find out more by visiting greenpeace.org/usa/census2020

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Jonathan Butler

Greenpeace USA Democracy Campaigner

Greenpeace Fund's Gift to You

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If you would like to speak to a lawyer about your will, this same free tool can help you document your wishes before you meet. You can get started today at FreeWill.com/GreenpeaceFund—and it’s free to make changes anytime, so you can keep your will up-to-date!

Create Your Legacy for the Earth

The struggle to save our planet will continue long after we are gone. But that doesn’t mean that our voices become silent. By leaving a legacy to Greenpeace, you can continue to be an advocate for the planet that future generations will inherit. If you would like to know more about how you can remember Greenpeace in you estate plans, please contact Corrine Barr:

1 (800) 328-0678 [email protected]

Executive Director

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