With help from CREDO, Stand.earth is fighting for climate justice

From protecting ancient forests to stopping new fossil fuel infrastructure to transforming polluting industries, Stand.earth holds major corporations to account in David vs. Goliath battles that result in environmental protection on a massive scale.

As part of CREDO’s monthly donations program — funded by our customers who use our products and services every day, at no extra cost to them — Stand received a $51,846 grant in January 2021 to help the group organize to defeat North American fossil fuel projects, protect the Amazon Sacred Headwaters, build a movement Standing Against Fossil Fuel Expansion (SAFE) and spearhead a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty.

CREDO’s grant of support provided much-needed flexibility that enabled Stand.earth to achieve key recent victories including:

Building the Standing Against Fossil Fuel Expansion (SAFE) Movement

SAFE Cities is a rapidly expanding, coordinated movement of cities and counties that are leveraging their legal authority to regulate land use and protect public health to stop the growth of the fossil fuel industry in their communities. With the support of Stand.earth’s SAFE campaigners and activists, the movement achieved a number of wins since receiving CREDO funding. Among these wins is a historic policy that was just passed in Whatcom County, WA, which Stand.earth and their allies have been working to bring to the finish line for over four years. On July 27, 2021, Whatcom County approved the world’s first ban on new fossil fuel infrastructure in a refinery area – a groundbreaking move that will become a roadmap for other refinery communities throughout the US. 

Spearheading the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty

Our SAFE Cities movement complements the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty — a multifaceted strategy to phase-down fossil fuels and fast-track solutions to align with the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C climate goal. This strategy was developed by Stand.earth’s Founder and International Program Director, Tzeporah Berman, as a result of receiving the Climate Breakthrough Project Award in 2019. This global treaty is intended to shift the narrative of fossil fuels, embody new norms, strengthen international cooperation, and rally citizens, communities, and countries to constrain the proliferation of oil, gas, and coal. 

Blocking Oil Financing in the Amazon

Stand.earth continues to spotlight attention to major banks that are complicit in funding dirty oil extraction in the Amazon Sacred Headwaters and throughout the Amazon biome. Earlier this year as a result of this campaign, French bank Natixis committed to end trade financing in Ecuadorian crude oil, joining commitments from four other banks we’ve secured to end oil trade financing in the Western Amazon. This total impact represents over $9 billion USD and more than 140 million barrels of oil traded over the last decade (primarily to the US). Then in June we released a new analysis — Banking on Amazon Destruction — revealing that 14 prominent banks remain highly exposed to the risk of funding corruption, human rights violations, environmental harms — and ultimately, climate chaos — in the Amazon. This analysis has laid the groundwork for the next phase of our campaign: securing commitments from a wide range of US and European banks to end all Amazon basin oil financing, similar to oil exclusion commitments in the Arctic.

Stopping Old-Growth Logging in British Columbia:

To help grow the people power needed to hold the British Columbia provincial government accountable on its commitments to protect BC’s iconic old-growth, Stand.earth has begun building a new collective organizing model with a range of environmental and community-based organizations. In April — marking the one-year anniversary since the BC government received a landmark analysis and series of recommendations for old-growth management reform — Stand.earth, along with Indigenous Nations and allied communities, helped organize a creative day of action, including coordinating protests, delivering clocks, writing letters, and calling for immediate bans on logging at-risk growth forests. Stand.earth supporters also recorded their own video messages to the BC government on the need for immediate action to protect the province’s old-growth. Then, in June, we recruited a star-studded cast of Indigenous leaders, celebrities, scientists, and environmental activists — from Grand Chief Stewart Phillip and David Suzuki, to Rachel McAdams and Mark Ruffalo — to record a message of their own, launching a viral, video ad campaign that shines a global spotlight on the BC government and holds them accountable to their campaign promises to stop logging the last remaining giant trees.

If you’d like to learn more about Stand.earth’s incredible climate justice work and find out how you can get involved, visit Stand’s website, take action on one or more of their recent campaigns, and follow them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

And if you’d like to help us decide how to distribute this month’s CREDO donations to three other amazing progressive organizations, visit CREDODonations.com and cast your vote today!