Happy New Year from all of us at Pacific Environment! Last year, we tackled everything from bubble tea sold in throw-away plastic containers to false, fossil-fueled promises in the shipping industry. We’re working across communities and oceans to build people power and protect our planet. And, we’re ready to do it all over again in … Read more
We had a great year with many important wins. But none of this would have been possible without our supporters. This support helps Pacific Environment collaborate with brave grassroots leaders to fight climate change, defend the oceans, protect wildlife, build just societies and move beyond fossil fuels toward a green economy. Our teams coordinate ambitious … Read more
We traveled to the biodiversity summit in Canada to help ensure that the world commits to protecting 30% of our oceans by 2030. And we have great news to share: after many long days and nights of negotiations, the global community reached a watershed conservation agreement to protect 30% of the planet’s land and oceans … Read more
My proudest moment last winter was when allies and I were able to thwart attempts by multinational companies to avoid responsibility for plastic pollution in communities and our oceans. We had just convinced top national policymakers to include strong provisions to curb plastic pollution in a new version of Vietnam’s environmental laws. These included single-use plastic bans and … Read more
When I first started working in the environmental field, I was an environmental traditionalist. I enthusiastically worked on conservation of lands, waters, and wildlife. I worked to protect wild forests from being logged, to prevent endangered wildlife from disappearing, and to safeguard communities from industrial pollution fouling the air and water. In those early years, … Read more
It’s been a ground-breaking two weeks at COP27. Importantly, we’re celebrating the historic decision on loss and damage reparations. After two decades of advocacy, world governments finally agreed to establish a global “loss and damage” fund to help developing and climate-vulnerable countries and communities pay for the costs of managing climate-fueled weather extremes or impacts. … Read more
Hello from Egypt, where we’re on the ground at the U.N. Climate Conference, or COP27 — the world’s most important climate summit — to support crucial new efforts to end port and ship pollution Thanks to your support and the hard work of our team, allies, and partners, we are driving solutions to end ship … Read more
This piece is excerpted from a speech given by Pacific Environment’s Executive Director Alex Levinson at the World Ocean Forum in Korea. My colleagues from Pacific Environment and I are very pleased to be with you all today, at this gathering of international ocean leaders. This is my first time in Busan. A city that … Read more
NEW YORK, NEW YORK (September 22, 2022) – Global retail giant Target joined other big retailers, including Amazon and IKEA, in a landmark commitment to move its products off of fossil-fueled ocean cargo ships by 2040 as part of the Aspen Institute’s Cargo Owners for Zero Emission Vessels initiative. Environmental organizations with the Ship It … Read more
NEW YORK CITY (September 20, 2022) – In connection with Climate Week NYC 2022, Pacific Environment and Opportunity Green released a playbook for ports to accelerate action in the race to a zero-emission ocean shipping future. The IPCC’s 2022 climate report issued dire warnings to end our dependence on fossil fuels if we are to … Read more
In 2021, Pacific Environment partnered with community leaders to fight climate change, protect the oceans, build just societies, and move beyond fossil fuels toward a green economy. I’m proud of the historical wins we and local activists achieved this year. And I hope you are, too, because we couldn’t do what we do without the … Read more
I first met Ding Jie a decade ago when she was a college graduate taking on heavy polluters in the big city. Together we toured the city of Wuhu, located west of Shanghai on the Yangtze River in southern Anhui Province. Making our way through stagnant air and past construction rubble and urban decay, I … Read more
What a week. Between the world’s premier UN Climate Conference “COP26” and the global shipping crisis, Team Pacific Environment has been hard at work. What’s more, Indigenous partners just won a first-ever seat at the United Nations’ shipping body! Earlier this week, the Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC) became the first Indigenous Organization to gain International … Read more
We support community leaders to fight climate change, protect the oceans, build just societies, and move away from fossil fuels toward a green economy. With your help, over the past year we supported local partners with more than $430,000 in grants, expert trainings and skill-building workshops, as well as travel stipends to advocate for change at international … Read more
Big Oil is racing to make more plastic as demand for fossil fuel energy is plummeting. Fossil fuels are the core element in the production of plastics. Faced with falling profits from dirty energy use, the industry is proposing massive expansion of the petrochemical production of plastics—drowning our communities and oceans in plastic trash. Our … Read more
Professor Nhan Nguyen brings his passion for reducing plastic waste into the classroom at RMIT University in Ho Chi Minh City. “Climate change and plastic pollution are the environmental issues of our time,” Nhan says. “Vietnam doesn’t contribute much to climate change, but we are a major contributor to plastic pollution. I want my students to know about these … Read more
While it may seem unusual for an environmental group to provide medical relief, for Zhang Jun, temporarily pivoting his organization to COVID-19 relief made sense. When the COVID-19 crisis hit China, he contacted the local government in Anhui Province (about 200 miles from the outbreak’s early epicenter in Wuhan) to offer his team’s help. Having … Read more
Did you know that more than 90% of plastic waste is never recycled? Instead, most of it is being sent to landfills and incinerators, or polluting our land and our oceans. Meet Mrs. Lan who is working on the frontlines of plastic pollution in Vietnam. Mrs. Lan picks through household trash to make her living … Read more
Remember Exxon Valdez? How about the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill? Even decades later, these man-made environmental disasters are having a lasting impact on our planet, harming people and wildlife. In popular culture and the news, we remember these catastrophic events and firmly associate them with the companies responsible. On May 29, 2020, the largest … Read more
Pacific Environment’s staff and leadership express solidarity with protesters in the Bay Area and everywhere who have taken to the streets over the murder of George Floyd by a police officer who was supposed to protect people. Floyd’s murder, coupled with those of Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Nina Pop, and Tony McDade, as well as the racist targeting of … Read more