Building Zero Waste Campaigns in Vietnam

Southeast Asia, and especially Vietnam, is becoming the world’s new dumping ground. Following China’s recent import ban on recyclables, the influx of shipments of international plastic waste has been outpacing the construction of recycling facilities, piling up in Vietnam’s ports and triggering a temporary ban on plastic imports this past summer. Will Vietnam hold strong … Read more

Check Out Grassroots Coal Films

Grassroots activists are at the forefront of the fight for a just transition to clean energy. This fight has only become more urgent with the recent U.N. report by climate scientists calling for immediate and radical reduction of carbon pollution worldwide to avert catastrophic climate change. To shine a spotlight on the brave grassroots heroes … Read more

NEWS FROM THE FIELD: Meet the “Plastic Whisperer”

Zhao Zhong can determine any type of plastic simply by touching it. This extraordinary skill earned him the nickname “plastic whisperer” when he was sorting through plastic and other household trash in Ha Long City, Vietnam, last month to help us curb the tsunami of plastic trash choking our oceans. Zhao Zhong, a veteran of … Read more

Our Top 5 of 2017

The most powerful force on Earth is people power. Every day, people around the Pacific Rim who are finding new and creative ways to protect us all from climate breakdown, air pollution, water loss, and plastic waste. Here are five wins that you helped us and our partners on the ground achieve in 2017. We truly couldn’t … Read more

New Report Details Human Rights Violations Surrounding U.S. Ex-Im Financed Coal Plant in India

Today, the Sierra Club, 350.org, Carbon Market Watch, Pacific Environment, and Friends of the Earth U.S. released a report detailing the catastrophic human rights, labor, and environmental violations at Reliance Power’s Sasan coal-fired power plant and mine in Singrauli, India. Even more striking is the fact that the U.S. Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im) has financed over $900 million for the project, using American taxpayer dollars to support the dirty, dangerous coal project.

International Financing Denied for Thai Binh II Coal Plant

A leading U.S. Government finance agency, the Export-Import Bank, yesterday voted to deny financing for the polluting and inefficient Thai Binh II coal power plant in Vietnam based on environmental concerns. The decision reinforced President Obama’s recently released Climate Action Plan, which included a commitment to end US funding of coal plants abroad except for rare exceptions and coincides with yesterday’s World Bank decision to also end virtually all coal plant financing.

Turning the Corner on Dirty Coal Projects

Pacific Environment is applauding today’s decision of an obscure but rich federal bank called Export-Import Bank to implement one of the strongest elements of President Obama’s recently released Climate Action Plan—a commitment to end U.S. funding of fossil fuel plants abroad except for rare exceptions. Today, the Export-Import Bank’s Board of Directors voted to deny financing for the highly polluting and inefficient Thai Binh II coal power plant in Viet Nam.