It has been said that climate change is our generation’s issue. I also think it is the most pressing issue in the world right now, for everyone. Although I do not have a personal history with a climate organization, I do connect to the cause. There are plenty of groups to choose from, but the Coalition for Rainforest Nations is the organization I would like our class to support in an effort to combat climate change.
The Coalition for Rainforest Nations is an intergovernmental organization that works across Africa, Asia, the Carribean, Central America, South America, and Oceania. Formed in 2005, they now span 90% of the world’s rainforests through over 50 member nations. Their mission is “to create sound and long-lasting opportunities for environmental sustainability, social and economic advancement, strengthened capacity and international market reform in a manner that enhances tropical forest stewardship, biodiversity conservation and global climate stability by reversing the destruction of tropical rainforests.” They primarily achieve this through the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation program. REDD+ provides countries with “compensation for preventing deforestation and degradation, and for conserving and enhancing carbon stocks.” REDD+ is also supported by the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and is enshrined in the Paris Climate Accords.
It is true that the global South is not the largest contributor to climate change, industrialized nations like America are. But these countries contain and control the rainforests, which are a natural resource that we must preserve. Furthermore, CfRN is not a tool used to place the blame for and responsibility to fix climate change on these developing countries, it is made by and for the rainforest nations to build themselves up.
The Founders Pledge lists CfRN as one of only two recommendations for environmental nonprofits to donate to. They determined that a donation of just 12 cents to CfRN will avert one metric ton of CO2 or other greenhouse gasses, compared to the usual expectation that it will take at least two dollars. For reference, the average American causes approximately 16 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions per year.
CfRN is special because they have such a wide reach and cooperate with dozens of different governments. They empower these developing nations through the incentives for sustainability, an approach that has international support beyond the countries involved. Lastly, supporting CfRN may be one of the most efficient ways to combat climate change, even with a small-dollar donation. Therefore, I implore you to give the Coalition for Rainforest Nations your support.
You can find more information here: https://www.rainforestcoalition.org/
Maya Wolf
This is a really awesome pitch! Two cents is such a small amount I was surprised to learn that it can create a very large change. I appreciate that the CfRN hopes to create long-term opportunity's for environmental sustainability. I view climate change as one of humanities most challenging issues, because it is very difficult to convince people who believe otherwise that climate change must be addressed. However, I believe that the raising awareness for climate change through donating/supporting organizations like CfRN is the only way to influence the public. If more and more people donate to organizations like CfRN, a new trend for both service and environmental awareness will be set. Moreover, I think that the public will feel rewarded for getting involved with CfRN. 2 cents is not a lot of money, which gives most people the ability to give.
ReplyDeleteMaya, this is such an interesting pitch. As a class, we’ve seen a lot of charity pitches that sought to help a specific group of people or a community, and I like how you deviated from that. This organization really goes towards fighting the physical issues that our planet is facing. While helping our communities is necessary, it would be impossible to do without a planet, and you made it very obvious that this is one of the leading non-for-profits fighting to keep our planet healthy. It was nice to see that a small amount of money went such a long way. With bigger organizations, it is easy to assume that a small donation would go unnoticed, but it seems that this organization figured out how to efficiently use every cent they receive. The fact that this organization is also supported by the governments of the 50 nations that it works with gives me hope that our government may accept climate change as an issue and work with similar organizations to combat it. I’m interested to see in your presentation how much deforestation this organization has prevented since 2005, and what they are doing to combat other forms of climate change in developed countries.
ReplyDeleteMaya, I think you’ve chosen a very unique organization and it gives a glimpse into your values as you’ve chosen a very inclusive cause that affects individuals globally rather than nationally. My point of interest is in the mention that “They empower these developing nations through the incentives for sustainability...”. The business ventures concerning rainforests are actually very dangerous because sectors fall into the hands of greedy corporations secured by the countries themselves. The recent fires in the Amazon have shed light that our rainforests are at risk and that the corporations exploiting such rainforests are the only ones that can stop the destruction. So I appreciate that the Coalition for Rainforest Nations is tackling the issue through partnerships with the nations themselves. It’s unfortunate that the developing nations often enable the destruction of the rainforests in order to receive payment from such corporations in order to uphold their failing economic systems. However, as you stated, the incentives created through the Paris agreement should enable and require developing nations to adhere to such programs that reduce emissions and regulate such standards.
ReplyDeleteThis is an excellent and intriguing charity pitch! I agree that climate change is one of the largest issues currently facing our generation and also relate to the cause environmental agencies attempt to tackle. What intrigued me most about The Coalition for Rainforest Nations was their statistic that a donation of little as twelve cents can avert a metric ton of CO2 or other greenhouse gases. One factor that we as a class often focus on when evaluating charities and organizations is the impact our donation will really have. Providing a more tangible idea of what our money is really doing is an excellent technique to win over support for the charity. Ultimately, this is an excellent charity and I think they deserved our support.
ReplyDelete-Ryan Marrone
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