Cool Earth
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Cool Earth is an international
NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...
that funds Indigenous communities to protect endangered rainforests in order to combat the
climate crisis ''Climate crisis'' is a term that is used to describe global warming and climate change and their effects. This term and the term ''climate emergency'' have been used to emphasize the threat of global warming to Earth's natural environment an ...
and protect
ecosystems An ecosystem (or ecological system) is a system formed by Organism, organisms in interaction with their Biophysical environment, environment. The Biotic material, biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and en ...
. The charity is associated with long term partnerships with Indigenous villages, unconditional cash transfers and advocating for basic income as an effective conservation strategy. It shares many of its methods and values with organisations and networks, like Give Directly and the Basic Income Earth Network. It is supported by Professor
James Lovelock James Ephraim Lovelock (26 July 1919 – 26 July 2022) was an English independent scientist, environmentalist and futurist. He is best known for proposing the Gaia hypothesis, which postulates that the Earth functions as a self-regulating syst ...
and Professor Johan Rockstrom and a number of celebrities including the late Dame
Vivienne Westwood Dame Vivienne Isabel Westwood (; 8 April 1941 – 29 December 2022) was an English fashion designer and businesswoman, largely responsible for bringing modern punk and new wave fashions into the mainstream. In 2022, ''Sky Arts'' ranked her the ...
,
Pamela Anderson Pamela Denise Anderson (born July 1, 1967) is a Canadian-American actress, model and media personality. She rose to prominence after being selected as the February 1990 ''Playboy'' Playmate of the Month. She went on to make regular appearan ...
and
Ricky Gervais Ricky Dene Gervais ( ; born 25 June 1961) is an English comedian, actor, writer, television producer and filmmaker. He co-created, co-wrote, and acted in the British television sitcoms ''The Office (British TV series), The Office'' (2001–2003) ...
. Professor James Lovelock, was quoted in the Guardian saying, “You're far better off giving to the charity Cool Earth, which gives the money to the Indigenous peoples to not take down their forests.” Professor Johan Rockström, a world leading climate scientist, and Cool Earth Trustee has also shared his opinions on the charity, “Cool Earth has one of the most effective means of showing that conservation of rainforests can go hand in hand with community development. In 2016, a detailed external evaluation of Cool Earth was undertaken, showing that Cool Earth was the most cost-effective charity working on mitigating climate change through direct action. The report concluded: "Cool Earth is overall the most cost-effective climate change charity which can reliably reduce emissions without risk". Awards made to the charity include Charity of the Year Civil Society Media Charity Awards and best International NGO at the PEA Awards. The organisation is funded by over 70,000 individuals as well as foundations and businesses in the USA, UK and Europe. Moreover, Cool Earth is ranked “highly effective” by multiple charity evaluators. For example, it has received a top rating from GiveWell, which is a leading independent evaluator of charities.


History

Cool Earth was founded in 2007 by entrepreneur Johan Eliasch and MP Frank Field out of their common interest in protecting the rainforest. They argued that it was unacceptable that the 20% of carbon emissions created by tropical deforestation were ignored by the
Kyoto protocol The was an international treaty which extended the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that commits state parties to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, based on the scientific consensus that global warming is oc ...
and that urgent, direct action was needed to put a stop to deforestation, lest it take up to twenty years to get an idea adopted by the political bureaucracy.


Activities

Cool Earth's ethos is that the most effective custodians of rainforests are the people who have lived there for generations as they have the most to lose from its destruction. Their approach is to work with Indigenous and rainforest-based communities to secure threatened rainforest. The charity provides local people with the support they need to keep their rainforests standing. This is done by concentrating on three key areas, these are: * Cash Transfers * Local Economies * Forest Data The provision of resources for these areas enables the building of sustainable livelihoods, better schools, better clinics and the empowerment of partner villages to monitor their forest and secure it from
illegal logging Illegal logging is the harvest, transportation, purchase, or sale of timber in violation of laws. The harvesting procedure itself may be illegal, including using corrupt means to gain access to forests; extraction without permission, or from a p ...
. This basic model used by Cool Earth has been described as "simple but so intelligent" by the Times journalist Deborah Ross. Cool Earth is currently working alongside 13 partners to protect nearly 100,000 hectares of rainforest across 3 continents. The organisation is currently active in Papua New Guinea, Peru, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Gabon; and has previously finished work in Brazil and Ecuador. In Peru the charity is working with two Indigenous communities at the frontline of deforestation, the Ashaninka and the Awajún. Cool Earth has been partnered with villages in the Asháninka community since 2008, after they contacted the charity desperate to be able to turn loggers away despite living below the poverty line. The project has expanded to 14 other Asháninka villages and the support from Cool Earth has enabled the villages to carry out activities such as strengthen register community associations, demarcate their community borders, carry out voluntary patrols, enable emergency evacuations, establish a cacao and coffee producers association, provide mosquito nets for every villager, build medical outposts and improve primary schools. The partnership with the Awajún villages in Northern Peru, near the Ecuadorian border is aiming to protect 56,000 acres of forest. The key activities being supported are the development of cacao production, fish farms and traditional jewellery. The jewellery producers use seeds harvested from the rainforest and their work has inspired Vivienne Westwood’s Gold Label Collection and featured in her Paris fashion show. In the Congo Basin, the charity has been partnering with local charities includin
OELOCCREAD
an
GCE
to help local communities protect their rainforest. So far Cool Earth has helped improve the villages rights over their forest through training of local people in GPS mapping and plotting 600,000 acres of community forest. 6 Cool Earth's youngest project is in Papua New Guinea and was launched in September 2015. It is working with three Indigenous and rainforest coastal villages on the edge of the
palm Palm most commonly refers to: * Palm of the hand, the central region of the front of the hand * Palm plants, of family Arecaceae ** List of Arecaceae genera **Palm oil * Several other plants known as "palm" Palm or Palms may also refer to: Music ...
plantation frontier. They are aiming to build sustainable livelihoods to enable the villagers to halt the advance of the palm plantations from the east and protect the pristine rainforest behind. One of Cool Earth’s most recent campaign was supporting The
Queen's Commonwealth Canopy The Queen's Commonwealth Canopy (QCC) is an initiative begun in 2015 as a network of forest conservation programmes throughout the 54 countries of the Commonwealth of Nations. By 2016, 16 countries had become involved and, by 2023, the number was ...
, a project launched in 2015 to preserve and promote forested areas throughout the Commonwealth.


Recognition

Cool Earth has been supported by notable people and ambassadors including Professor
James Lovelock James Ephraim Lovelock (26 July 1919 – 26 July 2022) was an English independent scientist, environmentalist and futurist. He is best known for proposing the Gaia hypothesis, which postulates that the Earth functions as a self-regulating syst ...
, Dame Vivienne Westwood,
Pamela Anderson Pamela Denise Anderson (born July 1, 1967) is a Canadian-American actress, model and media personality. She rose to prominence after being selected as the February 1990 ''Playboy'' Playmate of the Month. She went on to make regular appearan ...
,
Kate Moss Katherine Ann Moss (born 16 January 1974) is an English model. Arriving towards the end of the "supermodel era", Moss rose to fame in the early 1990s as part of the heroin chic fashion trend. Her collaborations with Calvin Klein brought her t ...
, Professor Lord Stern, Dr Tony Juniper,
Kelly Hoppen Kelly Elaine Hoppen (born 28 July 1959) is a South African-born British interior designer, author, and proprietor of Kelly Hoppen Interiors. From 2013 to 2015, she was a "Dragon" on BBC Two's '' Dragons' Den''. Family Kelly Hoppen was born ...
, Leah Wood, Nick Baker, Gillian Burke and Dr John Hemming. In 2015, it was named Charity of the Year in its category at the Civil Society Media Charity Awards and best International NGO at the PEA Awards. In 2016, a detailed external evaluation of Cool Earth undertaken by
Giving What We Can Giving What We Can (GWWC) is an effective altruism nonprofit that promotes effective giving through education, outreach, and advocacy around the 10% Pledge, which encourages members to donate at least 10% of their income to effective charities. ...
found Cool Earth to be the most
cost-effective Cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) is a form of economic analysis that compares the relative costs and outcomes (effects) of different courses of action. Cost-effectiveness analysis is distinct from cost–benefit analysis, which assigns a monetar ...
charity working on mitigating climate change through direct action. The report concluded: "Cool Earth is overall the most cost-effective climate change charity which can reliably reduce emissions without risk."


See also

* Eden Reforestation Projects


References

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External links


Cool Earth
Charities based in Cornwall Climate change organisations based in the United Kingdom Forest conservation organizations Foreign charities operating in Peru Foreign charities operating in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Foreign charities operating in Papua New Guinea