Tzeporah Berman (born 5 February 1969) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

environmental activist The environmental movement (sometimes referred to as the ecology movement) is a social movement that aims to protect the natural world from harmful environmental practices in order to create sustainable living. In its recognition of humanity a ...

, campaigner and writer. She is the founder and steering committee chair of the

Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative The Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative is a diplomatic and civil society campaign to create a treaty to stop fossil fuel exploration and expansion and Fossil fuel phase-out, phase-out existing production in line with the targets of t ...

, a global network of nation states supported by civil society developing a companion to the

Paris Agreement The Paris Agreement (also called the Paris Accords or Paris Climate Accords) is an international treaty on climate change that was signed in 2016. The treaty covers climate change mitigation, adaptation, and finance. The Paris Agreement was ...

. Berman is also the co-founder and international program director at Stand.earth (previously ForestEthics) where she works to help develop strategy for the Amazon, shipping, fashion, pipeline, LNG and old growth forests campaigns as well as the SAFE cities initiative. She is also known for her role as one of the organizers of the logging blockades in

Clayoquot Sound Clayoquot Sound is located on the west coast of Vancouver Island in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of British Columbia. It is bordered by the Esowista Peninsula to the south, and the Hesquiaht Peninsula to the North. ...

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

in 1992–93. In 2009, Berman served on British Columbia's Green Energy Task Force. The task force, appointed by Premier Gordon Campbell, was charged with making recommendations on the development of

renewable energy Renewable energy (also called green energy) is energy made from renewable resource, renewable natural resources that are replenished on a human lifetime, human timescale. The most widely used renewable energy types are solar energy, wind pow ...

for the province. Berman was one of the experts in the environmental documentary ''The 11th Hour'', produced by

Leonardo DiCaprio Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio (; ; born November 11, 1974) is an American actor and film producer. Known for Leonardo DiCaprio filmography, his work in biographical and period films, he is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received ...

. She was named as one of six Canadian nominees for the

Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship The Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship is a Swiss not-for-profit organization founded in 1998 that provides platforms at regional, national, and global levels to promote social entrepreneurship.Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurs ...

social entrepreneur of the year award, one of "50 Visionaries Changing the World" in ''

Utne Reader ''Utne Reader'' (also known as ''Utne''; , ) is a digital digest that collects and reprints articles on politics, culture, and the environment, generally from alternative media sources including journals, newsletters, weeklies, zines, music, and ...

'' and as "Canada's Queen of Green" in a cover story by ''

Reader's Digest ''Reader's Digest'' is an American general-interest family magazine, published ten times a year. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, it is now headquartered in midtown Manhattan. The magazine was founded in 1922 by DeWitt Wallace and his wi ...

''. She was included in the

Royal British Columbia Museum The Royal British Columbia Museum (or Royal BC Museum), founded in 1886, is a history museum in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. The "Royal" title was approved by Queen Elizabeth II and bestowed by Prince Philip in 1987, to coincide with a ...

permanent exhibit of "150 people who have changed the face of British Columbia." In 2015 Berman served on the British Columbia Governments Climate Leadership Team and was appointed in 2016 to serve on the Alberta Governments Oil Sands Advisory Group as co-chair. Berman was listed of one of the 35 Most Influential Women in British Columbia by BC Business Magazine and awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Law from

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...

. Tzeporah is one of the primary negotiators and architects of the

Great Bear Rainforest The Great Bear Rainforest is a temperate rain forest on the Pacific coast of British Columbia, comprising 6.4 million hectares. It is part of the larger Pacific temperate rainforest ecoregion, which is the largest coastal temperate rainforest i ...

campaign in Canada that led to the permanent protection of 6 million hectares of old growth rainforest in 2006. Berman is an adjunct professor at the Faculty of Environmental Studies, at York University in Toronto.

Early life and education

Berman grew up in

London, Ontario London is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River (Ontario), Thames River and N ...

, the third of four siblings in a middle-class

Jewish family Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

. Her father owned a small advertising company and her mother had a business that made promotional flags and pennants.Glave, James (1 November 2009)
"Tzeporah Berman's Green Idea."
''

Vancouver Magazine ''Vancouver Magazine'' is an English-language lifestyle magazine focused on Vancouver, British Columbia and the Lower Mainland. ''Vancouver Magazine'' describes its mission as informing, guiding and entertaining residents of a "dynamic, internati ...

''. Retrieved: 2013-08-06. The family spent summers at her mother's family's cottage in

Lake of the Woods Lake of the Woods (; ) is a lake occupying parts of the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Manitoba and the U.S. state of Minnesota. Lake of the Woods is over long and wide, containing more than 14,552 islands and of shoreline. It is fed by t ...

. Her father died when Berman was in her early teens and her mother died two years later. After high school, Berman moved to Toronto to attend Ryerson University's fashion arts design program. While she was successful in design—

Harry Rosen Harry Rosen (August 27, 1931 – December 24, 2023) was the founder and executive chairman of the Canadian luxury men's wear store Harry Rosen Inc., which in 2015 was Canada's largest upscale menswear retailer. Early life Born and raised in ...

, who judged the school's final show called her a "bright light on Canada's fashion scene," Berman left the program after a year to pursue environmental studies going on to obtain a BA with Honors from the University of Toronto Innis College (awarded Douglas Pimlott award) and then a Master's in Environmental Studies from York University. In 2013 Berman was awarded a Honorary Doctorate of Laws from the University of British Columbia in recognition of her work to strengthen environmental laws and policy in British Columbia, Canada.

Career and research

In 1992, Berman travelled to the Carmanah Valley on

Vancouver Island Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are of land. The island is the largest ...

to do fieldwork on threatened seabirds. The following year when she returned to continue her survey, she found that a logging crew had clear-cut the hillside. In 1993, the Clayoquot Sound Land Use Decision had granted pulp-and-paper giant

MacMillan Bloedel MacMillan Bloedel Limited was a Canadian forestry company headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia. The company was formed in 1951 as MacMillan and Bloedel through the merger of Bloedel, Stewart and Welch with the H. R. MacMillan Export Com ...

rights to clear cut two thirds of a 650,000 acre lowland coastal

temperate rainforest Temperate rainforests are rainforests with coniferous or Broad-leaved tree, broadleaf forests that occur in the temperate zone and receive heavy rain. Temperate rainforests occur in oceanic moist regions around the world: the Pacific temperate ...

, the largest of its kind in the world. Berman joined with Valerie Langer and members of Friends of Clayoquot Sound in the growing Clayoquot protests. That summer, Friends of Clayoquot Sound and

Greenpeace Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by a group of Environmental movement, environmental activists. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth to nurture life in all its biod ...

launched blockades against the logging. Berman came to national and international attention as one of the spokespersons for the protests, which employed nonviolent

civil disobedience Civil disobedience is the active and professed refusal of a citizenship, citizen to obey certain laws, demands, orders, or commands of a government (or any other authority). By some definitions, civil disobedience has to be nonviolent to be cal ...

tactics taught in a series of peace camps in

Tofino Tofino ( , Nuu-chah-nulth language, Nuu-chah-nulth: ''Načiks'') is a town of approximately 2,516 residents on the west coast of Vancouver Island in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of British Columbia. The District ...

and in high-profile locations such as

Stanley Park Stanley Park is a public park in British Columbia, Canada, that makes up the northwestern half of Vancouver's Downtown Vancouver, Downtown peninsula, surrounded by waters of Burrard Inlet and English Bay, Vancouver, English Bay. The park bor ...

in Vancouver.Berman, Tzeporah, with

Mark Leiren-Young Mark Leiren-Young (born September 4, 1962) is a Canadian playwright, author, journalist, screenwriter, filmmaker, and performer. He lives in Saanich, British Columbia and is married to Rayne Ellycrys Benu. Early life Mark Leiren-Young was born in ...

. (2011). ''This Crazy Time: Living our environmental challenge''. Toronto: Alfred A. Knopf Canada. Saunders, Doug (24 May 2011)
"Greenpeace: tactics not so clear cut anymore."
''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...

''. Retrieved: 2013-08-06. The blockades lasted for five months and became the largest act of civil disobedience in Canadian history; over 850 people were arrested.The Canadian Encyclopedia
Clayoquot Sound
Historica Dominion. Retrieved on: 2012-11-08. Tzeporah-kk-1

Berman played a key role in the negotiations between MacMillan Bloedel (now owned by

Weyerhaeuser The Weyerhaeuser Company ( ) is an American timberland company which owns nearly of timberlands in the U.S., and manages an additional of timberlands under long-term licenses in Canada. The company has manufactured wood products for over a c ...

), the activists and local First Nations. MacMillan Bloedel agreed to hand over its logging rights in Clayoquot Sound to Indigenous-controlled companies who would keep the

old-growth forest An old-growth forest or primary forest is a forest that has developed over a long period of time without disturbance. Due to this, old-growth forests exhibit unique ecological features. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Natio ...

s intact. By the late 1990s, Greenpeace had been successful in Europe using ad campaigns against companies engaging in practices considered damaging to the environment. In 2000, Berman co-founded

ForestEthics Stand.earth (formerly ForestEthics) is a grassroots environmental organization founded in 2000. The organization protects endangered forests by transforming corporate policy and governmental laws in the United States and Canada. Stand.earth uses ...

, a group devoted to using tactics that would convince companies to change their ways or risk loss of sales. One of Berman's first successful actions was the

Victoria's Secret Victoria's Secret is an American lingerie, clothing and beauty products, beauty retailer. Founded in 1977 by a Stanford graduate student and his wife, Roy Raymond, Roy and Gaye Raymond, the company's five lingerie stores were sold to Les Wexner i ...

campaign. The company had been printing a million copies per day of its glossy catalogues using paper from old-growth timber. The ForestEthics campaign initiated street-theatre demonstrations and fake fashion ads to force the undergarment manufacturer to consider changing its practices. After a few weeks, Berman was able to negotiate different wood-pulp sources with company management. Similar campaigns targeting Staples and

Office Depot The ODP Corporation is an American office supply retailer headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida. The company operates 922 retail stores in the United States under the Office Depot and OfficeMax brands, as well as e-commerce sites and a business ...

led them to reconsider using old-growth timber. The strategy was not just to tell companies what they should stop doing, but rather "what they should continue doing and start doing in order to stay in business but avoid protests." Berman went on to be one of the lead negotiators in the Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement. In 2004, Berman switched her focus to climate change, founding a nonprofit environmental organization called PowerUp Canada that worked successfully to create greater support in Canada for

carbon pricing Carbon pricing (or pricing) is a method for governments to Climate change mitigation, mitigate climate change, in which a monetary cost is applied to greenhouse gas emissions. This is done to encourage polluters to reduce fossil fuel combustion, ...

and defended the BC carbon tax from critics threatening to "axe the tax." In 2010 Berman was hired to Co-Direct Greenpeace International's Climate and Energy program in 40 countries. In that capacity she was the team leader for the creation of the Arctic campaign, contributed to the campaign to get Volkswagen to support vehicle efficiency regulations in the EU and ran a successful campaign against Facebook, on Facebook, to encourage the company to demand renewable energy in its procurement for data centers. Before leaving Greenpeace she helped to design and coordinate the "Clean Our Cloud" campaign that encouraged the largest IT companies in the world such as Apple and Google to demand and invest in renewable energy. In 2007, Berman was one of the experts in Leonardo DiCaprio's environmental documentary ''11th Hour'''','' was one of six Canadian nominees for the Schwab Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award, and was profiled as one of 50 Visionaries Changing the World in Utne Reader and as "Canada's Queen of Green" in the cover story for ''Reader's Digest''. She was honoured by inclusion into the BC Royal Museum permanent exhibit of one of 150 people who have changed the face of British Columbia. Berman was appointed by the Premier of British Columbia to the Green Energy Task Force to design recommendations for the development of renewable energy in the region in 2009. In 2012, Berman moved back to Canada and began consulting with philanthropic foundations, environmental organizations and First Nations on climate and energy policy and to design campaigns on

oil sands Oil sands are a type of unconventional petroleum deposit. They are either loose sands, or partially consolidated sandstone containing a naturally occurring mixture of sand, clay, and water, soaked with bitumen (a dense and extremely viscous ...

and pipelines. Berman was appointed by the British Columbia Government to the Climate Leadership Team to make recommendations on climate policy in

in 2015. Then in 2016, she was appointed to be co-chair of the Oil Sands Advisory Group by the

Alberta Government The Executive Council of Alberta (the Cabinet) is a body of ministers of the Crown in right of Alberta, who along with the lieutenant governor, exercises the powers of the Government of Alberta. Ministers are selected by the premier and typicall ...

to make recommendations on implementing the new Climate Leadership Plan, reviewing cumulative impacts of oil sands operations and design climate recommendations for the pathway to 2050. In 2018, Berman came on board with Stand.earth, formerly ForestEthics, as International Program Director. In 2020 she launched the

, of which she is the chair. In 2021, Berman was arrested for blockading the logging of thousand year olds trees in Fairy Creek on Vancouver Island. Currently, Berman serves as a member of the Advisory Group for the Carbon Majors Project of InfluenceMap, an independent think tank producing date-driven analysis on how business and finance are impacting the climate crisis.

Awards and accolades

In 2019, she was awarded the Climate Breakthrough Award of US$2 million to develop a bold new global climate strategy. In 2024, she was named among ''Time'' 100 Most Influential Climate Leaders and received Climate Scorecard Canada's Climate Leader Award. In 2025, she was selected as a finalist for the WIN WIN Gothenburg Sustainability Award for Trailblazing Leadership.

Selected works

Books

* Berman, Tzeporah, with

. (2011). ''This Crazy Time: Living our environmental challenge''. Toronto: Alfred A. Knopf Canada. * Berman Tzeporah, Christopher Hatch; Maurice Gibbons; Ronald B. Hatch; Gordon Brent Ingram; Loys Maingon (1994). ''Clayoquot & Dissent''. Ronsdale Press.

Articles

* Tzeporah Berman, Peter Newell, Matthew Stilwell (4 February 2020
Cold War lesson for the climate change era: Why we need a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty
''

Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists The ''Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists'' is a nonprofit organization concerning science and global security issues resulting from accelerating technological advances that have negative consequences for humanity. The ''Bulletin'' publishes conte ...

''. * Berman, Tzeporah (19 February 2013
Washington is right: Canada must confront its climate neglect
''

''. * Berman, Tzeporah (2 May 2012)
Oil, dissent and the future of Canada
''The Globe and Mail''.

References

External links

Official website
* * Hamilton, Gordon (24 May 2013)
"UBC bestows doctorate on 'whacked-out nature worshipper' Tzeporah Berman."
''

Vancouver Sun The ''Vancouver Sun'', also known as the ''Sun'', is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The newspaper is currently published by the Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network, and is the larg ...

''. * Hampson, Sarah (3 October 2011)
"Activist Tzeporah Berman steps out of the trees and into the boardroom."
''The Globe and Mail''. * Langlois, Christine (November, 2009)
"The Queen of Green."
''

''. * Ross, Nicola (30 November 2011)
"Reflections of a determined environmentalist."
''The Globe and Mail''. * Saunders, Doug (24 May 2011)
"Greenpeace: tactics not so clear cut anymore."
''The Globe and Mail''. * Braid, Don (15 July 2016)

Calgary Herald ;Video *Business and Climate Summit 2016 with Steve Williams CEO of Suncor

* Amy Goodman, Goodman, Amy (24 September 2013)
Corroding Our Democracy: Canada Silences Scientists, Targets Environmentalists in Tar Sands Push
''

Democracy Now! ''Democracy Now!'' is an hour-long TV, radio, and Internet news program based in Manhattan and hosted by journalists Amy Goodman (who also acts as the show's executive producer), Juan González, and Nermeen Shaikh. The show, which airs live ...

'' * Stromboulopoulos, George (10 October 2011)
Guest Interview: Tzeporah Berman
''

George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight ''George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight'' (originally known as ''The Hour'') is a Canadian television talk show hosted by George Stroumboulopoulos that aired on CBC Television from 2005 to 2014. As ''The Hour'', the show was so named, as it was a dai ...

'',

CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV, or simply CBC) is a Television in Canada, Canadian English-language terrestrial television, broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcasting, p ...

. * Kiefer, Fanny "Tzeporah Berman on Studio 4 with Fanny Kiefer
(Part 1)(Part 2)
''

Shaw TV Shaw Spotlight (formerly Shaw TV) was the name of locally based community channel services operated by cable TV provider Shaw Communications. The channels are available only to Shaw Cable subscribers and are produced in communities throughou ...

'' * Gregg, Allan (22 October 2011)
"Tzeporah Berman on past and present environmental challenges."
'' Allan Gregg in Conversation with...'',

TVOntario TVO (stylized in all lowercase as tvo), formerly known as TVOntario, is a Canadian Public broadcasting, publicly funded English-language educational television network and media organization serving the Canadian province of Ontario. It operates ...

. ;Audio *

Anna Maria Tremonti Anna Maria Tremonti (born July 2, 1957) is a Canadian radio and television journalist who has been featured on a variety of radio and television programs on the CBC. She has served as a senior reporter for '' The National'', where she won two Ge ...

(19 September 2011)
Game Changer: Tzeporah Berman
'' The Current'',

CBC Radio One CBC Radio One is the English-language news and information radio network of the publicly owned Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It is commercial-free and offers local and national programming. It is available on AM and FM to 98 percent o ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Berman, Tzeporah 1969 births Canadian conservationists Canadian women non-fiction writers Non-fiction environmental writers Writers from London, Ontario Living people Sustainability advocates University of Toronto alumni Jewish Canadian activists Canadian public relations people Canadian civil servants Canadian women civil servants Canadian climate activists 21st-century Canadian non-fiction writers 21st-century Canadian women writers Jewish Canadian writers Climate Breakthrough awardees