At Cool Earth we support Indigenous peoples and local communities to fight the climate crisis.

Why people?

Backing the people who live in the rainforest, and recognising and respecting their rights, is essential in fighting the climate crisis. Their climate knowledge and rich history of living in rainforests ensure the best carbon sinks on Earth can stay that way. We believe that the state of the rainforest will continue to worsen if Indigenous peoples and local communities continue to be marginalised. Research over the last decade, including by Cool Earth, shows that people who live in the rainforest have historically been the best at shaping and stewarding these ecosystems. Right now, local and Indigenous peoples are doing most of the hard work, despite doing the least damage. In the face of oppression, exploitation, poverty, and the unprecedented effects of climate breakdown, people living in the rainforest are facing climate injustice on a global scale.

Why rainforests?

Tropical rainforests are vital carbon sinks that regulate our global climate and are irreplaceable ecosystems. Put simply, forests cool the Earth, and this is why we focus our work and your cash here. Carbon-capturing tropical biomes account for the highest area of forest globally. Keeping rainforest intact can provide 23% of the climate mitigation urgently needed to cool our planet. But forests around the world are being destroyed at an alarming rate, despite intergovernmental promises to halt deforestation. Climate breakdown is intensifying forest loss, as tropical, humid forests become drier, causing trees to die and fires to burn for longer, creating a devastating feedback loop.

The climate crisis

The planet is getting hotter, but there is still time left.

The climate crisis is no longer an event on the horizon, it’s here. How has this happened?

In the past 200 years, the burning of fossil fuels has released carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, heating our planet. This rising heat (we’re talking one degree Celsius) disrupts every natural process on Earth and threatens the biodiverse systems that sustain our lives as we know them. Deforestation is not the sole cause of climate change, but it is significant, being responsible for 8% of CO₂ emissions. More importantly, keeping rainforest intact can provide 23% of the climate mitigation urgently needed to cool our planet.