Environmental Investigation Agency US

Happy #NationalNonprofitDay! EIA has accomplished some amazing things over the past three decades as a small nonprofit, but we still face some big challenges. The fight for our future isn't over, and we need your help to keep going. Donate today: https://lnkd.in/epv_Eqfm

In October, we sounded the alarm that growing demand for wind power, especially in the U.S. and China, is putting pressure on the Ecuadorian Amazon, which supplies most of the world's balsa - a light, strong, and durable wood uniquely suited for use in wind turbine blades. Transitioning to renewables is key to addressing the climate crisis, but energy is only as clean as its supply chain. By connecting the dots between deforestation, human rights violations, and leading wind turbine blade manufacturers, we aim to ensure governments and companies are considering how their activities impact key ecosystems and the people that rely upon them. We need your help to keep bringing these important questions to the attention of the world’s most powerful: https://eia.org/donate

Need a last-minute present idea? Donate to EIA in your loved one's name! We'll even help you "wrap" it in a festive e-card 🎁 Give the gift of hope this holiday season: https://eia.org/donate

In October, our investigation into the two largest industrial logging companies in the Democratic Republic of the Congo highlighted alleged systemic illegalities that are threatening the Congo Basin - the world's second-largest tropical forest. We collaborated with APEM-RDC and Rainforest Foundation UK to demonstrate how the DRC's industrial logging sector is not contributing fairly to its economy, undermining local forest governance and driving deforestation across the country. We work to ensure that corporations and governments uphold national laws and ensure communities can benefit from their own national resources. We need your help to keep the pressure up: https://eia.org/donate

In May, we uncovered how timber traders purchase some of the world’s most valuable wood species for a few dollars apiece in Mozambique, then send the logs to China via major shipping lines, where they can be turned into luxury decking and furniture that can sell for tens of thousands. Corruption all along the supply chain obscures the wood’s dubious origins – especially in Cabo Delgado province, where about 30% of that timber is at a high risk of coming from forests occupied by a brutal insurgency. These companies and insurgents are taking advantage of forest degradation, climate vulnerability, and chronic instability in Mozambique to finance their operations. EIA exists to expose this exploitation and ensure those responsible are held accountable. We need your help to keep standing up to the world’s most powerful international corporations: https://eia.org/donate

In May, we released yet another report documenting how Home Depot has been selling timber linked to forest crimes in the Congo Basin to U.S. consumers. For eight years, we’ve been conducting research and investigations to hold the home improvement chain accountable and clean up its timber supply chains. While there’s been some positive progress, more needs to be done. Help us keep the pressure up on major companies that are failing to protect the world’s forests: https://eia.org/donate

In a 📊 survey of 28 supermarkets in Northern California, the Environmental Investigation Agency US. branch, Green America and YouthPower Climate Action found that half of the stores were “measurably leaking refrigerants” with high GWPs. The investigation focused on 🛒 stores operated in the Bay Area and Sacramento by Safeway (a subsidiary of Albertsons), Kroger-owned Ralphs Grocery and Food Co., Save Mart, Smart & Final and Walmart. The EIA reported the findings last month in a report, “Leaking Havoc in Northern California: Invisible Climate Pollution in the Golden State.” This is the NGO’s third “Leaking Havoc” survey, following similar studies of stores in 2023 in the New York City area and in 2021 in the Washington, D.C., area. 👉 Read more: https://lnkd.in/dGyjssK4 #GoNatRefs #NaturalRefrigerants #GWP Sign up to our NaturalRefrigerants.com weekly newsletter https://lnkd.in/dBj2FWvR

In January, we uncovered a network of 450 Canadian companies staking their claims in a speculative gold rush on the transboundary watershed between Alaska and British Columbia. In a unique ecological and cultural region already scarred by pollution from previous mining projects, locals from Indigenous communities to commercial fishermen could be left bearing the risks of mine exploration while distant mine owners and investors reap the rewards thanks to a Ponzi scheme-like Prospect Generator Model. People and planet should come before profit. Help us hold companies accountable for the harm their ventures cause: https://eia.org/donate

Some supermarkets are taking a major step to protect the climate. Is yours? Our Climate Campaign Director Avipsa Mahapatra spoke with Yale Climate Connections about our Climate Friendly Supermarket Scorecard and what companies must do to stop #LeakingHavoc on our climate: https://lnkd.in/egSkBgM5

"Overexploitation of balsa has had environmental, social, and economic repercussions in Ecuador," says our Asia Policy Specialist Haibing Ma. "All parties involved, including the United States and China as global leaders in wind power, should work together to clean up the supply chain." https://ow.ly/IbgB50UnRNf