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A VISION FOR CHANGE
EARTH DAY
2020
MISSION
STATEMENT
Earth Day Network’s mission is to broaden, diversify, and mobilize
the environmental movement worldwide to protect the Earth for
future generations.
A VISION FOR CHANGE
EARTH DAY
2020
LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT
Dear Supporters,
mothers, veterans, blue collar workers, teachers, and
others who had never before participated politically.
The first Earth Day in 1970 is widely credited
By inspiring new and powerful voices, we created a
with having launched the modern environmental
transformative movement.
movement – making possible the passage of the
landmark Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Endangered
In today’s hyper-connected and globalized
Species Act, and many other groundbreaking
world, there exists a nascent next generation of
environmental laws. In fact, the first Earth Day was
environmental leaders. As the activism of Earth Day
the harbinger of an important new force on the
spreads to the far corners of the globe, we seek to
political horizon: millions of people who heard the
inspire these leaders and create a new environmental
rallying cry began making changes in their behavior,
movement to solve our complex environmental
their consumption habits, and their belief systems,
challenges.
influenced by environmental values.
I am proud to lead an organization founded on the
Environmental groups enjoyed a honeymoon period in
premises that all people – regardless of race, gender,
the United States, and environmental policy received
income, or geography – have a moral right to a
bipartisan support. The rest of the world quickly
healthy environment, and that an educated, energized
followed, passing landmark legislation over the next
population will act in its own best interests to secure a
two decades. Toward the end of the 20th century,
healthy present and future for itself and its children.
however, progress slowed as our adversaries became
more adroit at defeating forward-thinking legislation.
As we approach the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day,
With the ever growing threat climate change poses
I hope that you will join us in building a diverse,
to our planet and our way of life – the sixth extinction
powerful, and vocal movement to heal and nurture our
of species, rising sea levels, the beginnings of mass
planet. Together we can again create a deep, moral,
human migrations, etc. – we have arrived in 2016 in
and global response and an inspirational pivot toward
worse shape perhaps than we were in 1970.
change.
Despite the difficult path ahead, I strongly believe in
Sincerely,
one overarching lesson learned from Earth Day 1970:
Kathleen Rogers
we can achieve unprecedented progress by bringing
President
new, passionate voices into the debate. There is a
common misconception that the first Earth Day was
largely led by activists on college campuses. In fact,
many of the first environmental organizers were single
A VISION FOR CHANGE
EARTH DAY 2020
A VISION FOR CHANGE
In addition to government commitments, the Paris Climate Agreement
recognizes the critical role that citizens and corporations will play in
achieving lasting environmental impacts. As the 50th Anniversary of
Earth Day approaches, the time is long overdue for a global outpouring
of energy, enthusiasm, and commitment to create a new environmental
paradigm. Earth Day 2020 can be the catalyst that galvanizes an
unparalleled global collaboration.
Over the next four years, we must reimagine the way the world can be
and have the vision and fortitude to begin enacting and implementing
our lofty goals. With the success of the first Earth Day as our guide, we
believe in our ability to engage and motivate the next generation of
environmental leaders and make April 22, 2020 a genuine inflection point
in the fight for our planet.
EARTH DAY
2020
WHO WE ARE
Earth Day Network (EDN) is proud to be the world’s largest recruiter for
the environmental movement, working with more than 50,000 partners in
196 countries to build environmental democracy worldwide.
EDN works year-round through a combination of education, public policy,
and consumer campaigns, bringing together citizens, governments, and
businesses to create inclusive and non-partisan environmental progress.
Throughout our history, we have remained committed to the lesson we
learned from the very first Earth Day in 1970: the power of an individual
is multiplied by the power of the collective. For that reason, we educate
and activate citizens across the globe to act rather than wait, to innovate
rather than accept the status quo, and to believe in our power as a
collective to solve the daunting challenges ahead.
A VISION FOR CHANGE
THE PROBLEM
Global climate change, loss of biodiversity, and unsustainable growth
are among our planet’s greatest challenges, and they exist without a
prescribed solution. In addition, political, economic, and social differences
represent significant barriers to lasting change.
Yet we face a worrying form of cognitive dissonance within our society.
Misinformation and fear have led to protectionism, gridlock, and an
absence of inspirational leadership and aspirational thinking from all
corners of the globe.
Alone, no single nation, NGO, or corporation can sufficiently reverse
the current effects and imminent impacts of climate change. Only by
working together can we address the threats of ocean pollution, toxins,
species loss, and a multitude of other environmental issues. Solving the
challenges ahead will require cooperation, inspiration, and innovation like
never before seen.
EARTH DAY
2020
OUR STRATEGY
BROADEN, DIVERSIFY, MOBILIZE
Broaden:
At every turn, EDN seeks to broaden the definition of “environment”
to include issues that affect our health and our communities, such
as greening schools, creating green jobs and investment, promoting
environment-focused voter mobilization, and more.
Diversify:
Recognizing that climate change impacts our most vulnerable citizens
first and most severely, EDN works with communities across the globe
to bring unheard voices and underrepresented issues to the movement.
In addition, EDN creates civically–oriented programs with partners
both inside and outside of the environmental movement to bring new
perspectives to the debate and tackle new challenges.
Mobilize:
To achieve universal reach for the Earth Day message, we focus
on educating and inspiring youth, creating the next generation of
environmental leaders who will motivate and activate their communities.
Every day, EDN galvanizes new members of the environmental movement
to mobilize their networks and produce achievements that stretch far
beyond local communities.
A VISION FOR CHANGE
EARTH
DAY
Earth Day serves as a rallying cry and inspiration for
action, events, and environmental awareness worldwide.
Earth Day has grown exponentially, and it is now the
largest secular event in the world, with over one billion
people participating in Earth Day events each year.
EARTH DAY
2020
Earth Day is about individuals and communities
• Enlisting government officials and their
standing up for the environment. Earth Day
constituents around the world to participate
is about creating learning experiences in
in the annual Global Day of Conversation,
schools so that the next generation will be
a program to encourage adoption of
environmentally informed global citizens. Earth
environmental goals and timetables.
Day is about small and large acts of green that
add up to achieve lasting change. Earth Day is
• Spearheading Climate Education Week,
about being engaged, being responsible, and
a campaign focused on promoting climate
being part of a movement.
literacy and civic participation in K-12 schools
and universities.
As the standard-bearer for Earth Day, we are
proud to uphold our critical role in growing and
• Developing leadership capacity in
supporting Earth Day campaigns and actions
communities and schools through our Earth
around the world by:
Day Toolkits.
• Organizing, promoting and supporting tens
• Using our digital and social media channels to
of thousands of Earth Day events with our
promote environmental action around the world.
partners across the globe.
Each year, Earth Day is both a day of reckoning
• Driving action through “Billion Acts of Green,”
and the beginning of the next chapter in the
the largest environmental service campaign in
fight to protect our planet. We are proud of
the world, which has now surpassed over two
what Earth Day represents and we are confident
billion “Acts of Green.”
that Earth Day 2020 can be the catalyst for
creating lasting environmental change.
A VISION FOR CHANGE
COUNTDOWN TO 2020
Since 1970, Earth Day Network has remained at the forefront of
environmental activism, with Earth Day serving as a rallying cry for yearround public engagement, civic involvement, and green mobilization
across the world. Across the globe, Earth Day is a unifying moment that
empowers citizens to interact with their environment and begin to see
their communities and themselves through an environmental lens.
Now approaching the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day, EDN is launching
“Countdown to 2020.” Over each of the next four years, we will select a
unifying theme and campaign goals to drive public policy and lead the
conversation surrounding environmental activism. EDN is also reaching
out worldwide to governments, businesses, faith leaders, and youth,
seeking innovative and bold commitments to achieve our goals.
EARTH DAY
2020
OUR
CAMPAIGNS
EDN is currently executing the
following campaigns:
A VISION FOR CHANGE
EARTH DAY
2020
TREES FOR THE EARTH
Trees for the Earth is EDN’s signature campaign, launched on Earth
Day 2016. More than fifty percent of the world’s countries agreed to
plant trees to reach their commitments under the Paris Agreement.
Our goal is to plant 7.8 billion trees – one for every person living on the
planet in 2020 – with the help of governments, corporations, NGOs, and
individuals. Trees provide oxygen, a home for the world’s biodiversity, and
a wealth of health and economic benefits, and we need more of them.
Even if the world’s economy became fossil free overnight, large-scale
global reforestation would still be needed to absorb the current excess
and harmful CO2 from the environment. Planting trees also improves our
communities, providing economic and social benefits beyond carbon
sequestration.
Our strategies for achieving this goal include:
• Educating global leaders and the public on the issues through direct
outreach, digital and social media, and the use of Earth Day as a platform
for raising public awareness;
• Working with corporations and governments to accelerate and increase
the scale of existing tree planting commitments;
• Directly funding and supporting large and small tree planting projects
throughout the world; and
• Tracking the results of our programs and other environmental actions
to produce groundbreaking research and an unparalleled repository of
environmental knowledge.
A VISION FOR CHANGE
EARTH DAY
2020
GREEN SCHOOLS
EDN is committed to providing inspiration,
curriculums worldwide, including “The Story of
environmental education, and a safe and
Climate Change,” the first-ever iTextbook on
sustainable learning environment for all
climate change.
students across the globe. Recent studies have
shown that green schools not only significantly
• Food: With millions of low-income students
lower greenhouse gas emissions and energy
now counting on their schools for three
costs, but also improve student and teacher
meals a day, EDN works to provide healthier,
health and enhance student motivation – a triple
more sustainable food options for students
bottom line.
through policy reforms, financial initiatives,
and educational outreach. EDN also promotes
EDN’s Green Schools Campaign is organized
a nation-wide discussion of healthy school
around five key pillars:
food through our National School Lunch Week
campaign.
• Facilities: EDN educates students, parents,
administrators, and government officials on the
• Getting Kids Outdoors: EDN is an advocate
value of green schools and connects schools
and thought-leader on the value of nature-
with proper financing for green building
related programming in schools through direct
enhancements. EDN serves as a repository of
support, education, and media outreach.
greening benefits and as a capacity builder for
new greening initiatives.
• Transportation: EDN works with partners to
ensure efficient and safe transportation to and
• Environmental and Climate Literacy:
from school, including advocating for the switch
Environmental and climate literacy is
to fuel-efficient bus fleets and promoting a
increasingly recognized as the engine for
nationwide “No-Idling” campaign for busses and
driving green jobs, green technology and
parent drivers at schools.
political support for addressing pressing
and complex environmental challenges.
EDN advocates for universal environmental
education standards and funding at the global,
national, and local level to create a nexus
between education and green jobs. EDN also
writes, curates, and distributes environmental
A VISION FOR CHANGE
EARTH DAY
2020
NATIONAL CIVIC EDUCATION PROJECT
Solving our nation’s most pressing environmental challenges requires
linking environmental education to civic action, and creating learning
experiences that foster personal responsibility for the environment
among students. Most American students graduate from high school
with close to no understanding about how to participate in local, state
and national government beyond voting. To address this problem, EDN
created the National Civic Education Project (NCEP). With the help of
teachers and community organizations, students identify and take on
an urgent, yet solvable local environmental/climate related issue over
the course of the school year while learning basic civic skills. NCEP
empowers teachers and students to remedy specific environmental
challenges facing their communities with demonstrable outcomes
and results while developing lifelong civic skills. EDN has organized
more than 35 projects in 15 states, mostly in very low income and
environmentally challenged areas; in every case, students have achieved
impressive victories.
The goals of the National Civic Education Project are to:
• Increase student understanding of the complexity and impact on the
community of environmental issues;
• Teach students how to navigate the civic and political process,
empowering students to become instruments of change in their
community;
• Solve local environmental issues in communities by involving students
and teachers with local officials, and community members and
organizations;
• Foster a lifelong interest in civic engagement and community
improvement in our future leaders.
A VISION FOR CHANGE
EARTH DAY
2020
CAMPAIGN FOR COMMUNITIES (C4C) & THE
MILLION CLIMATE VOTERS CAMPAIGN
For almost 15 years, EDN’s Campaign for Communities (C4C) has worked
to create a more diverse and democratically active citizenry, building
citizen capacity in all 50 states to protect the local environment.
The campaign focuses on communities of color, low-income urban
neighborhoods, and those grappling with the effects of environmental
degradation and dirty energy.
The Million Climate Voters Campaign is the flagship program of C4C,
which focuses on registering and mobilizing voters from diverse
populations, including people of color and youth. To date, EDN and our
partners have mobilized over one million voters across the country.
In each community, we train and activate community leaders while
concurrently educating and mobilizing a statistically significant group
of climate voters through non-partisan voter registration and education
drives. This year, EDN – along with the NAACP Voter Fund, Southwest
Voter Registration Education Project, and the League of Conservation
Voters – has committed to mobilizing an additional one million climate
voters for the 2016 election. Our campaign facilitates participation in
our democratic system and educates voters on key environmental issues
including climate change.
By combining voter outreach, registration, and mobilization efforts along
with support for environmental education, the Million Climate Voters
Campaign creates permanent infrastructure that will continue to support
civic activism around environmental issues for many years to come.
A VISION FOR CHANGE
EARTH DAY
2020
INDIA
With a population over 1.3 billion and a rapidly developing economy,
India is a key country in the fight for clean energy and sustainability,
and the transition away from dangerous and dirty coal power. India’s
large youth population – more than any other country – and our ability
to reach over 200 NGO Partners in India make our presence especially
important. In 2009, EDN created a permanent Indian Program – EDN
India – with offices in Kolkata, Delhi and Mumbai.
Across this populous and diverse country, EDN’s message is resonating.
In 2016, we activated more than 35 million people in 10,000 distinct
Earth Day events across all 29 Indian states. We also created events
beyond India in Bangladesh and Nepal. The lasting impact of these
events is already leading to significant progress in renewable energy,
sustainable urban development, youth mobilization, environmental
stewardship, increased green cover, and the fostering of clean energy
literacy in rural areas.
Our campaigns include working with women Panchayat leaders to install
solar power and become environmental leaders, training citizens in their
rural communities to address threats to Asian elephants, promoting
organic food production, and educating India’s youth about climate
change and green jobs.
A VISION FOR CHANGE
EARTH DAY
2020
ADDITIONAL CAMPAIGNS
• Legislative Reform: EDN has been
instrumental in the passage of important
legislation and regulations at the federal and
local levels, including legislation addressing
climate change, biodiversity, energy efficiency,
school food, financing for green schools, and
more. Internationally, our team continues to fight
for the global ratification of the Paris Agreement
and climate financing.
EDN worked with our partner Earth Day Italia
and the Vatican to organize Earth Day events
with Pope Francis in 2015 and 2016. EDN also
worked with the World Bank on a march for
climate from the Coliseum to the Vatican in
December 2015. When Pope Francis addressed
the U.S. Congress, EDN supported an interfaith
rally on the National Mall to promote his call for
action on climate change.
• Greening the Valley of the Buddha: 2500
years ago, Siddhartha Gautama, now known
as Buddha, found enlightenment in Bihar near
the Nepalese border in northern India. Once
lush and green, the Valley of the Buddha today
has only around 10 percent of its total land left
under forest cover. EDN and its partners will
be reforesting the Valley and working to create
sustainable management of cultural resources.
Due to the extreme poverty of the region –
about one quarter of the population lives on 50
cents per day – EDN will also focus on education
and income-generating projects, particularly
those that include women and young people
and those that provide critical access to a clean
energy sources.
• Endangered Species: EDN India is working
on a comprehensive plan to protect the
endangered Asian elephant. Our activities
include: 1) developing and implementing an
environmental stewardship ethic among local
community stakeholders; 2) implementing a
simple but effective early warning system to
promote locally led anti-poaching efforts; and 3)
providing critically needed medical assistance
for our participants and their extended families
as well as environmental education and
sex trafficking education in all participating
communities.
• Communities of Faith for the Environment:
EDN recognizes faith leaders as driving forces
behind spiritually-based care for our planet.
EDN provides online and social media outreach
in addition to a Faith-Based Toolkit, utilized by
faith leaders from around the world to motivate
their congregations.
A VISION FOR CHANGE
• Greening China: EDN launched the “A Billion
Acts of Green” campaign in China in honor of
Earth Day 2016, aiming to count one billion of
green actions by Earth Day 2020. Our goal is
to promote Earth Day in China by mobilizing
millions of college students to participate in and
celebrate Earth Day, elevate their awareness
of worldwide environmental problems, and
mobilize them to take efforts in combating such
problems.
ORGANIZATIONAL BUDGET
Earth Day Network Annual Budget
Major Initiatives
Current
2020
$ 1,335,000
$21,300,000
Canopy Project / Trees for the Earth
$400,000
$5,000,000
Green Schools
$200,000
$2,500,000
Campaign for Communities
$200,000
$6,000,000
Earth Day 2016 Activities
$170,000
$6,000,000
Expanded NCEP Education Projects
$90,000
$800,000
EDN India
$150,000
$800,000
Climate Leadership Gala
$125,000
$200,000
Media / Outreach
$180,000
$2,500,000
Public Relations
$75,000
$1,000,000
Website
$75,000
$500,000
Social Media
$30,000
$1,000,000
Direct Expenses
$65,000
$100,000
Legal/Accounting
$65,000
$100,000
Indirect Expenses
$165,000
$300,000
$1,827,256
$3,750,000
$3,572,256
$30,550,000
Salary & Wages
Total
EARTH DAY
2020
A VISION FOR CHANGE
EARTH DAY
2020
MOVING FORWARD
Earth Day 2016 featured the signing of the historic Paris
Climate Agreement – a recognition by world leaders of the
enduring value of Earth Day as a day for uniting together to
take action to protect our planet.
Forty-six years ago, the first Earth Day inspired a dramatic
sea-change in environmental consciousness, sparking public
outcry for heightened environmental protection. Within three
months, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was created
and within five years, nearly every major environmental law
protecting our air, water and natural resources was passed.
We ask that you join us in recognizing Earth Day 2020 as
the catalyst we need to spark environmental consciousness,
literacy, and action across the globe. Every global citizen –
regardless of race, nationality, or creed – must come together
and join the fight for the future of our planet. With our
combined strength, we can build the environmental movement
that is needed to solve climate change and the next generation
of environmental challenges.
Thank you for your continued support in ensuring a healthy
Earth for all its citizens.
A VISION FOR CHANGE
Earth Day Network’s main office is located at:
1616 P St. NW, Suite 340
Washington, DC 20036
Phone: +1-202-518-0044
For press inquiries that require immediate response, please contact
[email protected].
To contact our India Office, please email [email protected].
For website queries, please contact [email protected].
For all other inquiries, please contact [email protected].