By For over 30 years, RAN has been fighting the biggest global drivers of deforestation — from the old-growth timber trade to the dirty pulp used in paper and fabrics; from Conflict Palm Oil to some of the biggest banks in the world. Our strategic campaigns have targeted — and moved — some of the largest multinational corporations and their financiers who pose a threat to forests and human rights around the globe.
We know that for frontline communities the effects of climate change are here. The evidence is clear: More frequent and stronger storms, rising temperatures, erratic weather patterns, food shortages, extreme droughts, and increasing incidents of forest fires are already an existential threat to people, planet, and rainforests. But we can still work to reverse the worst impacts and to ensure a climate stable future — but to do that, we must save the forests.
It literally has never been more critical to keep forests standing and intact.
RAN fights for forests.
Forests fight climate change.
This past year, RAN continued to make a real impact in preserving forests and holding corporations accountable for their destructive practices. RAN has acted as a vital watchdog and advocate for the critical Leuser Ecosystem, bringing international attention through high profile media and documentary film to the ongoing deforestation in the last place on Earth where Sumatran orangutans, tigers, elephants, rhinos and sunbears still live together in the wild.
RAN’s corporate campaigning has pressured some of the biggest drivers of deforestation in the past year — corporations like snack food giant PepsiCo, global fashion brand Ralph Lauren, and major banks and financiers around the globe. Winning policies and commitments from companies are vital, but RAN has always worked to ensure change happens where it’s needed most: on the forest floor. The launch of our project Beyond Paper Promises this year seeks to do just that by supporting local and Indigenous communities in holding companies accountable to their promises.
RAN’s Forest & Finance campaign is also well underway, which tracks the funding source for some of the globe’s worst deforestation impacts. We are now uniquely positioned to stop the drivers of deforestation at each critical point — from the funding required for destructive practices, to the major brands buying forest-risk commodities, to lending solidarity with the communities most impacted. It is a coordinated and focused program committed to saving forests and promoting a just and climate-stable future for all.
