2021: A banner year for EDF—and for our planet

As the year comes to a close, we’re celebrating the global-scale environmental victories we’ve made or have played a part in. These are historic, monumental wins for our planet. And we won’t stop.

Here’s what we accomplished in 2021:

Methane : we sounded the alarm on the potent greenhouse gas through a decade of science and advocacy, and the world listened. This year, more than 100 countries joined the Global Methane Pledge, a goal of reducing global methane emissions 30% by 2030.

Rainforests : We helped pioneer the concept of paying those who reduce greenhouse gas emissions by preserving tropical forests. Today, that idea has blossomed into LEAF (Lowering Emissions by Accelerating Forest finance), the largest private sector investment ever aimed at saving threatened ecosystems. Along with our partners, we have $1B in momentum and a clear goal: ending all tropical forest loss by 2030.

We helped transform the U.S. auto industry . Our work with automakers, labor unions and regulators is shaping the future of electric vehicles, including buses and trucks. This year General Motors and Ford moved toward robust electrification goals, and our long-time partners, IKEA and FedEx, both committed to pollution-free deliveries.

We pressured the Big Guys . We galvanized investor pressure to compel some of the worst polluters to slash emissions from their operations and business models. And it’s working. Last spring, a small, activist hedge fund named Engine No. 1 stunned the corporate world by winning three seats on Exxon Mobil Corporation’s board of directors. We supported Engine No. 1’s effort, emphasizing to major shareholders that for Exxon — and all the world’s biggest emitters — the global climate crisis is a business risk.

We went all in for our climate-threatened coasts . In Louisiana, plans for the largest individual ecosystem restoration effort in U.S. history reached a major milestone this year, when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers gave the thumbs-up to an EDF-backed plan to restore thousands of acres of wetlands. In Florida, we persuaded authorities to expand flood protection efforts. And in New York, we helped push to secure a $3 billion state investment in seashore and wetland restoration.

And we're not just on the ground . We made aviation emissions a priority: if the industry were a nation, it would rank as the world’s sixth-largest carbon emitter, right between Japan and Germany. That’s why we teamed up to launch the Sustainable Aviation Buyers Alliance, which will help decarbonize the industry by accelerating investment in, and adoption of, sustainable aviation fuels.

We’re expanding, growing and teaching . Our Climate Corps fellows in India showed companies including Amazon, McDonald’s and Mahindra & Mahindra ways to slash carbon emissions and build sustainable supply chains.

Our mission to defend our current and future environment — from the community to planetary scale — is far from over.

And this is just a part of what we’ve accomplished in 2021. Find out where we're going next and how you can support our critical work in our annual impact report .