By The Numbers: Top 5 Historic Outcomes of Stand.earth’s Innovative Approach

International environmental and climate advocacy organization Stand.earth is honored to be included in Fast Company’s 2023 list of the World’s Most Innovative Companies. Upon learning that we received the No. 4 spot in the magazine’s annual list of Top 10 Most Innovative Nonprofits, we felt inspired to reflect back on what distinguishes us as an organization. Read more of our Fast Company coverage by exploring the links at the bottom of this page.

Our world needs massive, innovative solutions to its most pressing climate and environmental problems, and Stand.earth delivers.

In our efforts to secure a healthy, thriving future for everyone on Earth — our one and only home — we’ve succeeded time and time again by drawing undeniable links between specific corporate and government behavior and ongoing environmental controversies; putting pressure on the people who can fix them; and offering guidance, support, and actionable plans to key decision-makers as they transition to responsible long-term solutions. 

Whether we’re protecting old growth forests from irresponsible logging; stopping harmful fossil fuel projects in their tracks, and reducing demand for fossil fuels around the world; giving cities the tools they need to make their communities SAFE from fossil fuels; or changing the face of a polluting, carbon-dependent global transportation industry — we’ve led corporations and governments to embrace meaningful, enduring change.

Since our founding more than two decades ago, the Stand community has…

1. Secured government agreements to protect tens of millions of acres of endangered ecosystems, from the temperate rainforests of British Columbia and Chile to the Amazon rainforest, Boreal forests and many more — setting unmatched standards for what we can accomplish with the power of the global Stand network. 
2. Stopped or delayed 21 dirty oil and gas mega-projects — from the Enbridge Corporation’s Northern Gateway Pipeline to oil train terminals across the continent to Royal Dutch Shell’s plan to drill for fracked gas in the Tahltan First Nation’s Sacred Headwaters region. 
3. Reached more than 1,540 institutions representing more than $40 trillion in assets that have committed to some level of fossil fuel divestment — including the world’s first policy by an international bank to end financing for oil and gas in the Amazon, taking billions of dollars off the table for this destructive industry — and grew reinvestment in climate-safe solutions — including a $7 billion reinvestment by New York City’s pension fund, far exceeding its 2018 goal of $4 billion. 
4. Catalyzed 150 government policies (and counting) that phase out fossil fuels and fast track clean, more efficient energy solutions in communities representing over 66 million people — including the world’s first ban on new fossil fuel exports in a refinery community. 
5. Moved $100B+ of financial power from sector-leading brands like Levi’s, Starbucks, and 3M to set new standards for climate-safe behavior and corporate consumption.

These precedent-setting accomplishments are only the beginning. We continue to grow as an organization and a movement. From a small core of founding members, we’ve expanded into a dedicated staff of 70 in 2023. With new staff members in key locations, we’re more capable than ever of providing the rapid response that is key to keeping ecosystems — and the people who live in them — healthy and safe.

Read more:

• Fast Company Names Stand.earth to 2023 List of World’s Most Innovative Companies
• Three Hallmarks of Stand.earth’s Innovative Approach to Advocacy
• Stand.earth’s Innovative Approach to Organizational Culture and Workplace Values

Media contact:

Cari Barcas, Communications Director, cari.barcas@stand.earth