Truckloads of trees: New report exposes Drax’s sourcing of wood pellets from old growth forests

New investigative research from Stand.earth released this month reveals that Drax purchased logged trees from at-risk old growth forests in British Columbia in 2024, and very likely in 2025, to supply its wood pellet plants. Drax’s Houston, Burns Lake and Meadowbank pellet plants in British Columbia received at least 3,039 truckloads of whole logs that the company purchased from forests containing old growth.

Featured last weekend in an exclusive report from The Guardian, the innovative research was conducted using publicly available data, including invoices and weigh slips; Stand.earth’s in-house satellite monitoring tool Forest Eye; and eyewitness documentation of one pellet yard and several cutblocks linked to Drax purchases through timber marks.

Delegation from Stand now on the ground in Brazil for UN Climate Change Conference

A delegation of our staff are currently halfway through their two weeks on the ground at COP30 in Belem, Brazil, where we are engaging in education and negotiation activities as part of the 2025 United Nations Climate Change Conference.

Taking place from Nov. 10 to 21, COP30 is the 30th United Nations Conference of the Parties, an annual global meeting where world leaders, scientists, non-governmental organizations, and civil society leaders gather to discuss actions to tackle climate change.

Participating in collaboration with Indigenous partners and other allies, representatives from Stand’s Amazonia, Forest Biomass, and Fashion campaigns prepared a full schedule of events for this week and next week to advance our shared vision for a climate-safe, equitable future.

Amazonia campaign enters COP30 with clear Indigenous demands, new research, and celebrity support

Building on years of advocacy to protect the world’s largest rainforest, Stand’s Tropical Forests program enters COP30 with clear demands to influence negotiations and a keen understanding of the historic significance of this moment.

Here are a few pieces of progress our team is carrying forward into the negotiations:

This summer, the Political Declaration of the Indigenous Peoples of the Amazon Basin and of All Biomes of Brazil for COP30 was issued to unify Indigenous voices and demands for systemic change. Serving as technical secretariat, Stand’s team worked alongside Indigenous leaders to help draft and advance this crucial articulation of six key demands.

Last month, Stand’s global banks campaign released new data showing that banks have added $2 billion of direct financing for destructive Amazon oil and gas since the beginning of 2024. This first-ever Banks vs. the Amazon scorecard is being amplified and leveraged by our team as a tool during the UN negotiations this month.

And last week, hundreds of artists and cultural influencers raised their voices in a united effort to amplify the demands of the Indigenous declaration just as COP30 got underway.

Stand launches new interactive map of LNG projects

LNG expansion is the fossil fuel industry’s latest pet project to avert demise, but it can be hard to keep up with every new project and expansion as gas executives rush to build dozens of new polluting facilities.

To help our networks of partners and advocates stay informed and engaged, Stand.earth has launched an interactive map featuring quick facts on LNG export terminals and bunker ports we’re collectively fighting across the U.S. and Canada.

ICYMI: Report finds Microsoft’s AI data center demand to surge 600%, require as much power as entire New England region

A report released by Stand.earth earlier this fall finds that Microsoft’s rapid expansion of AI data centers is set to lock in massive new fossil fuel infrastructure, undermining the company’s 100% renewable energy and carbon-negative commitments, and threatening community health across the U.S.

The report, titled “Global Ramifications, Local Impact: Microsoft’s AI Pollution Footprint,” finds that Microsoft’s electricity demand for AI data centers will surge over 600% by 2030, which is enough to power the entire New England region, or 12% of all homes in the U.S.

To ensure new data center energy demand isn’t being met by fossil fuels or false solutions that pose new risks, Microsoft must make a commitment to build out local, additional 24/7 renewable energy infrastructure before its data centers begin operation.