10 ORGANIZATIONS THAT PROTECT THE ENVIRONMENT - ENVIRONMENT - 2024

There are institutions or organizations that protect the environment on Earth, whose common goal is the conservation of the planet's natural environmental heritage. They can be international or local organizations, most of which are non-profit, non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

His basic interests are the study and dissemination of information on the importance of the preservation of the environment, the reduction of environmental pollution, the conservation of biodiversity and the establishment of special protected areas.

Figure 1. Image representing the special protection required by the planet's delicate environmental balance. Source: Pixabay.com

Many times, these organizations act as advisers, environmental consultants for large companies and governments or mediators between government entities, politicians, businessmen, scientists, environmental groups and local inhabitants.

Among the actions of these organizations are the support of informative activities (workshops, talks, courses), the design of projects for the conservation of the environment in general or of particular habitats, the achievement of the approval of severe environmental regulations, decrees of protected areas, the creation of national parks, forest reserves, wildlife refuges, among others.

List of the 10 environmental protection organizations

Below is a short list of the most important international organizations for the protection of the environment.

Greenpeace

The name of this organization comes from English, green: green and peace: peace. It is a non-governmental organization that was founded in Vancouver, Canada, in 1971. It defines its objective as the protection of the environment and world peace.

It is one of the largest independent environmental organizations on the planet; It has national and international offices in 55 countries and 32 million affiliates who finance all its activities, as well as artists and intellectuals who raise funds as donations. Its headquarters are in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Greenpeace has made public interventions and protests for environmental preservation, for the preservation of the Arctic, for the protection of biodiversity, against the use of transgenic food and against the use of nuclear weapons.

In addition, it campaigns to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that cause global warming of the planet.

It is interesting to note that Greenpeace International owns several vessels that it uses not only as transportation for research and work, but also as a means to implement protest actions and peaceful struggle, with great impact on the mass media.

World Wildlife Fund (WWF)

The name of the organization is translated into Spanish as World Wildlife Fund, but the name World Wildlife Fund is used. It was founded in 1961.

It is the largest environmental non-governmental organization on the planet. It works in more than 100 countries through some 5 million volunteers. Its headquarters are in Switzerland.

His work objectives are research, conservation and environmental restoration, which he proposes through the conservation of the planet's biological diversity, the promotion of the sustainable use of environmental resources and the reduction of environmental pollution and consumption. voracious.

The World Wildlife Fund has played a very important role in the development of an environmental conscience on the planet and in the global conservation movement.

Its partners include the United Nations (UN), the European Commission, the World Bank and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), among others.

United Nations Environment Program (UNEP)

The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) is a global environmental policy development body, framed within the UN system, which performs educational functions for the promotion of global sustainable development.

The work of UNEP, with a long and recognized history, consists of evaluating environmental conditions and projections in their trends, at regional, national and global levels, developing working instruments and promoting conservation actions.

World Nature Organization (WNO) or World Environment Organization

The WNO is an international intergovernmental organization that emerged from multilateral environmental protection negotiations and whose formation is under development. Its functions are to implement actions and support the protection of the environment and the climate, at a global international level.

The initiative for its foundation arose in 2010, by countries in the Pacific, the Caribbean and emerging African countries, which make up the group of nations most threatened by climate change, through increasing droughts and rising sea levels.

The organization began operating at the United Nations Conference, Earth Summit, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in June 2012, but was formally founded in 2014, through the Treaty of the World Conservation Organization, where the countries Signatories have yet to ratify the treaty in their respective national legislative bodies.

The WNO is run by a secretariat and an assembly of members from the affiliated countries. This organization is expected to become the first intergovernmental organization dedicated to environmental protection on a global scale.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and former French President Nicolás Sarkozy promoted this organization at the 15th International Conference on Climate Change, held in 2009 in Copenhagen, Denmark.

The Nature Conservancy (TNC)

The TNC is an international organization funded by public and private sources, whose work focuses on the conservation of biodiversity and the environment. It was founded in 1951 and has offices in 35 countries.

The TNC has to its credit the successful contribution of protection to some 50 million hectares of land and marine areas on the planet, through innovative conservation approaches.

Friends of Earth International or Friends of the Earth International Network

It is an international network of environmental protection organizations from 74 countries. It was founded in 1969 by activists against the development of nuclear weapons whose main leaders were Robert Anderson, Donald Aitken, David Brower among others. The organization is affiliated with the European Environmental Bureau.

The main objective proposed by the Friends of the Earth Network is to disseminate the dangers of the use of nuclear weapons. The organization has an office in Amsterdam, where it offers support for outreach campaigns.

Earth Action

This is an international network that works with communication through the Internet, whose objectives are to activate citizens, journalists and activists of organizations that protect the environment, to generate public pressure on decision-making in critical environmental aspects.

There are approximately 1800 organizations from 144 countries, affiliated to this organization, that are working on outreach campaigns on critical environmental issues, sustainable development, social issues and world peace.

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC),

The IPCC is an international organization founded in 1988 by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and UNEP, both belonging to the organizational structure of the UN.

Its function is to provide scientific, economic and social information on climate change generated by human activities and projections of its consequences, in addition to pointing out the possibilities of mitigation and adaptation to this threatening phenomenon for humanity.

The Climate Group or Grupo Clima

Non-governmental organization that works with business and governmental leaders of the world, for the mitigation of climate change. It was founded in 2004 and operates globally through its main offices in London, United Kingdom and three other offices in Beijing, China, New Delhi, India and New York.

The group has developed programs focused on the use of non-polluting renewable energies and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

The Climate Reality Project

The movement called Climate Reality Project was founded by the American Al Gore, former presidential candidate and Nobel Peace Prize winner, for his intense work in disseminating and raising awareness of the human effects on the planet's climate.

His campaign aims to put pressure on world leaders to address the serious problem of global climate change and its repercussions.

References

1. Friends of the Earth International. (2019). Friends of the Earth International. Recovered from: foei.org
2. Greenpeace International. (2019). Greenpeace. Recovered from: greenpeace.org
3. (2019). IPCC. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Recovered from: ipcc.ch
4. United Nations Environment Program. (2019). UN Environment. Recovered from: unenvironment.org/
5. World Wildlife Fund. (2019). WWF. Recovered from: wwf.org