Supporting groups that work hard to protect the environment is more crucial than ever as our planet faces growing threats from climate change, pollution, and habitat destruction.
The promotion of sustainable practices, the preservation of natural resources, and advocacy for policy change are all important functions of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and non-profits.
It might be daunting to choose which environmental organizations to support, though, because there are so many of them. If you want to help our world, you should support these groups, which do anything from safeguard endangered animals to promote renewable energy.
Sustainable nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) play a crucial role in society, the environment, and global sustainability.
As a sustainability student, you must be aware of the most significant organizations working in sustainability today because they are in charge of crucial research, aid, consumer awareness, conservation, and much more.
These NGOs frequently provide students with beneficial resources, such as research, practical internships, and volunteer opportunities.
Discover how top non-governmental environmental organizations are making a difference in the battle against climate change and environmental damage by reading on.
Table of Contents
Leading Non-Governmental Environmental Organizations Globally
- CERES
- Conservation International (CI)
- Doctors Without Borders
- Greenpeace
- Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)
- The Nature Conservancy (TNC)
- Ocean Conservancy
- Oxfam
- Sierra Club
- Slow Food International
- World Wildlife Fund (WWF)
- 350.org
- Friends of the Earth
1. CERES
Working with more than 80 corporations, including financial services providers, automakers, and other businesses (of whom a third are Fortune 500 companies), as well as 130 member groups, CERES supports sustainable business practices and solutions.
The Investor Network on Climate Risk (INCR), founded by Ceres in 2003, now consists of 100 eminent investors who jointly manage more than $11 trillion in assets.
2. Conservation International (CI)
To conserve the environment, the world’s biodiversity, and human communities, CI collaborates with scientists, residents, and experts in the field. It aims to safeguard the environment, advance sustainable business, and support efficient government.
Nearly 50 million acres of marine and terrestrial protected areas have been created, expanded, and managed better because of CI, and its data collection has uncovered more than 1,400 new species for research.
3. Doctors Without Borders
People who are impacted by armed conflict, diseases, natural catastrophes, or lack of access to healthcare receive emergency medical assistance from Doctors Without Borders.
Tens of millions of patients have received care from the organization since 1971 in more than 80 nations. It was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1999.
4. Greenpeace
You probably think of Greenpeace when you consider eco-protests. With 2.8 million members, it is the world’s largest nonviolent, direct-action environmental movement. It was founded in 1971.
An international coordinating body is located in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and Greenpeace has offices in more than 40 countries.
To look into problems and potential answers, influence governments, and participate in actions against climate change, they rely on its membership of activists, students, educators, scientists, and environmentalists.
Greenpeace is known for its Detox movement against consumption and its fleet of boats stationed to physically block oil tankers from entering ports. The group is recognized as having general consultative status by the UN Economic and Social Council.
They pursue their objectives and run campaigns on global issues like climate change, deforestation, overfishing, oceans, forests, toxins, commercial whaling, genetic engineering, anti-nuclear issues, and sustainable agriculture by using direct action, lobbying, research, and ecotage.
5. Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)
A nonprofit organization called the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) works to protect the environment and all of its inhabitants, including its plants, animals, and “the natural systems on which all life depends.”
A membership-based organization that engages with more than 350 lawyers, scientists, and other professionals who work with corporations, political officials, and community groups in the United States and abroad was founded in the 1970s by a group of law students and attorneys.
They achieve this by concentrating on topics like reducing global warming, clean energy, recovering the oceans across the world, protecting threatened animals and wild spaces, preventing pollution, ensuring safe and sufficient water, and creating sustainable communities.
It works on a global scale to guarantee that everyone has the right to clean air, clean water, and wholesome natural areas. The NRDC was able to stop oil and gas development in the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans in 2016.
By calling for the immediate prohibition of bee-toxic neonics, the Save the Bees Initiative urges the President to protect bee populations from further decline.
To lessen the number of pollutants released into the environment, they also focus on problems with drinking water, chemical harm to the environment, and other environmental health hazards.
They are headquartered in New York City and also have offices there, as well as in Beijing, China, Bozeman, Montana, San Francisco, Los Angeles, New Delhi, India, and Chicago.
6. The Nature Conservancy (TNC)
In consideration of how these choices will affect people in the long run, the Natural Resources Defense Council works to safeguard the fundamentals of air, land, and water as well as to defend threatened natural areas.
The organization, which was established in 1951, works with researchers, decision-makers, farmers, communities, and others to address climate change in a variety of ways.
Greening metropolitan areas, promoting regenerative farming, and preserving clean rivers are some of their top concerns.
Over 119 million acres of land and millions of kilometers of waterways have been conserved by The Nature Conservancy. Additionally, it runs more than 100 marine conservation initiatives across the globe.
7. Ocean Conservancy
The Ocean Conservancy has been working to preserve the health and vitality of the world’s seas since 1972, as well as the species that live there and the people whose way of life depends on them.
Over the past 25 years, the group has recovered 144,606,491 pounds of waste from beaches throughout the globe through its International Coastal Cleanup program.
8. Oxfam
Oxfam is a global alliance of 17 organizations that fights injustice and poverty in over 90 nations. They focus on connected concerns like emergency preparedness, sustainable development, and human rights.
9. Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is one of the oldest and biggest environmental groups in the United States. It was founded in 1892 by eminent conservationist John Muir.
What began as a conservation initiative for the Sierra Mountains in California has developed into a formidable organization that deals with some of the most critical problems our planet is currently experiencing.
This nonprofit organization does it all, from combating climate change and promoting renewable energy to preserving essential lands, resources, and endangered animals. They deal with social and justice issues, as well as climate and energy issues, as well as the preservation of the environment and animal life.
Since its founding, the Sierra Club Foundation has created more than 430 parks and monuments, claiming to be one of the most effective grassroots environmental groups in the US.
With the backing of the Sierra Club, the organization today has over 3.8 million members who actively promote the preservation of clean air, water, wildlife, and human rights.
Notably, the organization has contributed to the preservation of more than 400 national monuments. Additionally, it is driving initiatives to reduce reliance on fossil fuels.
It has helped enact important environmental legislation, such as the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and the Endangered Species Act, and has protected millions of acres of wilderness.
10. Slow Food International
Slow Food promotes regional customs, gourmet enjoyment, a slow pace of life, and clean, fair, and healthy food for everybody, as its name implies.
Slow Food, which was founded in Italy in the 1980s, has members in 160 nations and spreads awareness of the tenets of its Slow Food Manifesto through regional and global events, its University of Gastronomic Sciences, and other means.
11. World Wildlife Fund (WWF)
The largest conservation organization in the world is the WWF. It is active in more than 100 countries and has more than five million supporters globally. Around 1,300 environmental and conservation projects are supported by them.
In 1961, it was founded. Additionally, they are involved in the preservation of wilderness and the lessening of environmental damage caused by humans.
Although it is best recognized for its work with endangered species, WWF has broadened the scope of its work to include both individual creatures and landscapes as well as the more general problems that affect them.
The group collaborates with corporations, governments, and local organizations to put policies and practices in place that will benefit animals, the environment, and the climate.
12. 350.org
One of the biggest international movements tackling the subject of climate change is 350.org. Their objective is to lower atmospheric carbon dioxide from its present level of 400 ppm to 350 ppm.
To stop the use of fossil fuels and switch to renewable energy, this environmental organization was established in 2008. They think that the solution to the climate catastrophe is to bring people from all walks of life together.
With members in more than 180 countries, including activists, students, business owners, labor unions, educators, and more, 350.org uses social media campaigns, grassroots organizations, and mass public action to oppose new coal, oil and gas projects, support clean energy alternatives, and withhold funds from corporations that are contributing to global warming.
They also work on campaigns to oppose coal power stations in India, halt the Keystone XL pipeline in the United States, and divest public institutions around the world from fossil fuels.
Its main goals are to hold governments responsible for reducing their emissions, assist in creating a fairer zero-carbon economy, and keep carbon in the ground.
13. Friends of the Earth
In San Francisco, Friends of the Earth was established in 1969. The United States, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and France are represented at the conference of this global network of organizations.
The organization is also very decentralized. It is made up of independent organizations that have come to the same conclusions about what is causing the most serious environmental issues of the day.
The majority of the 75 organizations that make up the group identify as “Friends of the Earth” in their native tongues. Additionally, Friends of the Earth maintains a secretariat that supports the network and its chosen key initiatives. This secretariat is situated in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
This organization is at the vanguard of the struggle to preserve our planet, with a focus on important issues like energy and climate change, food and agriculture, and the preservation of forests and the ocean.
Their efforts played a significant role in the Atlantic Coast Pipeline and other environmentally harmful projects being abandoned.
Conclusion
If you go through these leading environmental organizations globally,
Recommendations
- 35 Best Colorado Environmental Nonprofits
. - 13 Environmental Volunteer Opportunities in Denver
. - 10 Best Environmental Charities in Canada
. - 15 Environmental Volunteer Opportunities in Toronto
. - 18 Awesome Environmentally Friendly Materials for Clothing
A passion-driven environmentalist by heart. Lead content writer at EnvironmentGo.
I strive to educate the public about the environment and its problems.
It has always been about nature, we ought to protect not destroy.