Why

Methane pollution released this year will warm the Earth more in the next decade than carbon dioxide emitted from burning fossil fuels. Cutting methane is the single fastest way to slow the rate of warming. That’s why we’re working with policymakers, oil and gas producers, corporations, and technology providers around the world to develop and deploy new and better solutions, including a satellite that can spot methane leaks anywhere.​

Learn more: Watch Dagmar Droogsma, EDF’s VP of strategy in Europe, give a five-minute overview of EDF’s methane strategy.

Immediate Opportunities

• Advocate for national and regional policies to meet ambitious goals to reduce oil and gas emissions by 2025, with special focus on the U.S., Canada, EU, China, Japan and Korea.
• Align global markets, influence investors, and engage corporations to dramatically reduce methane in the oil and gas, agriculture, and coal sectors.
• In China, support dramatic reductions in oil & gas and agricultural methane pollution by 2025.
• In India, demonstrate the benefits of reducing pollution from livestock, agriculture, and waste by 2025.
• Globally, use innovative satellite and aircraft detection technologies to pinpoint methane hotspots and advance data-driven policies that hold polluters accountable.

The Work in Action

For a decade, EDF has led the fight on methane. EDF’s MethaneSAT will be the most advanced methane-tracking satellite in space. 

See EDF Climate Scientist Ilissa Ocko’s TED talk on why now is “the methane moment.”

Read more about how EDF is tackling methane around the world.

Why

Human activities like transportation, energy production, deforestation and agriculture release more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than natural processes can remove. The world must remove an additional 10 gigatons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere each year by mid-century. That’s why EDF is fostering healthy forests, soils and oceans; spurring the transition to a clean power grid; and spearheading a global shift to cleaner vehicles. We are also leading the way to ensure that innovations like carbon capture can be used without harming people or the planet. 

Immediate Opportunities

• By 2030, harness the power of well-designed carbon markets or other forms of carbon pricing to cover half of all global greenhouse gas emissions while improving equity and justice for those most affected by climate change. Learn how.
• By 2030, lock in the policies and investments for ships, planes, trucks, buses and passenger cars to achieve their net zero targets by 2050. Learn how.
• Reduce climate pollution from the U.S. power sector 80% below 2005 levels by 2030, prioritizing action in communities that have suffered the worst effects of climate pollution. Learn how.
• Reduce carbon pollution caused by the destruction of forests, soils, oceans and grasslands to near-zero by 2030.​ Learn how.
• In the U.S., ensure that unprecedented federal climate funding delivers the maximum possible climate, health, and economic benefits while embedding equity and justice in the clean energy transition. Learn how.

The Work in Action

The LEAF Coalition has mobilized more than $1 billion to protect tropical forests. It builds on two decades of work by EDF, Indigenous communities, forest peoples and other partners.

Learn more about the fight to save forests.

Why

Globally, hundreds of billions of dollars are being invested to develop “clean” low- and zero-carbon hydrogen as a potential solution to some of the world’s most pressing energy challenges. However, hydrogen has a high potential for leaks that contribute 200 times more warming power than carbon dioxide when released. The small hydrogen molecule is hard to contain, so it has high potential to leak, especially when transported, and smaller leaks can’t be detected with today’s technology. That’s why EDF is an early leader focused on making sure hydrogen can deliver on its climate promise without harming communities or the environment.

Learn more: Watch EDF climate scientist Tianyi Sun explain hydrogen’s great potential — and why we must manage its risks.

Immediate Opportunities

• Understand the full scope of hydrogen’s climate impacts.
• Expand the use of technologies to measure and monitor leaks, from production to end-use, and establish clear performance and measurement standards for hydrogen leak detection and repair.
• Phase out hydrogen derived from fossil fuels.
• Lock in policies that favor appropriate hydrogen use to meet climate, energy and public health goals — focusing on the fastest-growing hydrogen regions globally. 

The Work in Action

EDF partnered with Aerodyne, Inc. to develop the first-ever hydrogen leak detection technology. At the same time, we are developing tools that investors, governments, and industry can use to prevent production from outpacing safe deployment.

Learn how EDF’s research is shaping global hydrogen development and regulation.

Why

Climate change – including extreme weather events like hurricanes, drought, tornadoes, and monsoons – is making it more difficult for farmers and fishers to produce food. At the same time, current methods of food production are worsening the climate crisis by placing enormous stress on freshwater supplies, increasing fertilizer use, and degrading natural systems. That’s why EDF is working to shift the world’s food production system. A future is possible where it is economically viable for food producers to adapt to climate change in ways that protect the climate, preserve natural resources, and  meet the nutrition needs of people around the world — especially those at the front lines of climate change.

Watch five-minute overviews of EDF’s strategies for climate-smart agriculture and vital seas.

Immediate Opportunities

• Position farmers and the supply chain to reduce climate pollution, increase resilience, and secure rural livelihoods through policies, tools, and incentives in the U.S., China, EU, and India.
• Protect forests and other lands from conversion to agriculture. 
• Incentivize farmers to use climate-smart practices by ensuring that governments, financial institutions, and agricultural companies accurately assess climate risks.
• Support fisheries to adopt practices that will keep them resilient as water temperatures rise in targeted temperate, tropic, and polar regions.​
• Provide proof of concept for sustainable fishing practices in at least one state in India to inform models across the country.

The Work in Action

Learn how EDF is helping local fisheries in Indonesia use digital technologies to catch more sustainably and efficiently, while minimizing impacts on ocean ecosystems. And in India, we are working with farmers, NGOs and other partners to cut agricultural pollution, improve crop and livestock productivity, and improve people’s health and livelihoods.

Why

Roughly 1.7 billion people live in places where unsustainable water use threatens water security. Climate change is increasing the risk, accelerating a water crisis that hits historically marginalized communities the hardest. That’s why EDF is working to help ensure water security for communities everywhere, making long-term access to clean water a right, not a privilege. EDF brings together communities in the most water-stressed regions of the U.S. and beyond, supporting them with the policies, tools and data to manage their groundwater sustainably.​

Learn more: Watch EDF agricultural economist David McLaughlin’s five-minute overview of EDF’s water strategy.

Immediate Opportunities

• Make California a model state for sustainable water use through policies and practices — including open access to data — that can work to manage water in the U.S. West.
• Initiate sustainable water programs in at least eight other U.S. basins, including the most water-stressed Western states of Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oregon, and Washington.
• Develop sustainable water programs in at least three other U.S. basins and in at least two basins outside the U.S.

The Work in Action

Donor support helped EDF launch the world’s first open-source satellite-based water management tool to help Western farmers track water use and conservation to avoid depleting drinking water wells in local communities amid record drought. 

Explore the work for clean, abundant water.

Why

Air pollution is responsible for more than 6 million early deaths each year. Children, the elderly, people with existing diseases, those who work at or live near chemical facilities, and communities of color and with low incomes are most vulnerable. That’s why EDF is activating its science, advocacy, and partnerships to unlock innovative, data-driven approaches to help communities, governments and businesses launch solutions to drive down air and climate pollution and ensure people are breathing cleaner air in this decade.​

Learn more: Watch EDF data scientist Lauren Padilla’s five-minute overview of EDF’s clean air strategy.

Immediate Opportunities

• Make the air cleaner for at least 125 million people by driving equitable policies and manufacturing practices. 
• At least two new cities are using hyperlocal emissions monitoring and accountability models to reduce their emissions by 20% by 2025.

The Work in Action

EDF pioneered efforts with Google, scientists and community leaders to measure pollution at the neighborhood level — a level of hyperlocal detail never seen before.

Learn about our global initiative to clean the air.

Why

Millions of people each year are needlessly exposed to harmful chemicals in food, personal care products and other consumer goods, and many of these goods are made using fossil fuels that cause climate change. People who live or work near chemical facilities are at much higher risk of illness or death due to high levels of exposure.​

That’s why EDF is working globally to reduce the risks from toxic chemicals and move toward the safest possible alternatives. We work with communities, scientists, governments, and industry to change the way manufacturers make and use these chemicals and drive demand for safer, sustainable products for everyone.

Immediate Opportunities

• By 2025, reduce exposure to the highest-risk chemicals by 15% from pre-pandemic levels in the U.S.
• Low-income communities and communities of color that have historically experienced the highest exposures experience even greater reductions.
• Communities experience $50 billion in socioeconomic benefits by 2025 due to reduced healthcare costs.

The Work in Action

To reduce people’s exposure to hazardous chemicals, EDF works to strengthen government policy while simultaneously working with retailers to remove products containing harmful chemicals from their shelves.

Learn how Walmart slashed chemicals of concern by 96%.