Dear Ekō community,

This may be the most important thing we ever try to do together.

Scientist Ricardo Galvão had been documenting tree loss in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest for years when he discovered something terrifying: not only was the rate of forest loss sky-high – it was rapidly increasing.

From 10% to 13% to 17% loss – and if it hit 20%, we’d be past a crucial tipping point, and the entire Amazon would be lost to us forever, this precious habitat we rely on for carbon capture, unprecedented biodiversity, and raw materials for essential medicines like cancer treatments.

Ricardo, Brazil’s official deforestation monitor, sounded the alarm. Days later, he was fired by far-right President Bolsonaro. But WE can pick up where Ricardo left off and pull a once-in-a-generation inspiring story of conservation and hope from the jaws of this deforestation defeat.

We have just under 12 months until the Brazil climate summit, where 195 of the world’s governments will gather to decide the fate of the forests. It seems like a long time. It’s not. It’s just 12 months to get the right champions in positions of power, arm them with corporate allies, give them a plan and hold them accountable for it.

It’s us vs. far-right corporate stooge politicians and corporate lobbyists. And we need to make a strong start right out of the gate. If enough of us can chip in today, we can plan ahead and make this happen, while continuing all our campaigning for corporate accountability. Join in now to get this ambitious plan going.

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That last sliver of hope, the distance between 17% and 20% forest loss, is all that stands between us and a future without 1.6 billion acres of bustling ecosystems and vast stores of natural resources and knowledge.

We’re facing down the oil companies, the meat companies, and the big agricultural giants trying to extract as much as they can from the beautiful Amazon. If Ekō was built for anything, it’s for this moment, this fight. There is no other global corporate accountability community ready to take on a fight of this magnitude, with the numbers and bravery to try in the face of massive lobbying and government opposition.

Here’s the plan:

Supercharge the Indigenous Resistance  – Ekō has years of history partnering with Indigenous land defenders in many of the countries the Amazon spans. They put their own lives on the line to save their land from armed hooligans who burn their homes and murder their family members. What they need is technology to map their traditional claims and document the destruction. Then they need a massive mouthpiece to make sure their voices are heard by the world’s people and politicians. We can partner to bring the technology and the backing of millions of people to help make sure they walk into the Brazil talks armed with the evidence and people power they need to win their fight for safety and freedom on their ancestral lands.

Break the Big Ag Stranglehold – The governments we need to show up and argue FOR the Amazon are flooded with corporate lobbyists arguing AGAINST conservation. We can change the calculus by mobilising unprecedented local support for saving the Amazon, especially in parts of Latin America where the forest needs protection most. This means we need to grow our community strategically and unleash new tools to distribute public opinion effectively across a great distance.

Define the Deal – Even in the face of planetary catastrophe, 195 governments in a room can be incompetent. We need to invest in top-quality policy advice to develop ingenious strategies, mechanisms, and careful compromises so that when the summit arrives, a critical mass of leaders are already bought-in to a large part of the deal, and no one can claim that good solutions don't exist.

We need thousands of us to pledge small donations to blast out of the starting gate on this plan *and* support all our other work to hold corporate giants to account. The amount doesn't matter as much as the choice to hope, and to act, to save the Amazon: 

I'll donate $3I'll donate $4 I'll donate $5I'll donate $9I'll donate another amount

Your donation will help power Ekō and our campaigns worldwide fighting for people and the planet.

We know we can do this because we already have done so much together. With a fraction of the resources we helped pass a European ban on products linked to Amazon deforestation, bought hundreds of acres of Ecuadorian sections of the Amazon and protected them from drilling forever, and shut down a vast disinformation network in Brazil claiming all sorts of bogus scientific support for destroying ancient trees. Think what we can do with the whole community’s support and 12 months of time to plan, run and win essential campaigns?!

Join in by clicking above.