Dear friends,

We just did something historic!

After YEARS of campaigning, and massive pressure from across the planet, governments just signed a new global deal for nature!

It promises to put at least 30 percent of the planet under protection, increases biodiversity funding by billions, and puts Indigenous communities at the heart of the fight to defend life on Earth.

We didn't get everything we wanted, and the deal is far from perfect. We fought to protect half the Earth and get even more funding -- but it's a major step forward, and could be a turning point for life on this beautiful planet. And the voice of our global community was deafening at every step, and had a major impact.

Here's how:

Avaaz stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Indigenous communities

Indigenous communities already defend and protect vast areas of the planet -- their voices needed to be at the heart of the negotiations… So Avaaz members funded delegations of Indigenous leaders to attend the talks. The result? The strongest-ever international environmental agreement protecting the rights of Indigenous People, and putting them at the very centre of the global biodiversity conversation. Here's some of the team ahead of the talks:

We lobbied governments to go all-out for the planet

We deployed a team of powerful advocates to work with governments and the media to deliver our members’ demands into the heart of the negotiations. After dozens of briefings and countless meetings with negotiators, we helped create critical breakthroughs in the talks… and the final deal has our fingerprints all over it.



Celebrity support

Over 3.3 million people signed our movement's call to protect half the planet! They were joined by dozens of award-winning celebrities who also signed, tweeted, and even travelled to the talks to amplify our voices!



Rapid-fire actions

Over the months leading up to the talks, we ran multiple media stunts to put extra pressure on delegates -- then in Montreal we teamed up with Jurassic Park actor, James Cromwell, and a giant dinosaur to demand urgent action on the extinction crisis!


We pressured leaders on social media

Throughout the negotiations, Avaazers from all over the world joined nimble social media actions to show delegates that the world was watching. Together we amplified the voices of Indigenous leaders, pushed EU governments to commit financing for biodiversity conservation, and spread our ads across social media. Our voices helped shape the narrative at the talks!


We made global media headlines

We were all over the media, from France to India, as one of the most authoritative voices at every step of the talks. Our campaigners helped set the narrative, with dozens of journalists following our real-time updates and press briefings at key moments -- making media waves around the world.


We ran hard-hitting ads

When France emerged as a key player in financing the plan, we took out hard-hitting ads in French newspapers, and hand-delivered them inside the talks. It clearly worked, resulting in a breakthrough on funding that helped unlock the rest of the deal!


Our voices were deafening inside the talks

We delivered the voices of millions of Avaazers on the floor of the negotiations, in a powerful speech to ministers and delegates. And we followed it up with a beautiful video in the final hours of the talks, to help get the deal over the line, which you can watch below:

Winning this deal is a major step forward -- but it's only the first step. Now it will take all of us to get our governments to keep their promises, implement the plan, and do what science tells us is required to protect life on Earth. Whatever happens, we still have a long journey to heal our relationship with the rest of the living world.

But we can do it -- we must. We've taken a big step here in Montreal, and we're not giving up. For people and the planet, we won't rest until our future is safe and secured.

With endless hope and gratitude,

Bert, Oscar, Diego, Laure, John, Lilian, Melanie and the whole Avaaz team




PS. This might be your first donation to our movement ever. But what a first donation! Did you know that Avaaz relies entirely on small donations from members like you? That's why we're fully independent, nimble and effective. Join the over 1 million people who've donated to make Avaaz a real force for good in the world.

Further reading on the COP15 outcome and the road ahead:

• COP15: Five key takeaways from the UN biodiversity summit (BBC)
• US actor James Cromwell stages dinosaur protest at Cop15 (The Guardian)
• Key outcomes agreed at the UN biodiversity conference in Montreal (Carbon Brief)