With the climate crisis and loss of plant and animal species intensifying, it’s never been more important to use our voices to speak up for nature. One way to do so is to encourage our elected officials to create policies that protect the planet. Why? Because policy makes conservation possible.
Over the last few years, we’ve seen some historic policy wins for nature, such as the Inflation Reduction Act and Great American Outdoors Act. These wins show just how far we’ve come in making conservation and climate action central and urgent policy issues in the United States. But even with this progress, more action is needed.
The science is clear. What we do between now and 2030 will determine whether we slow warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius—the level scientists agree will avoid the worst impacts of climate change. Our actions also will determine whether we protect enough land and water to slow the rapid acceleration of species extinctions. There is no time to delay.
The good news is that voices—ours and yours—can motivate elected officials to create, implement and defend policies that will help solve the climate and species loss crises.
Speak Up For Nature Today.
Take Action Now!Our natural world has reached a breaking point, and there's no time to lose to create a more livable future. Urge elected leaders to put saving nature on the agenda.
Every day, people, wildlife and natural landscapes feel the negative effects of climate change.
Given that the U.S. is one of the world’s top 10 carbon emitters, the country has a critical role to play in tackling climate change. And many countries, including the world’s biggest emitters, China and India, will only act on climate if the U.S. leads.
The good news? Together, we can solve this problem.
One of the most important actions the U.S. can take now is achieving a clean energy transition by, for example, installing more solar panels. Another important action is advancing natural climate solutions, like planting trees. Government policies are critical to making both happen.
To solve the climate crisis, we know we need “clean” energy. So, more wind and solar power and less fossil fuels. Clean energy can power everything, like the cars we drive and the factories that produce the many things we use in our daily lives.
Clean energy is good for the environment because it does not emit harmful greenhouse gases. It is also good for our health. It helps keep the air we breathe clean, which is welcome news for people who have asthma or are at risk of heart attacks. Clean energy also creates hundreds of thousands of jobs, like making renewable energy components and installing solar panels.
Plus, it's something we can rely on forever. Wind and sunlight don’t run out.
Learn how advancing renewable energy solutions will help us achieve our climate change goals.
Planting trees. Protecting wetlands. Promoting sustainable farming practices. Managing forests well. All of these things—called “natural climate solutions”—are important for addressing the climate crisis. Why? Because they reduce greenhouse gas emissions and store carbon so it never makes it into the air we breathe.
Natural climate solutions are proven, cost-effective ways to help tackle the climate crisis while also addressing biodiversity loss and helping people. Globally, they can provide as much as one-third of the emission reductions needed by 2030 to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.
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TNC helped get the Inflation Reduction Act and Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act passed in the U.S. Congress several years ago. Combined, these two bills will invest $570 billion in climate and conservation action this decade, creating a once-in-a-generation opportunity to drive a clean energy transition and bolster natural climate solutions across the nation.
Funding from the IRA and IIJA, for instance, already is being used to accelerate clean energy projects in Kentucky, support river restoration projects in Maine and plant more trees in Pennsylvania. They also are being used to help reduce risks associated with extreme weather events, like catastrophic wildfires and floods.
Plus, these policies are a win for the economy and job creation. The IRA and IIJA will help create nearly 18 million jobs. Tax breaks and other incentives provided through the IRA and IIJA are helping everyday families afford solar panels, heat pumps and other energy-efficiency upgrades, saving households hundreds to thousands of dollars a year on utility bills.
We need to ensure Congress defends this funding from being repealed to ensure its being used as intended—to safeguard nature. Want to help?
We can't address climate change without taking action on government policies that reduce planet-warming pollution, increase clean energy and boost natural climate solutions.
Our lands and waters are facing unprecedented threats from development, severe weather events and climate change impacts. And it's not just our natural landscapes that are at risk. We have seen a nearly 70% average decline of birds, mammals, fish and reptiles around the world since just 1970.
The science is clear. We must radically scale up our protection efforts around the world. Our best hope for a healthy and sustainable planet is to protect at least 30% of lands, freshwater and ocean by 2030. Plants and animals thrive when we protect threatened lands and waters. So do people, because when the air they breathe and water they drink is cleaner, everyone benefits.
It’s now or never. Addressing biodiversity loss will require coordination across all sectors, including governments, private sector entities, local communities and Indigenous Peoples.
TNC is currently working with Congressional leaders to pass federal legislation that would increase funding to save America's wildlife, boost international conservation and bolster conservation on private lands in the U.S.
Protecting private land, like farms and ranches, is vital to achieving our conservation goals, given that private land makes up 70% of the land in the lower 48 states. This is where the Farm Bill can help.
The Farm Bill is the single largest federal investment in the conservation, restoration and management of America's private lands including farms, ranches and forests. Authorized every five years, it funds conservation to the tune of $6 billion each year, supporting efforts including bolstering regenerative agricultural practices and permanently protecting farms and ranches from future development.
We're also going global. The proposed U.S. Foundation for International Conservation Act would provide $100 million each year for Indigenous and local communities around the world to boost conservation and restoration on millions of acres of protected and conserved lands and waters worldwide.
Over 13,000 wildlife species in the U.S. have been identified as endangered or threatened. The proposed Recovering America's Wildlife Act would be the most significant investment in wildlife conservation in decades to help recover America's at-risk wildlife.
The Farm Bill provides voluntary, incentive-based programs that help farmers, ranchers and other landowners address climate change while conserving their land and way of life. It's the single largest source of U.S. federal funding for conserving, restoring and managing private land, including grasslands, forests, ranchlands and croplands.
The Farm Bill provides $6 billion annually for conservation. From incentivizing climate-smart agricultural practices to opening doors for conservation through agricultural conservation easements, which permanently protect farmland from development, this critical bipartisan legislation benefits every single state in the country. Over 70% of the land in the lower 48 states is privately owned, making it eligible for Farm Bill programs that help spur healthier soils, cleaner water, carbon sequestration and wildlife habitat conservation.
Proposed federal legislation, called the U.S. Foundation for International Conservation Act (USFICA), would establish a fund that would leverage U.S. government, private sector and philanthropic funding to support local communities and Indigenous Peoples around the world who manage protected and conserved areas.
Indigenous and local communities are often highly effective stewards of their land. In most parts of the tropics, for example, indigenous-managed forests have lower rates of deforestation than state-managed protected areas. The U.S. Foundation for International Conservation Act would provide up to $100 million each year in federal funds for community-led international conservation work
The Recovering America’s Wildlife Act, or RAWA, would be the most significant investment in wildlife conservation in decades providing $1.397 billion to fund local and state efforts to help recover endangered species and to prevent at-risk wildlife from becoming endangered.
Why is this important?
Over a third of America’s fish and wildlife species are at risk of extinction. Over 1,600 species are already listed under the Endangered Species Act. State fish and wildlife agencies have identified more than 12,000 additional species that need conservation help now.
The loss of this biodiversity is not just a threat to the species themselves. With Americans spending $140 billion on wildlife-focused recreation every year, it's also a threat to communities and the economies that depend on them.
We can't achieve our conservation goals without taking action on government policies that protect people and our planet.
Urge your elected leaders to pass the Recovering America's Wildlife Act to protect America's struggling wildlife.
Contact your elected leaders to tell them to pass the U.S. Foundation for International Conservation Act.
The Farm Bill offers a critical lifeline to farmers, ranchers and landowners who want to better manage their land. Tell Congress to pass a Farm Bill now.
We need to protect critical conservation and climate funding because we have years—not decades—to address the intertwined crises of climate change and species loss.
Learn how TNC partners with national, state, and local governments to advance federal policy solutions that work for people and nature in the U.S.
We’re facing two existential crises: climate change and rapid biodiversity loss. Reversing these crises requires protecting and sustainably managing our ocean, land and fresh water.
Climate change isn’t a distant threat—it's happening now, and it’s our biggest problem. The urgency is real, but so are the solutions to stop global warming.
The Nature Conservancy is fostering innovations in technology, collaborating with communities to use resources more efficiently and promoting policies that enable sustainability.
