Climate

WWF works with local communities, governments, and others around the world to help people and nature prepare for the many impacts of a changing climate. To do this we: 

• Work with communities and governments to understand and prepare for climate change
• Integrate environmental considerations into disaster recovery, reconstruction, and risk reduction
• Study how people’s responses to climate change affect ecosystems and wildlife
• Assess species to determine traits that make them resilient or vulnerable to changes in climate

The Paris Agreement is the world’s collective response to addressing climate change in the years to come. Although the US government has signaled its intention to withdraw from this global pact, America’s cities, states, and businesses are working with world leaders to turn the promise of that agreement into concrete action.

WWF is helping accelerate climate action from national governments, and from cities, states and businesses to deliver on the ambitious temperature goals of the historic Paris Agreement by:

• Providing financial support to developing countries as an implementing partner of the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and the Global Environment Facility (GEF)
• Building a coalition of non-federal actors in the US who remained committed to the Paris Agreement
• Helping transition developing countries to clean energy sources like wind and solar
• Working with companies and cities to switch to 100% renewable energy and harnessing their purchasing power to drive bigger change
• Ensuring that ecosystem-based approaches to adaptation are incorporated into national development plans
• Collaborating with US Latino leaders and communities to raise awareness of climate risks from Latin America to North America
• Curbing climate pollution from international aviation

Forests are nature’s greatest technology for combating climate change: they naturally absorb carbon dioxide (CO2), reducing the amount of this heat-trapping gas in our atmosphere. When forests are not managed responsibly, they release large quantities of C02 into the atmosphere. Deforestation and degradation are the largest sources of C02 emissions after the burning of fossil fuels. Scientists estimate up to 13% of global carbon emissions come from deforestation.

WWF saves forests and fights climate change by:

• Supporting REDD+, which offers financial incentives to developing countries that create and implement strategies to manage and use their forests responsibly.
• Creating multi-million dollar funds to properly manage forests that are designated as protected.
• Working to end illegal logging.
• Ensuring that global climate change agreements reduce forest loss and degradation.
• Helping countries and regions assess the benefits nature provides under different development and climate change scenarios.