Activism in 2019

In 2019, World Wildlife Fund’s Activist base grew to over 10 million supporters driven by WWF’s mission to conserve nature and protect the diversity of life on Earth. With growth in the number of activists and our reach, we’ve seen the resulting growth in our policy advances.

In 2019, our community of Activists spoke up over 1.5 million times for conservation.

With more than 8 million metric tons of plastic entering our oceans every year, the fight to end plastic pollution is more urgent than ever. This spring, WWF launched global efforts to end plastic entering our oceans by 2030. More than half a million WWF-US Activists signed on to support an international legally binding agreement addressing the plastic problem—accounting for more than 35% of all signatures submitted from over 40 WWF country offices around the world.

The conversation around climate and the lack of urgent actions from global leaders sparked a movement led by frustrated youth voices and activists. Leading up to the UN General Assembly in September, WWF staff and supporters joined more than four million people who marched globally on that historic Friday as part of the world’s largest climate action mobilization.

From Boston to Dallas, Portland to Kansas City, and many more cities in between, Panda Ambassadors led their local communities as hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets of New York City.

Building off the momentum of the mobilization, WWF hosted a one-day workshop on the tools we need, and already have, to develop individual and collective skills to have conversations about the climate crisis in personal networks and beyond. Around 20 people participated—crafting stories of self and sharing personal goals, actions, challenges, and lessons learned to continue carrying these conversations within their own communities.

This summer, the inaugural WWF-US Youth Leadership Award was launched, which gives the next generation of conservation leaders access to a global platform and experts. The award also provides a financial prize that can be used to further recipients’ goals related to their conservation work.

This year’s winner, Maka Monture Päki from Yakutat, Alaska, used the award money to attend the Conference of the Parties (COP) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Madrid. At the conference in December, she engaged with global climate leaders as part of the Indigenous Peoples’ Caucus, one of the seven main constituencies representing the general public.

Launched in Fall 2016, the Panda Ambassador program is a network of local WWF Activists who are on the frontlines of environmental activism, leading their communities to engage the public and inspire real change on WWF’s top priorities.