Three major steps lawmakers must take this fall to save nature

The last few months of 2024 will be pivotal for the future of our planet. This fall, world leaders will gather on the international stage in rapid succession to address plastic pollution, biodiversity loss, and climate change.

We have clear momentum in advancing pragmatic, bipartisan solutions. But we must move faster and on a greater scale to save nature as we know it. Here's a look at how far we've come and how policymakers must urgently close the gap in three key ways.

Keep plastic out of nature

Stopping the plastic pollution crisis to protect nature requires action from every level of government—from state and federal measures in the US to a global treaty.

As the single largest consumer in the world, the US federal government has an outsized role to play in curbing plastic waste. The Biden-Harris administration's new commitment to phase out single-use plastic products across all federal agencies by 2035, and in food service by 2027, shows how we can make change happen at the scale we need by leveraging the government's massive purchasing power.

At the state level, Minnesota policymakers took the US one step closer to our goal to keep plastic out of nature by enacting a historic new law in May that requires all packaging in the state to be reusable, recyclable, compostable, or collected by an approved alternative collection system by 2032. This marked a major milestone for WWF's advocacy to advance Extended Producer Responsibility, which incentivizes businesses to reduce their plastic footprint and provides the necessary structure for consumers to manage waste sustainably.

These are highly encouraging developments to help keep plastic out of nature in the US. But the US and other nations must do more to collectively transform how plastic waste is managed around the world. World leaders face a make-or-break moment this November in Busan, Korea for what may be the final round of talks to secure an international agreement to address plastic pollution. WWF will be on the ground to advocate for the most ambitious possible outcome that holds all countries to a high common standard for reducing plastic waste.

Secure the resources we need for biodiversity conservation

We can't stop nature loss without strong American leadership. That's why it's essential for Congress to provide robust resources for conservation programs at home and around the world.

So far, following WWF's advocacy, members of the House and Senate have largely maintained or even increased funds for nature conservation programs through federal agencies such as USAID and the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Congress faces an end-of-September deadline to pass this year's spending bills. Bipartisan support for many of WWF's priorities once again remains strong.
Funding for these programs is critical to successful conservation partnerships such as the USAID Biodiversity Conservation project in Viet Nam, which recently helped lead to the first national park in the country earning the global sustainability standard for protected area management.

It also makes possible domestic programs like a new grant enacted by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, in which WWF will be working with the Environmental Protection Agency to educate students and community members in Baltimore, Memphis, Nashville, and Atlanta about food waste recycling programs and reducing food waste in their schools.

Yet there's so much more we can do to ensure governments, philanthropists, and the private sector can collectively mobilize resources to protect nature. We're calling on Congress to move the bipartisan US Foundation for International Conservation Act over the finish line before the end of this year to help leverage even greater resources to successfully protect nature over the long term.

And on a global scale, representatives from nearly 200 countries will meet at the United Nations biodiversity summit in Colombia this October for the first time since agreeing on a framework to halt and reverse nature loss in this decade, including a target to conserve at least 30% of land, freshwater, and oceans globally by 2030. The Biden-Harris Administration's announcement of the America the Beautiful Freshwater Challenge in April—with WWF-US as an inaugural member supporting the restoration of US wetlands, rivers, and streams by 2030—will advance these goals at the national level to protect important ecosystems. The October conference will be key to ensuring all participating countries are taking steps to live up to their commitments.

Make good on climate change commitments

The planet keeps getting hotter. Accelerating the transition to a sustainable and resilient future requires implementing robust policies and groundbreaking technologies that protect communities and nature.

To date, the Biden-Harris administration has advanced more than 100 funding and executive actions to address climate change, including through the Inflation Reduction Act's investments in clean energy incentives and recently issued Environmental Protection Agency rules for power plant and vehicle emissions.

Food waste is another major driver of greenhouse gas emissions that we as consumers can curb every day, as well as with more sustainable agriculture practices. Congress faces a September deadline to renew the Farm Bill, which sets many of the nation's most critical food and agriculture policies—and must seize the opportunity to support healthy people, a healthy planet, and a healthy farm economy. The House Agriculture Committee advanced a Farm Bill in May but it fell short of the investments needed in farmer, rancher, and forester-led conservation.

The same unsustainable agriculture policies that result in land clearing bring us to another important part of the puzzle to address climate change and nature loss: conserving forests. In May, the New York legislature acted decisively by passing the Tropical Rainforest Economic & Environmental Sustainability (TREES) Act, which would require any company supplying state agencies or contractors to certify that their products—including palm oil, soybeans, beef, coffee, cocoa, wood, pulp, and paper—do not contribute to the destruction of tropical forests. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has until the end of this year to sign the TREES Act into law and lead the state—and the nation—in stopping the use of products that drive tropical forest loss.

Still, we must do more to mitigate the threats to our planet and way of life. Halting the threats posed by climate change will require collective action from governments around the world. At the closely watched United Nations General Assembly and Climate Week summits in New York City and international climate talks (COP29) in Azerbaijan this fall, the WWF-US delegation will urge governments to make good on ambitious nature and climate commitments.

A critical time is upon us

Policymakers have made significant strides this year in protecting nature. But our work is far from done. These last few months of 2024 will provide a series of opportunities for the US and world leaders to come together and deliver the urgent action our planet needs. We can't afford to lose momentum now. Join WWF in this movement to protect the natural world as we know it.

Explore ways you can take action right now to protect wildlife and wild places.

Learn more about WWF's work influencing US government policy.