2024 Advocacy Year in Review
Meet Youth Conservation Leadership Award winner: Charitie Ropati
WWF awarded Charitie Ropati (she/her) the 2023 Youth Conservation Leadership Award. This prestigious award celebrates outstanding young leaders advancing environmental conservation.
Charitie is a Yup’ik and Samoan Indigenous scientist, scholar, climate activist, and advocate for education equality. Her work includes studying the impacts of climate change on Arctic communities, advocating for Traditional Ecological Knowledge in science, and advancing the representation, visibility and success of Native Americans and Alaska Natives in engineering. Follow along with Charitie’s work on her Instagram.
MORE YOUTH CONSERVATION LEADERSHIP AWARD STORIES
© Charitie Ropati
Charitie is a Yup’ik and Samoan Indigenous scientist, scholar, climate activist, and advocate for education equality.
The Fight Against Plastic Pollution
Throughout 2024, WWF activists advanced the fight against plastic pollution at the state, federal, and global levels.
Lobby Day 2024 tackles plastic pollution
This spring, 61 WWF activists from 23 states visited Capitol Hill to demonstrate the power of collective action. Through 68 congressional meetings, they championed federal policies to reduce plastic waste and expand sustainable solutions like composting and recycling infrastructure.
Biden-Harris administration announces phase-outs of single-use plastic in the federal government
The administration committed to eliminating single-use plastic products across federal government agencies by 2035, and in food service, packaging, and events by 2027.
© Shutterstock
WWF engages and influences lawmakers in support of extended producer responsibility
Over 300 WWF activists in Washington state contacted 94 legislators advocating for extended producer responsibility (EPR) legislation, which holds companies accountable for collecting, sorting, and recycling the plastic they produce. WWF supported implementation efforts in California and Colorado and contributed to passing legislation in Minnesota in May.
This spring, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee held its first-ever hearing on EPR. Erin Simon, WWF Vice President and Head, Plastic Waste and Business, testified about how shifting waste management costs from consumers and municipalities to plastic producers would help eliminate wasteful single-use plastics.
© WWF-US/Darren Higgins
Continuing progress toward a UN Global Treaty for Plastic Pollution
At the fifth and intended final negotiating session for a global plastic pollution treaty, over 95 countries held firm for binding global bans and phaseouts of harmful plastic products and chemicals. Unfortunately, despite this overwhelming majority, countries did not come to an agreement on a final treaty text.
While consensus wasn’t reached, leaders chose to continue negotiations in 2025 rather than accept a weak, voluntary treaty. The support for an ambitious treaty is clear. Ahead of the negotiations, WWF and partners delivered nearly 2.9 million names from around the world in support of an ambitious treaty.
© Marcus Winkler/WWF
Panda Ambassadors
This year, Panda Ambassadors brought WWF’s mission to their communities through diverse activities, events, and publications. Their work ranged from organizing educational events about plastics at a senior living community to presenting on nature-health connections for medical residents, writing to elected officials about conservation matters, maintaining native pollinator gardens, and much more.
Sam Shores Addresses WWF Plastic Policy Summit
Panda Ambassador Sam Shores, a marine biologist and documentary filmmaker, spoke at the WWF Plastic Policy Summit about his personal journey in tackling plastic pollution. He described witnessing Hurricane Florence’s devastation in 2018, explaining how the combined challenges of plastic pollution and climate change sparked his passion for marine conservation. His remarks emphasized the need for systemic change through advocacy, innovation, and education.
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Maci Tetrick Leads Meat-free Mondays Challenge
In July, Panda Ambassadors focused on food sustainability, committing to weekly meat-free meals while learning about our diets’ impacts on the environment. Under Maci’s leadership, participants adapted cultural recipes and explored plant-based protein alternatives. Find out more about what a planet-friendly diet could look like.
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Autumn Ramirez Creates Educational Tools to Inspire Action on Pollinators
In collaboration with the Wild Classroom team, Autumn created Field of Bees, an educational game highlighting threatened North American bee species and their ecological importance. A print-and-play version of the game is accessible to educators and families through the Wild Classroom page. This project exemplifies successful partnerships between WWF and Panda Ambassadors, combining advocacy, education, and creativity to inspire conservation action.
© WWF