Environmental Charity List with the Best Charities for the Planet
We’re sharing an environmental charity list so you can get more involved in the climate movement by supporting fantastic initiatives making a real difference. Donating to charitable causes centered around sustainability is a brilliant way to up your social and environmental impact.
Moreover, you get to help people who are the most affected by environmental catastrophes. Donating funds to sustainability charities means giving a person something they need, which is much more meaningful than any consumer product you could purchase.
However, not everyone is blessed enough to have additional money to donate to these important causes. In saying that, if you are lucky and want to donate to ignite change, there are many amazing environmental charities. Keep reading for our environmental charity list and learn about these organizations’ incredible initiatives!
Environmental Charity List: The Top Charities for the Planet
Donating displays the best of human nature and is one of the kindest and most emphatic things a person can do. Below is our environmental charity list, which includes some fantastic environmental charities you can donate to. This is not an exhaustive list; there are many other incredible organisations (too many for us to possibly include in one article).
1. The Greenpeace Fund
Greenpeace’s mission is to expose worldwide environmental issues and encourage solutions to secure a thriving planet for future generations. Greenpeace Fund Inc. is a separate non-profit organization that was set up to continue Greenpeace’s vital work. The organization does this by increasing public awareness of environmental problems through education and research.
They are the leading independent environmental charity across the globe. Greenpeace Fund Inc. does not accept any funds or revenue from corporations or the government.
When people donate to Greenpeace Fund Inc., the proceeds go towards their global campaign work. In essence, supporting them means helping them continue to fight global warming, protect oceans and rainforests, and defend democracy globally.
2. Rainforest Alliance
Next on our environmental charity list is Rainforest Alliance. They are a global non-profit organization working at the intersection of agriculture, business, and forests to ensure responsible business becomes the new normal!
Essentially, Rainforest Alliance is building an alliance, as the name suggests, to enhance farmers’ livelihoods, protect forests and forest communities, promote their human rights, and assist them with adapting to and mitigating the climate crisis.
When you donate to the Rainforest Alliance, you help them accelerate the vital work they do to fight deforestation and climate change. In addition, you assist them in working toward their goals of establishing economic opportunities and better working conditions for rural people.
This organization is incredible and working to solve severely critical social and environmental challenges. With that in mind, they are a brilliant charity to get behind and support.
3. Friends of the Earth
Friends of the Earth is another remarkable environmental charity we urge you to support. They are the world’s most significant grassroots environmental federation, with millions of members and supporters and 73 national member groups worldwide. Their vision is to achieve a sustainable and peaceful world based on societies learning to live in harmony with nature.
They envision that this society will be founded on economic, social, environmental, and gender justice and be free from all kinds of exploitation and domination.
They campaign on today’s most pressing social and ecological problems to achieve this vision. Therefore, supporting their cause by donating proceeds means helping them further their work at creating environmentally sustainable and socially just societies.
4. Ocean Conservancy
The Ocean Conservancy is next on our environmental charity list. They are all about protecting the ocean at all costs. They believe that by working together, we can protect the ocean from the current biggest global challenges.
The organization works with people to create evidence-based solutions to achieve a healthy ocean for the communities and wildlife that depend on it. They work with millions of volunteers worldwide of all ages on their coastal clean-ups.
This project has been ongoing for over 30 years and raises awareness of the impact of plastic and how people can make a difference. Essentially, they advocate for our oceans and protect them, and encourage others to become voices of our oceans. Their donors allow them to develop innovative solutions, and naturally, these solutions are instrumental in helping them achieve their mission.
5. EarthJustice
EarthJustice came into being because, let’s face it, the Earth needs a good lawyer. For too long, people have taken advantage of the planet and forgotten about its needs. Therefore, this premier non-profit public interest environmental law organization works to preserve magnificent wildlife and places.
They use the power of law and the strength of partnership to advance clean energy and fight climate change.
Behind almost every significant environmental win, you’ll find the name EarthJustice! Their legal work has cleaned up the air we breathe, fueled the rise of 100% clean energy, and saved irreplaceable wildlands.
They have protected countless species that were near extinction and secured historical limits on their nation’s worst polluting sectors. When they go to court, they get results, and their ability to do this lies with their generous donors who support them.
6. Climate Emergency Fund
Next up on our environmental charity list is the Climate Emergency Fund. Essentially, they provide a safe, legal way for donors to support the most impactful climate activism – disruptive protest!
Founded in 2019, their goal is to regrant money to groups that are engaged in climate protests. The founders believe street protests are crucially crucial to climate politics.
In 2021, they gave more than $1.35 million in grants to 33 projects and groups they vetted. Some grantees included Extinction Rebellion, the activist movement which demands governments to do more on climate by filling the streets and stopping traffic.
Therefore, choosing to support this organisation means making the decision to support social and environmental change.
7. Cool Earth
Established in 2007, Cool Earth aims to bring a halt to deforestation and is committed to addressing climate issues. The organization works to protect the rainforest by giving back control to the communities living in them.
Put simply; they fund indigenous rainforest communities to fight the root causes of deforestation. Additionally, they invest in projects which protect essential carbon sinks.
Local communities use these proceeds to facilitate environmental education programs. In fact, these programs have often resulted in the development of sustainable waste solutions, bee-keeping projects, and solar energy farms.
In that, they have a Rainforest Firefighters Campaign, which raises funds to uncover the causes of rainforest fires. Through this, they can create future effective forest fire management strategies.
8. Union of Concerned Scientists
Continuing on with our environmental charity list is the Union of Concerned Scientists. They are a national non-profit organization established over 50 years ago by scientists and students of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Founded in 1969, the charity is fighting for a healthier and safer world by harnessing the power of scientific innovation. They address the world’s most pressing issues.
Unlike the other charities on this list, they challenge these issues by connecting advocates, educators, and businesses with the scientific community. The aim behind this is to combat climate change collectively, prevent nuclear weapons use, and encourage sustainable energy sources.
Their primary focus for the past 30 years has been to hold fossil fuel companies responsible for their actions and advocate for a net-zero transition by 2030.
9. Earth Island
Earth Island was established by David Brower, a renowned environmentalist, back in 1982. The organization challenges the environmental issues which threaten our world’s diversity. They are one of the leading climate action organizations in America and provide marketing and administrative support to start-up climate action projects.
The projects they offer their support to tackle issues such as wildlife protection and climate change. Since being established, they have honored 135 youths through their New Leaders Initiative and supported over 200 sustainability projects.
One of these projects was to deliver clean cookstoves to women in Nigeria, which had a knock-on effect in ensuring they were breathing cleaner air and cutting down on their use of firewood.
Additionally, they have an Indigenized Energy Initiative, which sees them working with American Indian communities to harness solar-power technologies to mitigate climate change and end energy poverty.
People can donate on their website or support the charity through voluntary work too. In addition, activists and researchers with environmental project proposals can also apply for support from them.
10. Surfers Against Sewage (SAS)
Next on our environmental charity list is Surfers Against Sewage (SAS). They are a grassroots movement which grew into one of the UK’s most successful and active environmental charities. They are a community of individuals dedicated to protecting the oceans and all wildlife living in them. From their base in Cornwall, they are creating ‘ocean activists’ globally. Some areas they are focusing on include holding water companies accountable and driving action on sewage pollution. Their priority is to fight plastic pollution that destroys their beaches and strangles their seashores.
They do this by stopping the problem at the source and facilitating beach clean-up days. SAS organises more beach clean-ups than any other charity in the UK. Currently, they have 215 regional volunteer representatives and have organised 1,530 beach clean-ups so far. Widely recognised as one of the leading marine conservation charities in the UK, they were set up by people who were sick of seeing sewage on their beaches and seas when they went out to enjoy the water. Donating to their cause means helping to drive their campaigns and securing a thriving future for the ocean.
11. Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN)
The Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN) is a global solutions-based organisation founded to engage women in on-the-ground projects, policy advocacy, and movement building for worldwide climate justice. They were established to accelerate an international women’s movement to defend and protect Earth’s diverse communities and ecosystems. They focus on long-term and short-term systemic solutions and change to address climate change and the root causes of socio-economic inequalities and environmental degradation.
In essence, WECAN organises an array of programmes, from advocating powerfully at climate summits to bringing delegations of indigenous women to confront banks regarding their fossil fuel investments. They decided to focus primarily on women since they are most adversely impacted by environmental degradation and climate change but are indispensable leaders and actors of effective and just solutions. Donating means supporting their ongoing work for women’s leadership and climate justice in all climate movement building and decision-making so that collectively, we can build a healthier future.
12. Clean Air Task Force (CATF)
Last but certainly not least on our environmental charity list is the Clean Air Task Force (CATF). Established in 1996, they force older coal plants to meet similar emission rates to new ones. They are a non-traditional, fact-based, environmental organisation building momentum for solutions based on intellectual integrity, pragmatism, and scientific evidence.
Ultimately, CATF is driving change forward through innovation and policy and rapidly reducing emissions to help us transition to a net-zero future. They focus on some of the most challenging sectors to decarbonise, such as transport, industry, and electricity. CATF protects land use, encourages bioenergy use, captures carbon, and tackles pollution. In addition, they work on ensuring everywhere has access to energy.
Final Thoughts on our Environmental Charities List
If you are struggling with eco-anxiety, there are many ways you can contribute to making a difference. One incredible way is by donating to environmental charities bringing climate issues to the top of the agenda, and making an impact.
The above organizations on our environmental charity list are all working so hard to ensure a just, fair, sustainable transition so that we can foster a healthier planet.
From removing carbon to protecting rainforests and our oceans to safeguarding wildlife and empowering women, many inspiring initiatives are happening within these charities.
Not only that, but you get the opportunity to help people in need of support. If you are in a position to donate, doing so can help these charities continue their fantastic work.
However, if you are not, there are many other ways to engage in the climate movement and be part of the solution. Check out some of our other articles about sustainable living to find out how you can begin leading a more sustainable lifestyle!
