Our impact
With the help of 1.5 million members, we take a pragmatic approach that benefits people and nature.
See how your support makes great things happen.
EDF does constructive, thoughtful, hard work that gains respect—and results.
George P. Shultz Former U.S. Secretary of State
Safeguarding: Human health
Biggest environmental law in a generation
- Impact: President Obama signed the Lautenberg Act in 2016, reforming our inadequate, decades-old chemical safety law.
- Our role: Over several years, worked strategically with members in both political parties and with other organizations to craft a balanced bill.
- Next: Work with retailers to make products safer »
Thousands of consumer products get safer
- Impact: Walmart’s success at reducing toxic chemicals in household products was followed by similar actions from CVS, Target, Johnson & Johnson and Colgate.
- Our role: We provided scientific guidance to Walmart on how to develop a leadership policy that sets a standard for safer chemicals in the marketplace.
- Next: Help more companies follow the standard »
Restoring: Healthy oceans
84% of U.S. fish stocks are now at healthy levels
- Impact: Overfishing in the U.S. dropped to all-time lows in 2015, a dramatic reversal from decades of overfishing.1
- Our role: We introduced catch shares, a management system now widely used. Catch shares give fishermen a stake in the overall health of a fishery.
- Next: Make sustainable fishing the global norm »
Reducing: Climate pollution
White House and EPA target methane pollution
- Impact: Reducing methane emissions from the oil and gas industry is now a key part of the U.S. climate strategy.
- Our role: We drove the science and advocacy that led to federal action, including EPA’s proposed methane limits.
- Next: Keep pressure on by mapping methane leaks »
Clean Power Plan puts first-ever limits on power plant pollution
- Impact: EPA’s plan will dramatically reduce carbon emissions from power plants.
- Our role: We rallied our members and partners to send comments in support of the plan—part of the more than 8 million positive comments from around the country.
- Next: Defend the plan from opponents »
China rolls out a bold climate action plan
- Impact: The world’s top emitter of greenhouse gases, China announced it will launch a national carbon market in 2017.
- Our role: Our staff in China provided critical technical assistance for seven pilot carbon markets, building on our success solving acid rain in the U.S.
- Next: Assist China as it launches carbon market »
Photo: Jiri Rezac
Hundreds of companies boost energy efficiency
- Impact: EDF Climate Corps has helped top companies uncover nearly $1.5 billion in wasted energy2 . One in three Fortune 100 companies have hosted fellows.3
- Our role: Each year we train hundreds of graduate students and embed them at leading organizations to find tangible ways to use less energy.
- Next: Expand program across U.S. and China »
Protecting: Vulnerable ecosystems
A breakthrough for threatened wildlife and habitat
- Impact: A new conservation tool known as habitat exchanges steps in to save vulnerable wildlife before they need endangered species protection.
- Our role: We created the exchange system, then brought together unlikely allies—including farmers and energy developers—to help protect the declining greater sage-grouse.
- Next: Create more habitat exchanges for wildlife »
Photo: Steven Nehl
Agricultural leaders take major steps to reduce fertilizer pollution
- Impact: Corporations ranging from Walmart to General Mills committed to optimize fertilizer use and improve soil conservation on 23 million acres of U.S. crops.
- Our role: We’ve developed collaborations across the grain supply chain to showcase the benefits of using fertilizers more efficiently.
- Next: Make even more cropland sustainable »
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- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA Fisheries. Status of Stocks 2014. http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/sfa/publications/feature_stories/2015/status_of_stocks_2014.html
- EDF Climate Corps. http://edfclimatecorps.org/impact/our-impact
- EDF Climate Corps. http://edfclimatecorps.org/hosts/advance-your-energy-management-program