Patagonia – Supporting Grassroots and Activists Across Europe by Patagonia - The Cleanest Line

Supporting Grassroots and Activists Across Europe

Earth Tax “As an alpinist who set out to make gear for my friends and never thought of myself as a ‘businessman’ until long after I became one, I’ve wrestled the demons of corporate responsibility for some time. Who are businesses really responsible to? Their shareholders? Their customers? Their employees? None of the above, I have finally come to believe. Fundamentally, businesses are responsible to their resource base. Without a healthy planet there are no shareholders, no customers, no employees. As the conservationist David Brower liked to say, ‘There is no business to be done on a dead planet.’ No matter how diligent a corporation, it causes waste and pollution. Like any other responsible corporation, Patagonia should pay penance for its sins while we work to figure out how to clean up our act. Our penance takes the form of a voluntary ‘earth tax.’ For many years we donated a percentage of our profits to grassroots environmental organizations working to save and restore habitat. In 1996, because profit figures can be so easily manipulated, we began to donate 1 percent of sales to these organizations, in lean years and fat, without regard for profit levels. I’ve learned from a lifetime of being outdoors that nature loves diversity and hates monoculture and centralization. A thousand diverse activist groups, each passionately working on a specific problem, can accomplish more than bloated, cautious NGOs or governments addressing all the big issues at once. Even though I work for tough laws, I don’t trust my government. I support the front-line activists, the river keepers and tree sitters who work to save a single patch of land or stretch of water. These are the people who do the most to hold the corporations at bay and keep the government honest. These are the kinds of groups to whom we give most of our money.” - Yvon Chouinard

Growing the Grassroots In 1972, the Ventura City Council met to consider an ambitious commercial development on the western flood-plain of the Ventura River near our headquarters. A lot of scientists got up to speak in support of the project. They said it wouldn’t hurt the river because it was already “dead.” Mark Capelli, who was a young graduate student and called himself “Friends of the Ventura River,” then gave a slide show showing all the life that was still in and around the river: eels, birds, raccoons. He pointed out there were still 50 steelhead showing up each year to migrate upstream. It brought the house down, and the project was eventually stopped. Capelli’s success demonstrated to us the power of the grassroots to affect positive change. Since then, through our membership in 1% For The Planet®, we’ve donated some $70 million in cash and in-kind services to thousands of community-based groups working to create positive change for the planet in their own backyards:

• • • • • •

Taking down dams Restoring forests and rivers Finding solutions to and mitigate climate change Protecting critical land and marine habitat Protecting threatened and endangered plants and animals Supporting local, organic and sustainable agriculture

These groups often have less than five paid staffers; some are run entirely by volunteers. Instead of giving large sums to a handful of causes, we give modest grants—up to $12,000 each—to hundreds of groups every year for whom this money makes a world of difference. As a company that uses resources and produces waste, we recognize our impact on the environment and feel a responsibility to give back. For us, it’s not charity or traditional philanthropy. It’s part of the cost of doing business. We call it our Earth Tax.

Environmental Grantees for Europe 2016 AUSTRIA RiverWatch, Society for the protection of rivers Today, rivers count amongst the most endangered habitats on Earth. What puts rivers most at risk is the construction of dams. Their ambition is to conserve the last unimpaired rivers as well as their flooding areas. www.riverwatch.eu WET, Wildwasser Erhalten Tirol Founded by local kayakers, WET is protecting the last remaining free flowing white water rivers in Tyrol. These are a significant ecological treasure that is under threat by hydro electric companies. www.stubaiwasser.at

BELGIUM The Sea First Foundation The Sea First Foundation strives for a world in which mankind recognises the oceans as essential for all life on earth and takes action to protect and cherish these. www.seafirst.be

CZECH Sázíme stromy Sázíme stromy plants trees and shrubs in the places where nobody else would plant them, either because of lack of money or initiative. The locations are carefully selected in cooperation with municipal authorities. All work is done by volunteers. www.sazimestromy.cz Hnutí DUHA - Friends of the Earth Czech Republic The mission of Hnutí DUHA is to secure clean and healthy environment for everyone and to promote nature conservation. They actively motivate people to make changes that limit pollution and conserve nature. www.hnutiduha.cz

FRANCE

GERMANY

Environn’MontBlanc Environn’MontBlanc organization was created to reduce the environmental damage caused by road trafic in the Chamonix valley: air pollution, emissions, noise, quality of life and impact on biodiversity. www.inspire74.com

EuroNatur Foundation EuroNatur Foundation aims to conserve European natural heritage in all its diversity and to protect precious natural and ecologically valuable traditionally cultivated landscapes in Europe across national borders. www.euronatur.org

Inf’OGM Inf’OGM is an organisation that synthesise, check, clarify and contextualise all the relevant news related to genetically modified food in French language. www.infogm.org

Bergwaldprojekt Bergwaldprojekt organization aims at helping the forest. They draw attention to forest related challenges and offer support in a targeted, hands-on way. www.bergwaldprojekt.de

GERMANY (continued)

NETHERLANDS

Netzwerk Blühende Landschaft To ensure the survival of pollinators and their highly valued ecosystem service of plant pollination, this organization works on changing monocultural landscapes into blooming landscapes not only for animals and plants, but also for us to live in. www.bluehende-landschaft.de

The Black Fish The Black Fish is an international conservation movement on a mission to end illegal overfishing. By training ordinary people as Citizen Inspectors they work to expose and challenge illegal fishing through realising citizen-led enforcement. www.theblackfish.org

Pestizid Aktions-Netzwerk They aim to protect humanity and the environment from pesticides and to promote alternatives. www.pan-germany.org

World Fish Migration Foundation World Fish Migration Foundation aims to protect and conserve migratory fish species worldwide as part of healthy river ecosystems. They are creating global attention, inspiration and successful examples for migratory fish and free flowing rivers. www.fishmigration.org

ITALY Cittadini per l’Aria Cittadini per l’Aria aims to create an independent voice on air quality, health and environmental issues in Italy empowering citizens around the country to take action. www.cittadiniperlaria.org Salviamo l’Orso Salviamo l’Orso aims to protect the Marsican brown bear and save it from extinction by implementing practical field actions. www.salviamolorso.it Genitori Antismog Organisation aims to improve the critical situation of air pollution through advocacy and information about the impact of smog on health, and to promote citizens participation and mobilisation. www.genitoriantismog.it

The Plastic Whale Plastic Whale’s mission is to solve the problem of the plastic soup. They started with their actions in Amsterdam, organising plastic fishing events and building boats from the plastic waste they fish out of the canals. www.plasticwhale.com Solar World Cinema Solar World Cinema is an international network of solar powered mobile cinemas. Open-air film screenings are organised in the most remote places. They help bringing unseen films to unusual places and support raising awareness on environmental issues through film. www.solarworldcinema.com

SPAIN

UNITED KINGDOM

Asociación Hombre Y Territorio Hombre Y Territorio is developing research, conservation and awareness in the marine and terrestrial environment. www.hombreyterritorio.org

Surfers Against Sewage SAS is an environmental charity focused on the protection of the UK’s oceans, waves and beaches for all to enjoy safely and sustainably, via community action, campaigning, conservation, education, scientific research and volunteering. www.sas.org.uk

FAPAS Fapas aims to enhance presence of ospreys along the Cantabrian coastline, creating suitable conditions as part of the global conservation effort. www.fapas.es

People & Planet Student Activities People & Planet supports a diverse and democratic student movement to mass mobilise behind two major campaigns tackling the root causes of the climate crisis and fossil fuel extraction, and economic injustice in electronic and garment supply chains. www.peopleandplanet.org

SWITZERLAND Ride Greener Ride Greener is an association of avid snowboarders and skiers who promote climate friendly snowboarding and skiing as well as environmentally conscious conduct in the mountains. www.ridegreener.com Filme für die Erde Films for the Earth is an international competence centre for environmental movies. Their aim is to reach different groups of people with selected movies, share knowledge about sustainability and inspire for action. www.filmefuerdieerde.org

The New Localism We are all locals. And we live in a global world. We can no longer pass through or visit remote wild places and trust they will remain that way. Patagoniaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s friends have always brought us news of places they loved that are threatened. Patagonia is committed to bringing our resources and connections to bear on these threats to wildness, far and wide. We all have a chance to make a difference. Take a stand. THIS IS THE NEW LOCALISM

Save the Blue Heart of Europe For many years it has been the secret knowledge of “insiders” – riverine communities, a few NGO representatives, fly fishers, kayakers: the Blue Heart of Europe beats on the Balkan Peninsula. Nowhere else on the continent can one find such a tremendous number and variety of pristine, wild rivers, crystal clear streams, extensive gravel banks, untouched alluvial forests, deep gorges, spectacular waterfalls, and even karstic underground rivers which mysteriously flood the surface during extreme rain fall and snow melt in autumn and spring. What’s more, these rivers are one of the most important hotspots for European biodiversity. However, the rivers of the Balkans are to be dammed on a large scale. More than 2600 hydropower plants are projected to be built in the next few years – commonly with support of businesses and loans from inside the European Union and beyond. Not even the most striking and valuable river stretches – even if located inside a national park – are to be spared. Save The Blue Heart of Europe. Learn about Save the Blue Heart of Europe campaign at: www.balkanrivers.net Learn more about dams and their impact by watching Damnation film at: www.damnationfilm.com

How to apply for a Patagonia grant

We support small, grassroots, activist organizations with provocative directaction agendas, working on multi-pronged campaigns to preserve and protect our environment. We help local groups working to protect local habitat, and think the individual battles to protect a specific stand of forest, stretch of river or indigenous wild species are the most effective in raising more complicated issues – particularly those of biodiversity and ecosystem protection – in the public mind. We look for innovative groups that produce measurable results, and we like to support efforts that force the government to abide by its own – our own – laws. We fund work that: • • • • •

is action-oriented builds public involvement and support is strategic focuses on root causes accomplishes specific goals and objectives

Organizations can apply via www.patagonia.com.

Need more information?

Corporate grants:

Mihela Hladin mihela.hladin@patagonia.com

Regional grants - Germany:

Laura Hoppe laura.hoppe@patagonia.com

Regional grants - Italy:

Carlo Alberto Crestani carlo-alberto.crestani@patagonia.com

Regional grants - France:

Leo Briand leo.briand@patagonia.com

Regional grants - United Kingdom:

Lisa Douglas lisa.douglas@patagonia.com

Patagonia is a proud member of 1% For The Planet www.onepercentfortheplanet.org