Code REDD announced the launch today of Stand For Trees, a first-of-its-kind consumer campaign that uses the power of social media and crowd-funding to enable everyone to take real and effective action to reduce deforestation and curb climate change.

Through an innovative mobile web solution, funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), individuals can now take part in the movement to Reduce Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) by purchasing Stand For Trees Certificates. Each $10 Stand For Trees Certificate prevents one metric tonne of carbon dioxide (CO₂) from being released into the atmosphere while protecting threatened ecosystems that sustain forest communities and numerous endangered species.

Academy Award nominated actor Edward Norton, who also serves as the United Nation’s Goodwill Ambassador for Biodiversity, said:  “Stand For Trees can be a game-changer by harnessing the power of crowd-funding to protect forests, the air we breathe, and the climate that sustains us. It offers a clear and affordable way to make a real difference.”

Stand For Trees Certificates are high-quality verified carbon credits based on the proven REDD+ model.  The Certificates meet rigorous standards set by the Verified Carbon Standard and the Climate Community and Biodiversity Alliance, a partnership of leading NGOs that includes CARE, The Nature Conservancy, and the Rainforest Alliance. The credits are registered on the world’s largest environmental registry services provider, Markit, and meet Code REDD’s peer-reviewed international Code of Conduct.  Independent certifiers on the ground ensure that funding from the Certificates  reaches its intended target and empowers specific forest communities to halt deforestation and shift to more sustainable livelihoods.  

“REDD+ is a sustainable, cost-effective means for mitigating climate change,” said Rajendra K. Pachauri, Ph.D, Chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.  “REDD+ can also provide substantial economic and social co-benefits and help conserve biodiversity and water resources.”

Proceeds from the Stand For Trees Certificates fund the development of sustainable livelihoods and the protection of forests in specific REDD+ projects in various locations around the world. REDD+ funding already has been used to, among other things, build schools and medical clinics, dig clean-water wells, and train and equip forest rangers to prevent illegal logging and animal poaching.

Everildys Córdoba, project coordinator for the Chocó-Darién Conservation Corridor, a REDD+ project in northern Colombia, said: “REDD+ has been a blessing to our community.  We now have the resources to protect our forests and our culture, and we take great pride in helping stop global warming.”  The project prevented the emission of 100,000 tonnes of CO₂ during its first 18 months, and it expects to prevent the emission of more than 2.8 million tonnes during the project’s 30-year lifespan.

Stand For Trees is being launched at a time when we are losing a forest area the size of New York City every 48 hours. At this rate, there could be no tropical forests left on Earth by the end of this century, a scenario that could have profoundly negative impacts on the climate system and life on Earth.

Trees store carbon, but when forests are cleared that carbon is released into the atmosphere, where it mixes with oxygen to create CO₂ – the most prevalent greenhouse gas warming the planet.   With deforestation and degradation of existing forests currently causing more greenhouse gas emissions than the entire global transportation sector, it is widely understood that protecting forests is critical to curbing climate change.

“We should never underestimate the power of grassroots action,” said Karin Burns, Executive Director of Code REDD.  “By standing for trees, every day people can have an outsized impact on saving tropical forests and our climate."

The URL for the Stand For Trees mobile web solution is StandForTrees.org. 

About Code REDD
Based in Northern California, Code REDD is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to support and scale the REDD+ mechanism to realize its full potential to empower people, preserve forests, protect wildlife, and reduce emissions. Code REDD aims to create a world where the REDD+ mechanism is widely adopted within private sector practices, corporate business models, consumer purchases, and regulatory frameworks to drastically reduce deforestation, value ecosystem services, promote low carbon development, and enable a transition to the green economy.

About USAID and USAID’s BIOREDD Program
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is the U.S. government agency working to end extreme global poverty and enable resilient, democratic societies to realize their potential. Through its Global Climate Change initiative, USAID supports sustainable landscapes and REDD+ projects around the world. Specifically in Colombia, USAID's BIOREDD+ program supports efforts to make forest conservation socially equitable and economically viable by implementing REDD+.  Code REDD and USAID’s BIOREDD+ program have come together to create the Stand for Trees campaign, recognizing the vital need to spread awareness of and engagement with REDD+ to citizens globally.

About REDD+
Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) was created under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in 2007 as a tool to value the carbon storage services of our remaining tropical forests.  By making forests more valuable standing than cut down, the REDD+ model provides forest communities and countries with a new model for economic development – one where both people and planet can benefit.

Stand for Trees

Stand for Trees

One of the most effective ways you can fight deforestation, protect threatened wildlife, empower local communities & curb climate change.

Mission

Stand For Trees’s mission is to halt deforestation by empowering individuals—all of us—to take real action to stop forest loss: the number one cause of species extinction and second-leading cause of CO2 emissions globally. Although we know stopping deforestation is critical to curbing climate change, we continue to lose a forest the size of New York City every 48 hours.

Fortunately, we have the solution. Since 2007, the international community has been working together on the REDD+ program to ‘reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation. Now, for the first time, Stand For Trees allows individuals to be part of this solution by harnessing the power of technology and social media so we can all support local communities who are implementing REDD+ practices on the ground in tropical forest countries. When you Stand For Trees, you stand for investing in communities who are pursuing new economic opportunities - creating a new economy where trees are more valuable standing than cut down. Trees stand for us, it’s time to Stand for Trees.

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