ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED

The air most of us breathe is cleaner than it has been in decades. Magnificent, once-endangered birds like the osprey are thriving. EDF is proud to have played a central role in achieving these hard-won goals. But there is still so much to be done. More than 125 million Americans live in places with unhealthy air. Thousands of U.S. communities are plagued by lead poisoning. And the environmental gains of the recent past are at risk as the Trump administration does all it can to roll back climate action and dismantle the bipartisan protections that helped deliver that progress.

In our strategic plan, we look ahead to 2025. Working together, we can move to stabilize the global climate, build defenses against extreme weather, ensure food security and abundant oceans, and reduce exposure to air pollution and toxic chemicals. Our work is grounded in the rigor of the scientific method and the insights of economics, and it is also infused with hope. We know that our solutions, if scaled in time, can help turn the corner to a safer climate, cleaner air and healthier communities. Our commitment to measurable outcomes can be seen in our work to build resilience in the face of climate change. It's not a glib assurance that people and nature can magically adapt, but a realistic assessment of how we can help communities and ecosystems survive and even thrive.
The well-being of people and nature rests upon a web of interconnections among EDF's four focus areas: Climate, Oceans, Ecosystems and Health. Well-managed ocean fisheries, for example, are better able to withstand the
stress of climate change—and the futures of people everywhere depend on healthy oceans. In turn, the climate will benefit from our Health program's work to reduce conventional air pollution, as well as from our Ecosystems work to reduce overuse of fertilizer, which means less of the powerful greenhouse gas, nitrous oxide, entering the atmosphere. And building natural infrastructure—wetlands, barrier islands, oyster reefs— helps make coastal communities more secure.

In the coming years, EDF will concentrate on strategies that drive progress despite the current roadblocks in Washington, DC. Our 11-year partnership with Walmart helped inspire the world's largest retailer to commit to reducing one billion tons of carbon pollution from its operations and global supply chain by 2030—an amount greater than the annual emissions of Germany. And during more than 20 years of work in China, we have trained 39,000 environmental enforcement officers, championed tougher laws and offered assistance to the government as it rolled out seven pilot emissions trading programs to address carbon pollution.
These pilots gave China the confidence to begin phasing in a national emissions trading system for carbon in 2017. We'll work closely with the Chinese to ensure the success of this critical piece of global climate leadership. Similarly, EDF's work to rebuild fisheries is having a profound global impact. In the United States, fish populations are rebounding and fishermen are better off. We have supported similar progress in Mexico, Belize, Sweden and the Philippines. Now we're scaling this work with a goal of reducing global overfishing 30% by 2025, in order to boost fish in the sea 50% by 2030 and improve the well-being of 400 million vulnerable people worldwide. EDF is known for building unexpected partnerships. Many elected officials and other decision makers had never seen such inclusive environmental coalition-building until we walked through their doors alongside fishermen, ranchers, corporate leaders and other unlikely allies. It makes for powerful first impressions—and durable solutions. Tens of thousands of consumer products are now safer because we partnered with Walmart and other retailers to remove chemicals of concern from them. We also supported a bipartisan coalition that passed landmark U.S. chemical safety legislation in 2016; now we're fighting for effective implementation of those critical reforms.
On all of our issues, we apply the tools of science and economics, political acumen and technological innovation harnessing the power of markets to drive environmental good. We call it finding the ways that work. It's the model you'll see throughout Pathways 2025 (www.edf.org/pathways-2025) , and together with your support, it's what gives us hope that we can build a resilient future where people and nature prosper.

Just as communities depend on their roads, bridges and public utilities, EDF depends on its infrastructure of information technology, facilities, financial and legal expertise and—most of all—people to maximize our donor resources and achieve our environmental goals.
Today's difficult environmental challenges—and the increasingly global program goals of this ambitious new strategic plan—underscore the need to strengthen EDF to perform on a new scale that reaches around the world.
Human resources: Our strength as an organization depends on a highly skilled staff, Board and network of partners. We aim to recruit and train an international workforce comprised of top-flight talent, and build a robust pipeline of leaders and experts to carry our mission forward. When our work takes us into new geographies, we will rely on strong local leadership, forge partnerships with effective local stakeholder organizations, and ensure that our internal managerial capacity keeps pace with our growth.
Diversity: EDF envisions a world in which people from all backgrounds and experiences feel connected to the environmental challenges we face and are engaged in creating durable, equitable solutions. We will realize this vision by continually increasing the diversity of our staff; growing our cultural competency; and partnering with diverse communities on environmental
justice activities. We are among the first green groups to have a senior position on diversity; 63% of our workforce are women, 26% self-identify as people of color, and 25% of senior leadership self-identify as people of color.
Legal and corporate services: As EDF's global presence expands, we will ensure that our infrastructure is working as effectively and efficiently as possible; that we are adhering to local and national laws in diverse geographies; and that we have proactive plans to keep staff and their assets safe and protected everywhere they work or travel. Information technology and facilities Powering a complex global organization requires top-notch systems, including a best-in-class information technology infrastructure that integrates data and users across the globe, while safeguarding their privacy and security. When it comes to facilities, our goal is to find the most innovative and cost-effective solutions while alsoreducing our environmental footprint, as in a recent reconfiguration of our New York headquarters that accommodates 20% more staff comfortably in the same space, with a more efficient design for lighting and heating to save energy and costs.
Finance: Our finance team acts as a trusted adviser and business partner to organizational leaders, identifying opportunities for better allocating scarce resources, improving processes and reducing business risk. We are also examining all of our expenditures to ensure that we are maximizing cost savings and leveraging EDF's buying power.

Two years into our five-year plan, it's exciting to see the momentum on our 2020 objectives. We could not have come this far without the strong support of EDF members.

CLIMATE
The Growing Partnership between the United States and China to Confront Climate Change. The leadership commitments that President Obama and President Xi made when they reaffirmed aggressive carbon reduction targets in September 2015 sparked the adoption of the United Nations (UN) Climate Accord last December in Paris.

One year later, both countries formally joined the accord in a meeting with UN Secretary Ban Ki-Moon. At the same meeting, the U.S. and China also reaffirmed their commitment to work with the UN Aviation Agency to ensure carbon-neutral growth by 2020 for the aviation industry—the eighth largest contributor to global carbon pollution. Further, both countries reiterated their commitment under the Montreal Protocol to phase down hydrofluorocarbons (HFC), a potent climate pollutant.

Continuing to drive down emissions from the world's two largest carbon polluters is a top tier priority for us next year. We'll work with both countries to drive down emissions and promote clean energy innovation.

OCEANS
International Expansion: Experiences from Namibia to Chile and the U.S. demonstrate that with good management, fisheries near collapse can rebound, bringing more fish, more food and more prosperity to fishing communities. Early research led by EDF and our partners shows that sustainable fishing could help 79% of ocean fisheries worldwide become healthy within 10 years—and change the story of global ocean doom to hope. EDF is working to spread these fishing solutions to key countries in Europe, Asia Pacific and Latin America.

ECOSYSTEMS
Endangered Wildlife: EDF has developed an innovative idea to bring wildlife conservation into the 21st century. Called habitat exchanges, the program gives private landowners, industry and conservationists the incentive to work together, so that both wildlife and local economies can prosper. Ranchers and farmers are rewarded for improving habitat on their working lands and playing host to wildlife threatened by development. So far, habitat exchanges have helped the New England cottontail rabbit recover from the brink of extinction. They will soon help the greater sage-grouse and the monarch butterfly while also boosting local economies.

HEALTH
Food Safety: Only about half of the 10,000 plus additives allowed in food have been tested for safety. EDF has launched an initiative to spur leading grocers and food manufacturers to move hazardous chemicals out of food and promote the use of safer chemicals in their products.