Looking Forward

Even as we celebrate the critical victories of 2024, CIEL enters its 35th year amidst an accelerating climate crisis, catastrophic biodiversity loss, and an increasingly toxic cocktail of daily pollution. CIEL’s work has never been more vital or more urgent to halt the converging triple planetary crises that threaten the well-being and survival of millions of people around the world. 

In this extremely challenging time, CIEL is working for systemic change — from the front lines and the fence lines to the halls of power — to advance the “law of tomorrow.” With your support, CIEL is making unprecedented progress toward building new and more holistic legal frameworks that better reflect the equal rights and the interconnectedness of present and future generations and the natural systems of which we are all a part. 

Guided by our new strategic plan, the year ahead will see CIEL deepen its work to hasten fossil fuel phase-out and uproot the wider fossil-based economy to enable a just and renewable transition. Achieving this requires that we stop oil and gas expansion into our oceans, turn off the tap on endless plastic and petrochemical production, confront and challenge dangerous technofixes that perpetuate fossil fuel profits at the expense of people and the planet, and ensure that the transition to renewable energy does not replicate the extractive model of the past. 

With your help, CIEL’s powerful team of lawyers, campaigners, and communicators are working to bolster the power and resources of partners in the Global South and on the front lines — from East Africa to the Caribbean, the Pacific Islands to Central Europe. In a world of accelerating climate injustice, defending environmental democracy and direct access for civil society and Indigenous Peoples to participate in decision-making spaces and increasing accountability for State and corporate actors that violate human rights and exceed planetary boundaries has never been more important. 

We undertake this ambitious work at the same time that we will welcome new leadership in the year ahead. Carroll’s extraordinary tenure at CIEL has transformed the organization over the last 14 years, building an incredible team and leaving a legacy of accomplishments and partnerships. Supported by our Board of Trustees and led by our brilliant Leadership Team, the organization is the strongest and most resilient it has ever been, and we are already leveraging this transition into the next, best chapter of CIEL as together we defend the right to a healthy planet.

We accomplish none of this work alone. To our movement partners, our funder partners, and you — thank you for your support for this essential work. We couldn’t do it without you.