Tzeporah Berman has a long record of leading and winning major environmental campaigns and negotiating significant policy victories. Now she is focused on curtailing the global oil and gas supply. She was a creator and lead negotiator of the Great Bear Rainforest agreement that protected 6 million hectares of old growth forests, co-founded Stand.earth (previously ForestEthics), and was co-director of Greenpeace’s Global Climate and Energy program where she led the creation of the Arctic campaign and a successful “Unfriend Coal” campaign to get Facebook, Apple, and others to switch from coal to renewable energy for their data centers and to become an advocate for clean energy in the technology sector. She continues to help lead many corporate campaigns with Stand.earth, and is also an Adjunct Professor of the York University Faculty of Environmental Studies, the recipient of an honorary doctorate of laws from the University of British Columbia, was appointed to the BC Government Climate Leadership Team, and co-chaired Alberta’s Oilsands Advisory Working Group.

We selected Tzeporah for a 2019 award because she exemplifies a campaigner with the capacity to be bold and visionary while also staying committed to getting real-world results and finding opportunities to negotiate lasting victories. 

Tzeporah is currently on the steering committee of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty initiative, launched in 2020. The initiative is a thoughtful new approach to limiting new oil and gas development globally to align with the UN Paris Agreement goals. Already, it has gathered endorsements from major cities around the world and over one hundred civil society groups. 

We are excited to help a leader like Tzeporah get the time and resources she needs to develop a bold global strategy with huge potential to reduce emissions on a historic scale.