For more than half a century, the people behind Global Justice Ecology Project (GJEP) have stood on the frontlines of history — from the streets of Chicago during the Vietnam War to Indigenous territories in Chile, from UN climate summits to the forests threatened by genetic engineering. Across every era, one thread unites our work: a steadfast commitment to justice — ecological, social, and economic — grounded in direct action, deep alliances, and an unflinching pursuit of systemic change.
A Legacy of Resistance and Solidarity
Our roots reach back to the 1960s, when our founders took part in some of the defining movements of that generation — the anti-war, civil rights, and environmental struggles that reshaped global consciousness. Those experiences forged a lifelong understanding: that the fight for peace, justice, and a livable planet are inseparable.
By the 1980s and 1990s, that conviction took form in forest defense campaigns across North America and in solidarity with Indigenous Peoples protecting their lands and rights — from the Abenaki of Vermont to the Cree and Inuit of James Bay, and the Zapatistas of Chiapas resisting NAFTA’s corporate assault on their territories. These partnerships taught us that true ecological defense must be rooted in Indigenous sovereignty and community-led resistance.
Taking on Corporate Globalization
When corporate globalization began consolidating its grip on the planet in the late 1990s, GJEP was there — organizing, documenting, and amplifying global resistance from the streets of Miami to DC to Rostock, Germany, from the summits of the WTO, World Bank, and G8. Our team understood deeply that the same economic forces destroying forests and the climate were also driving inequality and repression worldwide.
Defending Forests from Genetically Engineered Trees
In 2000, GJEP launched what became a historic global campaign to stop the commercialization of genetically engineered (GE) trees — a little-known but profound threat to biodiversity and rural communities. Through strategic advocacy at UN summits, direct actions at industry conferences, and grassroots organizing with frontline communities, we built a powerful international movement.
In 2008, our efforts culminated in a landmark decision by the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, which warned nations of the risks of GE trees and called for a Precautionary Approach — a victory we use to continue to protect forests worldwide today.
From Climate Change to Climate Justice
In 2003, we formally founded Global Justice Ecology Project to unite these threads under one mission: advancing social and ecological justice by confronting the root causes of climate change, biodiversity loss, and inequality. We co-founded some of the world’s earliest and most influential climate justice coalitions — including the Durban Group for Climate Justice (2004), Climate Justice Now! (2007), and Climate Justice Action (2009) — bringing global movements together under the call for “System Change, Not Climate Change.”
Standing with the Mapuche and Exposing Climate Crimes
Since 2004, our solidarity work has extended to Chile, where we’ve exposed the devastating impacts of industrial timber plantations on the Mapuche people and their ancestral lands. Our investigations linked these plantations to the Pinochet dictatorship’s legacy of land theft and to today’s deadly wildfires fueled by climate change and flammable eucalyptus and pine monocultures.
We continue to stand with Mapuche communities reclaiming their territories — at great personal risk — against repression, imprisonment, and violence. Their struggle embodies the intersection of Indigenous rights, climate justice, and ecological defense that defines GJEP’s mission.
Building Movements and Amplifying Voices
GJEP’s approach goes beyond advocacy. We build movements — connecting local struggles to global systems of power through alliance-building, media, and art.
Our extensive media work — from decades of documentary photography and film to the Breaking Green podcast and our Oral History “Field Notes” Project — gives voice to communities resisting exploitation and environmental destruction. Through these platforms, we reveal not only the crises but the courage and resilience that drive real change.
Why Now
We stand today at another historic turning point. The climate emergency deepens. Forests — our planet’s lungs — are collapsing under industrial pressure. Corporations and governments are promoting “false solutions” that greenwash destruction and deepen inequality.
Yet, GJEP’s decades of experience have uniquely prepared us for this moment. We have the history, global relationships, and moral clarity to challenge power and uplift real solutions rooted in justice and community sovereignty.
As we plan the next 50 years of our work, we invite you to stand with us.
Your support fuels more than campaigns — it sustains a living legacy of resistance and solidarity that has changed global policy, empowered communities, and defended forests across continents.
Now is the time to invest in the future GJEP has spent decades building toward — a just, sustainable world where people and planet thrive together.
