LEAVE NO TRACE CLIMATE STATEMENT

RATIFIED: AUGUST, 2022

As one of the most respected and recognized educators of science-based environmental stewardship in the world, Leave No Trace feels a profound and urgent obligation to acknowledge climate change, and to align with the organizations, institutions and scientists who are actively addressing the issue.  

Volumes of scientific evidence have proven, beyond all doubt, that the earth’s climate has changed due to human causes. Further, it will continue to change at an accelerating rate unless humans slow the release of carbon into the atmosphere. We know from our research that Leave No Trace creates a “two-way street” where outdoor and conservation ethics flow seamlessly, back and forth, from daily life to parks and protected areas. Thus, the work that the organization does to teach and promote Leave No Trace is not only positively affecting behavior in the outdoors but also in people’s daily life—truly minimizing impact to the planet—climate change.

At Leave No Trace, we are actively building climate issues into our education system, particularly through our inclusion of environmentally responsible actions in everyday life, and we ask that you please:

• Learn: Many organizations and scientific bodies are working on the climate issue. Seek them out and learn from them.
• Act: Incorporate personal tactics to address your ultimate impact on climate change thus reducing the use of plastics, especially single-use items, curbing your energy consumption and more. 
• Engage: Work in and with your community and engage with people of all backgrounds to address climate issues locally. 

The Leave No Trace Board of Directors and the Leave No Trace organization call on our partners, donors and affiliates to continue to actively promote and teach Leave No Trace because of the direct impact education has on our collective work, as people, to make the changes that will slow climate change.