By Ginger Cassady

At Rainforest Action Network we are beginning the new year reflecting on the most urgent question of our times: What future are we creating together? This question drives our work, and sits at the heart of our theory of change.

Last fall I attended the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP30 in Belém, Brazil and was moved by the historic mobilization of Indigenous Peoples, forest communities, women, workers, and youth, who set a powerful tone in the streets and in grassroots spaces across the city. Their message was clear, and relevant far beyond the Amazon: the planet will not thrive under the same financial systems that are driving its destruction.

Inside the talks it was a different story, as negotiators (influenced by lobbyists from fossil fuel companies, agribusiness conglomerates, commodity traders and major banks protecting their business models) attempted to address our planetary emergency without disrupting the economic status quo.

What became clear in Belém is that the fight for our future is not just playing out across hemispheres, borders, or party lines, but between those who are defending an extractive and destructive economy and those who are advocating for, and building, an equitable and ecological alternative.

And as an organization with four decades of experience challenging corporate power and creating real change, RAN is ready for that fight.

2025 was a year of global upheaval: record-breaking climate catastrophes, political division, slashing of funding for humanitarian aid and conservation efforts worldwide, and increased alignment between governments and corporate interests. Yet even in this landscape, as you can see in our latest annual impact report, RAN drove meaningful change. In 2026, RAN is poised to sharpen our strategy and leverage our influence where it matters most: pressuring multinational banks, insurers, and corporations that drive deforestation, fossil fuel expansion, and human rights abuses. 

 

Our Strategic Priorities for 2026: 

  • Transforming Global Finance: COP30 underscored an urgent truth: business as usual will not deliver the structural changes that the scale of the climate and ecological crises demand. Without confronting the financial drivers of the harm, meaningful progress will remain out of reach.
  • In 2026, RAN will continue to scale our global finance strategy across our campaigns, directly holding financial institutions accountable for their destruction, while also pressuring regulatory bodies to move beyond voluntary commitments and enact enforceable finance regulations. This includes expanding our flagship Banking on Climate Chaos report to include more regions and institutions, scaling the work of the Forests & Finance Coalition, producing our third annual Banking on Biodiversity Collapse report, and building on last year’s significant wins against insurers to accelerate accountability across the sector.
  • Expanding Regional Focus: As civic space shrinks in many countries and corporations grow more emboldened, RAN is prioritizing regions where our time-tested strategies can have the greatest impact.
  • In Indonesia, we are building on more than a decade of work in the Leuser Ecosystem to ramp up a forest protection campaign in Borneo’s Mahakam Ulu region focused on securing legal recognition of customary forests and stopping palm oil expansion into Indigenous territories.
  • At the same time, we will increase pressure on Japanese banks for their significant investments in forest-risk commodities and methane expansion, expand our fight against global methane expansion to support grassroots movements in the Philippines, deepen our partnerships in the Gulf South of the U.S., and broaden our pressure on the insurance industry to include Japanese and European insurers.
  • As rights-based and Indigenous-centered leadership continue to be sidelined in decision-making spaces, RAN will strengthen our human-rights–centered framework across all of our campaigns—pressing financial institutions and corporations to respect Indigenous land rights, uphold Free, Prior, and Informed Consent, and end practices that expose communities and defenders to violence and retaliation.
  • Addressing the Funding Gap: One of the most persistent barriers to progress is not a lack of solutions—but a lack of resources reaching the people leading them. Despite growth in climate investment overall, funding for nature protection and frontline-led solutions remains a tiny fraction of global capital and philanthropic giving.
  • In 2026, RAN will continue prioritizing direct support for Indigenous and frontline partners through our Community Action Grants program in order to channel funds quickly and efficiently to Indigenous and local communities who have been historically excluded from traditional funding networks.
  • Growing the Movement: A core pillar of RAN’s strategy is building people power and strengthening grassroots  movements that can confront even the most resourced and powerful corporations.
  • In 2026, we will increase our focus on mobilizations and trainings, equipping activists and partners with the tools to challenge corporate power and defend civic space. We will also continue scaling and expanding our investigative reports which have become essential resources for activists, partners, movements and media worldwide.


As activists, funders, supporters, and members of a global movement, we each have a role to play in the undoubtedly challenging year ahead. Because together we have the power to direct resources toward the solutions that center people, forests, and climate. And in the face of political uncertainty and escalated targeting of activists, defenders, and frontline leaders, we also have the power to show up — to use our voices, our organizing, and our solidarity to push for the future we know is necessary.

Thank you for being part of our Network. Thank you for staying in the fight. 

In Solidarity,

Ginger