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Ahead of Amazon Rainforest Day, Environmental Advocates, Responsible Businesses, Faith Leaders, and Indigenous Communities Urge Governor Hochul To Sign the TREES Act
Albany, NY – Ahead of Amazon Rainforest Day tomorrow (September 5), a coalition including environmental groups, responsible businesses, faith leaders, and indigenous communities are calling on New York Governor Kathy Hochul to sign the Tropical Rainforest Economic & Environmental Sustainability (TREES) Act. This legislation would make New York the first U.S. state to prohibit public funds from contributing to tropical deforestation in the Amazon and beyond.
The groups are banding together to gather signatures for a petition calling on the Governor to act now:
By signing the TREES Act into law, you will help protect our planet and provide New York businesses with the tools they need to thrive in a competitive, ethical, and environmentally conscious market. This is a unique opportunity for New York to lead the nation in environmental and economic sustainability.
The TREES Act, which passed both the state’s legislative chambers earlier this year, will make sure that companies selling to New York government agencies do not buy products from companies that cut down tropical rainforests. It will also ensure that businesses providing goods or services to New York State do not contribute to the associated abuses of Indigenous Peoples and local communities in tropical forested regions.
“Deforestation is one of the largest drivers of global warming, and New Yorkers can help stop it -- if Governor Hochul signs the TREES Act,” said Vanessa Fajans-Turner, executive director of Environmental Advocates New York. “We can use our state’s purchasing power to combat climate change and give future generations a shot at a livable planet, by changing the way big corporations do business and making sure our tax dollars don’t drive rainforest destruction.”
A similar bill passed the Assembly and Senate by a wide bipartisan margin in 2023, and received endorsements from 50+ climate and justice organizations, indigenous leaders, and the New York Sustainable Business Council (NYSBC), which represents more than 2,000 New York businesses. However, Governor Hochul vetoed that legislation despite widespread public support, citing concerns about its impact on businesses. The updated bill responds to Hochul’s concerns, giving state vendors a longer ramp-up, ensuring they have clear guidance about how to comply, and providing short-term exemptions.
"It is crunch time to make sure New York is solidly on the path to fight climate change with everything we've got. That means we can't ignore the emissions we outsource to other countries through our consumer choices,” said Senator Liz Krueger, the lead sponsor of the TREES Act. “State government must take the lead in ensuring our procurement dollars are not driving deforestation in our planet's critical tropical forests, exacerbating the twin crises of climate change and biodiversity loss, and threatening the rights and lands of Indigenous peoples. At the same time, we can give New York businesses a leg up on the competition by helping them clean up their supply chains. It's a win-win-win for people, the planet, and New York's economy, and the only thing we need now is the Governor's signature to make the TREES Act law."
“Today, the Amazon is on fire due to unprecedented drought caused by the climate crisis, while every minute the world loses an area of tropical forest the size of ten football fields. In New York, Governor Hochul can help end this devastation of Indigenous communities and endangered species with a commonsense climate solution that is both visionary and entirely doable,” said Jeff Conant, Senior International Forests Program Manager with Friends of the Earth. “If Governor Hochul cares about the future of our planet, she must sign the TREES Act today.”
"What happens there impacts us here, and vice versa, so on this Global Day of Action for the Amazon our coalition continues our call for Governor Hochul to sign the NY TREES Act," said Marcus Sibley, NY Metro Director of Conservation Partnerships, National Wildlife Federation. "There are more sustainable, ethical and transparent ways of doing business, and the state known as a global leader needs to lead in that effort."
Learn more about the TREES Act HERE.
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