Tzeporah Berman

Tzeporah Berman is a Canadian environmental and climate policy advocate with a career spanning more than three decades in environmental activism, campaign design, and policy advising. Berman first gained national attention for her role in coordinating the logging blockades in the rainforests of Clayoquot Sound, which became the largest act of civil disobedience in Canadian history. She was arrested and charged with multiple counts of criminal aiding and abetting during this campaign, an experience that reinforced her commitment to environmental justice. Since then, Berman has continued to design environmental campaigns and work on policy initiatives in Canada and internationally.

Berman is recognized as a primary negotiator and architect of the Great Bear Rainforest campaign, which resulted in the permanent protection of 6 million hectares of old-growth rainforest. As a creator and lead negotiator of the Great Bear Rainforest agreement and the Canadian Boreal Forest Initiative, her efforts have contributed to the protection of more than 40 million hectares of old-growth forests. She co-founded ForestEthics, later known as Stand.earth, an organization that encouraged major companies to adopt sustainable forestry practices. Berman also played a key role in designing Greenpeace International's Arctic campaign, the Volkswagen campaign in Europe, and the Clean Our Cloud campaign, which influenced technology companies such as Apple and Facebook to transition to renewable energy for their data centers.

Berman has held advisory roles at the intersection of climate policy and industry. She was appointed by the Premier of Alberta to co-chair the Oil Sands Advisory Working Group, where she contributed to policy recommendations on climate planning and oil sands impacts. She also served on the BC Government Climate Leadership Team, advising on strategies to meet legislated climate targets. Berman is an adjunct professor at the Faculty of Environmental Studies at York University in Toronto. She is the author of "This Crazy Time: Living Our Environmental Challenge" and a contributor to "Clayoquot & Dissent."

Berman is the founder and steering committee chair of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative, a global network advocating for a treaty to phase out fossil fuels as a complement to the Paris Agreement. The initiative has received endorsements from multiple countries, Indigenous nations, the World Health Organization, elected officials, civil society organizations, and Nobel Laureates. Berman has also delivered a TED Talk on the need for a global treaty to address fossil fuel expansion.

Berman's work has been recognized by TIME, which named her among the 100 Most Influential Climate Leaders, and by Climate Scorecard Canada, which awarded her the Climate Leader Award. She has been a finalist for the WIN WIN Gothenburg Sustainability Award for Trailblazing Leadership and received the Climate Breakthrough Project Award. Berman appeared in the environmental documentary "The 11th Hour," was nominated for the Schwab Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award, profiled in Utne Reader as one of 50 Visionaries Changing the World, and featured in a cover story for Reader's Digest. Her experience in environmental activism, climate policy, and coalition-building positions her as a leading voice in the global climate movement.