FYI

Greetings MoveCom!

I hope that you are all staying safe, doing well, and washing your hands a lot. As you all know, there is a lot going on in our movement, and we hope to hear from more of you soon about these developments (in the meantime, check out the Meta-Wiki COVID-19 portal)[1]. For now, I have a quick update on some of the Wikimedia Foundation's planned Earth Day activities beginning this week. We also would like to hear what others are doing for Earth Day. If your group is engaged in some Earth Day activities - let us know here!

Next Wednesday, 22 April, people around the world are celebrating Earth Day. The Wikimedia Foundation is providing staff with the day off to encourage them to participate in a variety of projects taking place in support of climate change. We are also showing our support for this effort by once again participating in a campaign hosted on the Foundation's website (wikimediafoundation.org). This campaign is affiliated with  the same group that coordinated the September 2019 Digital Climate Strike that we also participated in with the Foundation's website. It’s part of an Earth Day Live [2] initiative to support COVID-19 relief; since the pandemic means no public events, youth activists are throwing a massive three-day livestream to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of Earth Day, featuring celebrities, activists, musical performances.

The campaign is similar in operation to the 2019 Digital Climate Strike. From now until Earth Day (22 April) a small banner will appear on the Foundation's website notifying them of our participation in the Earth Day Live 2020 campaign,[2] and inviting them to participate in a variety of online efforts. On Earth Day, a full page banner will be displayed on the Foundation's website inviting people to join efforts to promote climate change. Visitors to the website will have the ability to close the banner, the banners will only appear on the Foundation's website, and we are following that site's existing Privacy Policy.

While many within the Foundation have held strong commitments to sustainability efforts for several years, the organization has more formally been engaging in and supporting those efforts since the Board passed a resolution in 2017 stating our commitment to environmental sustainability.[3] We have since continued to expand our efforts and find new ways to both raise awareness of this issue and decrease any negative impacts we may be having on the planet's climate.[4] The staff and contractors of the Foundation have shown a great deal of enthusiasm for our Earth Day plans this year, and while we have a lot more left to do, real progress is being made.

We have also posted a notice on Phabricator about this banner appearing in case anyone fears it was not intentional. If you have any questions related to our activities, please let me know. And again, please let us know about what Earth Day activities you are engaged in. It is helpful for us when preparing things for the press who ping us with inquiries.

Thank you, please stay safe and wash your hands!

-greg