Avoided Deforestation Partners

Avoided Deforestation Partners, commonly known as AD Partners, is a nonprofit organization operating under the auspices of the Center for International Policy in Washington, D.C. Its work centers on the proposition that protecting tropical forests is both a climate strategy and a broader resource-protection measure. By preventing forests from being cleared for cattle grazing, soy, palm oil, pulp and paper, and other agricultural uses, the organization argues that governments and businesses can avoid substantial greenhouse-gas emissions while preserving forests that continue to absorb carbon, regulate water cycles, support biodiversity, and sustain local and Indigenous livelihoods. The organization concentrates on advocacy, coalition building, policy development, and public communication rather than on selling consumer products. It works to advance U.S. and international policies that reward forest protection and encourage agricultural supply chains that do not depend on deforestation. Its activities have included convening officials, companies, environmental organizations, scientists, and civil-society representatives around international climate negotiations, including United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change conferences. AD Partners has also supported policy concepts associated with REDD+, or reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, and the Green Climate Fund. A central feature of its approach is the attempt to place economic value on forests' carbon-storage and ecosystem functions. Under this model, governments and companies can finance or purchase forest-carbon outcomes, giving rainforest countries an alternative to the short-term economic returns associated with clearing land. The organization has promoted partnerships between public authorities and private companies to improve agricultural practices, monitor forest loss, and create markets for goods produced without deforestation. Such approaches have also attracted criticism from observers who argue that carbon-centered or top-down forest-management systems may insufficiently reflect the rights and needs of communities living in and around forests. Founder Jeff Horowitz established AD Partners as a convening platform intended to bring together sectors that do not always cooperate easily. During the 2008–09 U.S. climate-legislation debate, he helped assemble environmental groups, businesses, and government agencies around forest-protection provisions proposed for the Waxman–Markey climate bill, formally the American Clean Energy and Security Act. The organization’s advocacy has subsequently extended into international diplomacy, corporate sustainability, and mass-media storytelling. AD Partners has used film and television to make the relationship between deforestation and climate change more accessible to general audiences. Its work connected the organization with the Showtime and later National Geographic documentary series Years of Living Dangerously, including reporting on Indonesian and Brazilian forests. Horowitz also served as executive producer of Time to Choose, a climate documentary directed by Charles Ferguson, and directed and produced Stop the Burning, a short film narrated by Jane Goodall and built around interviews with political, business, scientific, and civil-society leaders. These projects reflect AD Partners’ broader positioning: acting as a bridge among policy advocates, businesses, researchers, public figures, and media producers to build support for scalable forest-protection solutions.

Avoided Deforestation Partners emerged as a nonprofit advocacy and convening organization dedicated to making tropical-forest protection a central part of climate policy. Its underlying concept is that avoiding forest clearance prevents emissions that would otherwise result from burning or decomposing vegetation and also preserves forests' continuing ability to store carbon. The organization presents this as complementary to biodiversity conservation, watershed protection, pollution reduction, and the protection of livelihoods dependent on tropical forests. Jeff Horowitz founded AD Partners with a coalition-oriented model. Rather than treating forest protection solely as an environmental campaign, the organization sought to connect government agencies, corporations, nongovernmental organizations, scientists, and civil-society representatives. This approach became particularly visible during the 2008–09 debate over the Waxman–Markey climate bill in the United States. Horowitz helped stakeholders develop a common position on international deforestation provisions, with the aim of creating a policy framework that could direct significant resources toward reducing forest loss overseas. Although the legislation did not become law, the campaign illustrated AD Partners’ role as a broker among groups with differing institutional interests. The organization’s policy agenda includes sustainable agriculture, deforestation-free commodity supply chains, international forest-carbon finance, REDD+, and the Green Climate Fund. It has supported the idea that countries and companies should receive economic incentives for maintaining forests rather than converting them to low-cost agricultural land. AD Partners has also worked to connect government and industry initiatives intended to reduce deforestation associated with cattle, soy, palm oil, pulp, and paper. This strategy seeks to shift markets as well as public policy. Critics of forest-carbon and other centralized approaches have raised concerns that financial mechanisms may not adequately address local governance, land rights, or the needs of forest communities. International convening has been a recurring part of the organization’s work. AD Partners has participated in and organized activities around United Nations climate summits and related global forums. Horowitz moderated discussions at the 2014 World Parks Congress and the 2015 Paris climate talks, using these settings to bring conservationists, public officials, business leaders, and climate experts into the same policy conversation. Media production became another important avenue for the organization. AD Partners helped develop deforestation-related reporting for the first season of Years of Living Dangerously, including a segment on Indonesia that examined forest loss, government policy, commodity production, and the use of satellite and mapping technologies to monitor illegal or destructive activity. The organization helped secure access to NASA Ames Research Center and Google Earth and arranged interviews with officials and civil-society figures. In the second season, it again advised the production on a Brazilian rainforest story presented by Gisele Bündchen. Horowitz also served as executive producer of Charles Ferguson’s Time to Choose, a documentary about climate change and available solutions. The film included voices from environmental, scientific, governmental, and corporate fields, including advocates concerned with rainforest protection. In addition, Horowitz directed and produced Stop the Burning, a short film based on interviews with leaders gathered at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Narrated by Jane Goodall, the film argued that stopping deforestation is essential to limiting climate risks and was presented in connection with the 2015 Paris negotiations. AD Partners is therefore best understood not as a conventional consumer-facing brand but as a nonprofit policy, coalition, and communications platform. Its work combines advocacy, stakeholder facilitation, international climate diplomacy, corporate-supply-chain engagement, and documentary storytelling. Publicly available reference material does not establish a separate commercial ownership structure, a listed status, or a standalone website.

• 2016

  Time to Choose released

  [1]Avoided Deforestation Partnersen.wikipedia.org

  The climate documentary for which Horowitz served as executive producer was released after an online and Paris debut.

• 2016

  Second-season Years of Living Dangerously work

  [1]Avoided Deforestation Partnersen.wikipedia.org

  AD Partners contributed to a Brazilian rainforest episode in the second season, broadcast by National Geographic.

• 2015

  Stop the Burning premieres

  [1]Avoided Deforestation Partnersen.wikipedia.org

  AD Partners released a short forest-protection film directed and produced by Horowitz and narrated by Jane Goodall.

• 2015

  Paris climate-talks engagement

  [1]Avoided Deforestation Partnersen.wikipedia.org

  Horowitz moderated an Earth to Paris panel and the organization presented Stop the Burning in connection with the international climate negotiations.

• 2014

  Deforestation coverage in Years of Living Dangerously

  [1]Avoided Deforestation Partnersen.wikipedia.org

  AD Partners helped produce deforestation-related reporting for the first season of the climate documentary series, including an Indonesia-focused story.

• 2014

  World Parks Congress participation

  [1]Avoided Deforestation Partnersen.wikipedia.org

  Horowitz moderated a World Leaders’ Dialogues session at the IUCN World Parks Congress on how protected areas could contribute to resilience.

• 2011

  Work associated with the Tropical Forest Alliance

  [1]Avoided Deforestation Partnersen.wikipedia.org

  AD Partners began working with the public-private effort associated with ending tropical deforestation and improving commodity supply chains.

• 2008

  Coalition work begins around U.S. climate legislation

  [1]Avoided Deforestation Partnersen.wikipedia.org

  Jeff Horowitz brought environmental organizations, businesses, and U.S. government agencies together around forest-protection provisions during the development of the Waxman–Markey climate bill.

A nonprofit coalition builder and advocacy platform linking tropical-forest protection with climate policy, sustainable agriculture, forest-carbon finance, and public education.

• Climate documentary television series · 2014

  Years of Living Dangerously

  AD Partners supported deforestation-focused storytelling for the first two seasons of this climate documentary series. The first-season work examined Indonesia, forest governance, commodity-driven land clearing, and the use of satellite monitoring. The second-season contribution focused on continuing deforestation in Brazil and featured Gisele Bündchen as correspondent. The organization’s role included production support, access to officials and experts, and development of the reporting narrative.

• Climate documentary film · 2016

  Time to Choose

  A documentary directed and produced by Charles Ferguson examining the scale of the climate crisis and solutions already available. Jeff Horowitz served as executive producer, and AD Partners helped bring forest advocates, scientists, government representatives, and business leaders into the film’s discussion of climate solutions.

• Short environmental film · 2015

  Stop the Burning

  A short film directed and produced by Jeff Horowitz from interviews with international political, business, scientific, and civil-society leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Narrated by Jane Goodall, it presents the protection of tropical forests as an urgent requirement for addressing climate change and was distributed through online media and events connected with the Paris climate talks.

• 2015Stop the Burning

  International

  A media campaign using a short film and prominent voices to connect tropical-forest protection with climate stability.

  Outcome. The film was shown online and at venues associated with the Paris climate negotiations and was also featured by Upworthy.

  Source
• 2011Tropical Forest Alliance and sustainable supply chains

  International

  The organization worked with public and private partners on efforts to end tropical deforestation and promote agricultural commodities produced without clearing forests.

  Outcome. The initiative advanced the use of public-private cooperation and market transformation as tools for reducing forest loss.

  Source
• 2008U.S. forest-protection climate legislation campaign

  United States

  AD Partners helped build a coalition supporting international deforestation provisions in the Waxman–Markey climate bill, bringing together environmental groups, companies, and government agencies.

  Outcome. The proposed legislation passed the House of Representatives but did not become law; the coalition effort demonstrated AD Partners’ consensus-building role.

  Source

• 2015

  Promote forest protection through international climate forumsStrategy

  Background

  International climate negotiations offered a platform for connecting forest policy with global emissions reduction and sustainable development.

  Action taken

  AD Partners presented Stop the Burning and Horowitz moderated a forest and climate discussion at the Paris talks.

  Aftermath

  The organization reinforced its role as a public-facing convener of climate, conservation, government, and business voices.

  Source

• 2014

  Expand advocacy through television and documentary storytellingOther

  Background

  The connection between tropical deforestation and climate change remained insufficiently understood by general audiences.

  Action taken

  AD Partners supported and participated in mainstream documentary projects, including Years of Living Dangerously.

  Aftermath

  The organization reached broader audiences through reporting involving Indonesia, Brazil, forest monitoring, and agricultural commodities.

  Source

• 2008

  Use cross-sector consensus to advance forest policyStrategy

  Background

  AD Partners treated forest protection as a shared climate, economic, and supply-chain issue rather than solely as a conservation cause.

  Action taken

  It convened environmental NGOs, corporations, and government agencies around common provisions for U.S. climate legislation.

  Aftermath

  The approach helped place international forest protection in the legislative debate, although the bill ultimately did not become law.

  Source

1. 1Avoided Deforestation Partnersen.wikipedia.org