More than 10,000 readers contribute to climate initiatives with just under a week to go

With just under a week to go, more than £750,000 has been donated to the Guardian and Observer climate emergency charity appeal, which supports projects planting and protecting trees, woodlands and forests.

More than 10,000 readers have contributed to the appeal, which promotes environmental and social justice through natural climate solutions, from safeguarding rainforests in the Amazon to rewilding the Scottish Highlands and planting trees in Britain’s towns, cities and countryside.

The charities are: Woodland Trust, Trees for Life, Trees for Cities and Global Greengrants Fund UK.

Responding to the news, the chair of Global Greengrants Fund UK, Stephen Pittam, said: “Thanks to Guardian and Observer readers we can enable more local communities in the Amazon region of Brazil to continue their struggles for environmental justice. Supporting these frontline defenders of the largest rainforest on earth is crucial for the future of every single person on this planet.”

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Scores of messages left by donors show many felt compelled to give in part to signal their frustration at the failure of many elected politicians to take the climate crisis seriously, as well as the need to take personal action in the absence of large-scale solutions to the most important issue facing the planet.

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One reader said: “I feel that large-scale government action is necessary in order to avert climate disaster. But that shouldn’t stop each of us individually trying to change our behaviours. We see this donation as a way of mitigating some of the climate damage we have been responsible for over the last year as a family.”

Another said: “Trees can save the earth. Let’s stop cutting the ancient ones down, and cover bare land with young trees to help and beautify the future.”

Introducing the appeal in December, the Guardian editor-in-chief, Katharine Viner, said although the onus was on governments and corporations to take major steps to avoid global climate catastrophe, this year’s charity appeal “highlights ways we as citizens can support practical, natural solutions to climate change”.