Environmental Investigation Agency

The Environmental Investigation Agency, Inc. (EIA) is an award-winning 501(c)(3) nonprofit, internationally renowned both for its use of innovative investigative techniques and analysis to expose and stop environmental crime and for its achievement of long-lasting tangible changes in the global economy that make local and sustainable management of the world's natural resources possible. EIA was founded in Washington DC in 1989, and has since confronted the world's most pressing environmental problems, instigated systematic changes in global markets, and promoted laws and precautionary policies that protect the natural world from over-exploitation. EIA uses a wide range of tools to achieve its campaign goals, including undercover investigations, analysis of supply chains and trade data, aggressive advocacy coupled with diplomacy, and a strong network of local and international partnerships. Our campaigns to protect diminishing forests, endangered wildlife, and the critically imperiled climate fight a tide of unmitigated global demand, increasing trade, and hastening loss of natural resources and species. EIA relies on financial support from charitable foundations, government aid agencies, and individual donors.  

EIA's work is at the heart of solving global environmental problems and has been featured in major publications such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, The New Yorker, The Guardian, Wired Magazine, and National Geographic magazine. The UNEP Programme elected EIA to the prestigious ranks of its Global 500 Roll of Honour for "outstanding contributions to the protection of the environment" and awarded EIA its Montreal Protocol Partners Award in 2017. The U.S. EPA awarded EIA its "Best-of-the-Best" Stratospheric Ozone Protection Award for "leadership and courage in environmental crime prevention". EIA was singled out for a Partnership Award in the Ozone Awards 2017 by Parties to the Montreal Protocol in recognition for its unique contributions to fighting climate change.