Who we are

Our research teams trace fossil money flows back to their source. We comb through annual reports, analyze databases, connect with communities and NGOs in affected regions, and speak to insiders. This is how we show who is responsible for fossil fuel projects – whether a coal plant in Bangladesh, a mega-pipeline in East Africa, or LNG terminals in the Philippines.

When we uncover wrongdoing, we make our findings public on major platforms – media, parliaments, international conferences, and corporate shareholder meetings. Public pressure becomes our leverage.

Photo: Protest in front of UBS General Assembly in Lucerne as part of the Protect VIP campaign, 2025. Credit: Caroline Krajzir

We bring facts, expertise, clear demands and public pressure. Backed by civic mobilization, we make change happen.

Photo: Our campaigner Dustin Schäfer at the World Bank Annual Meeting 2025, seated with other civil society organizations and decision-makers.

We collaborate closely with activists and affected communities. They are often people who put their own safety on the line to defend life and nature. We bring their concerns to financial decision-makers. We exchange knowledge and expertise. Together we are stronger.

Photo: Fisher Ka Simo from the Verde Island Passage (Philippines) speaking at UBS’ shareholder meeting in 2024 about the threats of fossil fuel expansion back home, co-financed by UBS.

Urgewald doesn’t stop at the first public announcement. We keep our pressure up until contracts change, policies strengthen, and money flows shift. For the environment and human rights.

Photo: Protest in front of a Deutsche Bank branch in Frankfurt on the occasion of its annual report and our Deutsche Bank investigation, 2025.

Meet our team!

Since 1992, we shine a light on the financing behind harmful projects. Our award-winning documentary shows how a handful of activists laid the foundations of Urgewald around the kitchen table in a shared apartment over 30 years ago and how it grew from a small local association into an internationally recognized organization with global impact.

To keep Urgewald’s work independent and effective, our funding stands on multiple pillars, including private donations, foundation grants and public funds.

Interview with our founder and director Heffa Schücking, published in the Tagesspiegel.

Over the last 30+ years, our work has received multiple distinctions.