About EarthToday

Amsterdam, April 2025

In 2021 we launched EarthToday in the Netherlands as a pilot: a content platform to increase awareness of the state of the planet and accelerate nature protection.

The high

We were featured on a live television talkshow, and the m² counter started spinning instantly. Within months we welcomed over 30,000 members and 50 brands who collectively protected over 2,000,000 m² of nature. This validated our proposition and provided valuable market insights.
1 million in 1 month

The low

We also learned that many things could be improved. We received feedback from our own community members that they perceived the proposition as complicated, and not transparent enough.

On top of that, a Dutch glossy magazine unfortunately mixed up our business model and our funding model, and published an article falsely stating that shareholders could become filthy rich.

The effect was devastating. Despite our statements and documentation proving the opposite, brands backed away, market authorities asked questions, and funding dried up. The m² counter slowed to a stop and the new revenue stream we had successfully unlocked for the participating nature protectors came to a screeching halt almost overnight.

We responded with two statements because the claims in the article are incorrect and misleading. Plain and simple. However, it was obvious that we needed to reduce complexity and be clearer about our intentions.

Our reaction to the article

EarthToday's reaction to the article by Quote

Amsterdam, April 2022

Quote Magazine has recently published an article about EarthToday. Regrettably, it strongly insinuates that EarthToday was founded to get rich from protecting the planet. This is not our motivation, nor has it ever been.

EarthToday was founded to raise awareness of the state of the planet and accelerate its protection, at scale. To make this possible, EarthToday was set up as a ‘for-purpose company’. A new business model and organizational structure that combines the purpose of a charity with the growth incentives of a business. It is fully community-owned and in service of its purpose. EarthToday is already directing 83% of its revenues to nature protection and it will direct two-thirds of all future returns on investment to this purpose. This is what makes our model unique and interesting for funders: a purpose investment with impact, from day one. The model for the future.

In the article, Quote emphasizes the potential financial returns for funders, as if these are already within reach. However, these lie far in the future and will only be realized if EarthToday achieves unprecedented results. Until that time, funders bear all of the risk.

We view EarthToday and the for-purpose model as a solution to accelerate and scale up nature protection. Innovation is desperately needed as the current donation model, despite great work over the last 100 years, has not resulted in more than 10% of the planet being protected. Yet, scientists and politicians are increasingly stressing that we need to protect 50% of the planet in the next decades. That is what we contribute to with EarthToday.

We have always been transparent about how our model works and have fully cooperated with Quote. Unfortunately, the editors have chosen to write our story in a one-sided and sensational way, which does not do justice to our initiative or how the article came about.

Thanks for your interest,
The board of EarthToday

Our statement on the article

EarthToday's statement on the article by Quote

Amsterdam, May 2022

In April, Dutch business glossy Quote published an article about EarthToday. The journalists did not include important corrections from our side, which created an incorrect and misleading article.

The article suggests that journalists investigated EarthToday. The fact is that we have given full insight into all documentation together with explanatory interviews. We have always been transparent about how our model works and have fully cooperated with Quote.
The article suggests that the founders will make billions when EarthToday succeeds. This is nonsense. Nobody can make a billion investing in EarthToday. All funders and founders – more than 100 individuals together, investing over €160 million high-risk capital – are equally limited in their maximum return. This has been notarized.
Quote deliberately confuses the business model of protecting m² of nature with the funding model through which EarthToday is funded. They write about a discount for founders compared to the price consumers pay to protect a m². This is false and has nothing to do with each other.
Quote makes it seem as though the maximum return will be received in full any day now, while the impact in m² will be limited. This is incorrect. Founders and funders will only start to receive a first return on their investment after EarthToday is financially self-sustainable and the platform has at least 100 million (!) members. This can take decades. Until that time all founders and funders bear all risk.
EarthToday is 100% for-purpose. This is made possible by our founders and funders who collectively cover all operational costs until we’re self-sustaining. We have a zero-dividend policy: all future profit will be reinvested in the purpose.
In the article it is suggested that EarthToday will only be able to protect a small amount of m². This is incorrect. EarthToday is designed to contribute to collectively protect 50% (#natureneedshalf) of the planet with a unique and scalable business model.

Thanks for your interest,
The board of EarthToday

The pivot

We right-sized the team and reflected deeply on the outcomes of the pilot. Together with experts, everything was questioned and revisited. What worked? What did not? And what would the next step of international roll-out require?

The conclusion was relatively straightforward: our operating model passed rigorous scrutiny by experts and relevant authorities, yet was highly innovative and perceived as too complex. We had overestimated market readiness and underestimated transparency expectations for such a novel approach to nature protection.

In the years since, we continued with a small bootstrapped team working to strengthen the core whilst improving in three main areas: improved governance, simplified propositions, and more transparency.

Governance

We reviewed our operating model and restructured our initiative as a regular not-for-profit to better align with global best practices: Union of Nature Foundation (UON).

We rebranded to ‘UON’, Union of Nature, and ‘uon’, unit of nature, and transferred the governing role of EarthToday.Foundation to UON to simplify governance.
UON is now the not-for-profit foundation governing the ecosystem. With an independent Board of Trustees, a Board of Directors, and Advisors to the Board.
EarthToday.Com BV is now Uon.Earth BV, the for-purpose operating company that is funded by its community-owned holding You on Earth BV, previously EarthToday.Media BV.

UON provides the trust framework for collaborating nature protection organizations to deliver a singular proposition: a sustainably protected geocoded unit of nature with a ‘uon’ as a proof of protection. UON handles all incoming donations, issues the uon, and distributes the funds to predesignated beneficiaries with 83% going directly to nature protection and charity.

UON is facilitated by Uon.Earth, the for-purpose company that provides UON with the infrastructure to collectively campaign for Earth, on a success fee basis.

UON is a member of IUCN, the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
Uon.Org

Proposition

We separated the member and partner propositions to empower everybody on the planet to contribute. And make nature protection accessible, accountable, and assured for everyone.

In the Uon.Earth app everyone can donate €1.20 to UON to protect a geocoded unit of nature, and collect a uon–a unique digital proof of protection registered in your name. And for every uon you collect, UON brings a new unit of nature under protection. This is how we scale.
Zoom in to see your uon on the interactive map in the app, and learn more about the work on ground. See uon of others and view their profiles. Or create your own uon Earth token: add a picture and give it a name, share it on socials, and campaign for Earth with your community.
The Uon.Earth purpose portal supports multiple partner programs: the Affiliate Program for ambassadors, Reseller Program for promoters, Loyalty Program for brands, Fundraising Program for charities, the Funding Program for funders, or the UON Trust Framework for nature protectors.

Contributing to the global goal of protecting 50% of the planet is now easier, more fun and attractive than ever before. Download the Uon.Earth app and experience the gift of protecting nature together. Meter x meter.
Uon.Earth

Transparency

Finally, with transparency as a leading principle, we published the #Blueprint: our manifesto. It provides the strategic framework, guiding principles, and a playbook for collectively protecting 50% of the planet in the next decades. It is available online for everyone.
Go to #blueprint

The #Impact report deck now provides a quarterly update on key metrics related to our collective impact, financials, and community, while we ultimately strive for near real-time updates.
Go to #impact

And EarthToday?

EarthToday.Foundation will remain as an independent not-for-profit organization aiming to inform, inspire, educate, and entertain you on Earth with consciously curated news, knowledge, and wisdom about nature protection and a holistic lifestyle.

What does this mean for me?

If you protected m² of nature in your EarthToday.com account, you can use the same email address to register in the Uon.Earth app and your uon (digital proof of protection) will appear in your wallet.
Go to #FAQ - Account

If you hold stakes in EarthToday because you invested or were awarded free stakes, nothing changes except for the name of the trust office (STAK) that administers your stakes in their stakeholder registry.
Go to #FAQ - Financials