Pivot Point is a left-of-center environmentalist advocacy organization based in Shelton, Washington. It operates in areas related to climate change, food security, energy access, and land rights, with activities focused on sustainable rural development and forest conservation. ^{1  2}

Advocacy and Programs

Pivot Point focuses its advocacy on land use and energy projects. A core part of its work is the LandGap project, a research partnership with the University of Melbourne and Copenhagen University. This project examines Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), which are the formal climate action plans and emission-reduction targets submitted by each country to the United Nations. Pivot Point’s research highlights a “land gap,” showing that many countries’ climate plans rely on more land for planting trees or capturing carbon than is actually available. ^{3  4}

The organization also provides financial and technical support to the Climate Land Ambition and Rights Alliance (CLARA), an organization that Pivot Point director Peter Riggs also co-leads. CLARA is a global network of nonprofits that works to conserve ecosystems like forests and coastal areas while ensuring that climate proposals respect the rights of indigenous communities. In Washington state, Pivot Point monitors where new weather-dependent energy projects are built. They analyze the total “carbon footprint” of these projects to ensure that shifting to weather-dependent energy sources doesn’t also cause high emissions through deforestation or create conflicts over how local land is used. ^{5  6  7}

Pivot Point signed an open letter backing Greenpeace during its $300 million legal battle with Energy Transfer, the company behind the Dakota Access Pipeline. Pivot Point joined other nonprofits in labeling the lawsuit a “SLAPP” (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation), arguing it was an attempt to silence activists who protested pipeline construction. ^{8 9 10}

Financials

In fiscal year ending December 2024, Pivot Point reported revenue of $137,770, with contributions comprising $134,282 or about 97.5 percent of total revenue and investment income providing the remainder. Expenses totaled $193,089, resulting in a net loss of $55,319. Net assets stood at $127,985, with no liabilities reported. Executive compensation for Peter Riggs totaled $107,000, representing about 55 percent of total expenses. The fiscal years ending in 2022 to 2023, respectively, saw a drop in year-to-year total revenues of over 45 percent, driven by a similar drop in total grants and contributions. ¹¹

In 2022, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, a grantmaking foundation created by Hewlett-Packard cofounder David Packard which supports environmentalist causes and population control programs, reported a $150,000 grant to Pivot Point. ^{12  13}

In 2022, the 128 Collective Foundation (also known as the Preston-Werner Foundation) reported a $50,000 grant to Pivot Point for “Land Gap report and associated campaigns.” ¹⁴

Leadership

As of December 2025, Peter Riggs works as director of Pivot Point. Riggs also serves as a co-leader of the Climate Land Ambition and Rights Alliance (CLARA), an international coalition focused on the intersection of land management and climate policy. His professional background includes tenures as a program officer for both the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and the Ford Foundation, as well as a leadership role as director of the Forum on Democracy and Trade. ¹⁵

1. ProPublica. “Pivot Point a Nonprofit Corporation.” Nonprofit Explorer. Accessed December 22, 2025. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/462378514. 
2. GuideStar. “Pivot Point a Nonprofit Corporation.” Accessed December 22, 2025. https://www.guidestar.org/profile/46-2378514.
3. Dooley, Kate, et al. The Land Gap Report 2023: Briefing Note. Melbourne: Land Gap Project, 2023. https://landgap.org/downloads/2023/Land-Gap-Report_2023-Briefing_FINAL.pdf. 
4. “Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs),” United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, accessed December 22, 2025, https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement/nationally-determined-contributions-ndcs. 
5. “Peter Riggs,” One Earth, accessed December 22, 2025, https://www.oneearth.org/contributor/peter-riggs/. 
6. Climate Land Ambition and Rights Alliance, “Who We Are,” accessed December 22, 2025, https://www.clara.earth/whoweare. 
7. Pivot Point, IRS Form 990 (Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax), Part III: Statement of Program Service Accomplishments, 2023. 
8. “Open Letter to Energy Transfer,” Greenpeace USA, accessed July 1, 2025 via Internet Archive. https://web.archive.org/web/20250701203051/https:/www.greenpeace.org/usa/energy-transfer-open-letter/ 
9. “Open Letter to Energy Transfer.” Greenpeace, accessed December 30, 2025. https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/energy-transfer-open-letter/
10. Hayden Ludwig, “Greenpeace, Nonprofits, and Illegal Protests,” Capital Research Center, February 14, 2024, https://capitalresearch.org/article/greenpeace-nonprofits-and-illegal-protests/. 
11. ProPublica, “Pivot Point a Nonprofit Corporation,” Nonprofit Explorer, accessed December 22, 2025, https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/462378514. 
12. David and Lucile Packard Foundation. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). 2023. Part 14, a. 
13. Rushworth M. Kidder, “Agenda for the 21st Century… Concludes Today with an Article Highlighting Some of the Themes That Have Emerged from Interviews with 16 Leading Thinkers,” Christian Science Monitor, December 31, 1986, https://www.csmonitor.com/1986/1231/zkid17-f.html. 
14. 128 Collective Foundation. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). 2023. Part 14, a. 
15. “Peter Riggs,” One Earth, accessed December 21, 2025, https://www.oneearth.org/contributor/peter-riggs/.