Friends of the Earth

Friends of Earth

Abbreviation	FoEI
Formation	1969 (1969)
Founder	Donald Aitken David Brower Jerry Mander
Focus	Environmentalism Human rights
Area served	Global
Members	75 national member groups
Key people	Karin Nansen (chair)[1] Jagoda Munić Hemantha Withanage Choony Kim Asad Rehman Godwin Uyi Ojo Kwami Dodzi Kpondzo Silvia Quiroa[2]
Volunteers	some 5,000 local activist groups
Website	www.foei.org

Friends of the Earth International (FoEI) is an international network of environmental organizations in 74 countries.^[3]

Friends of the Earth was founded in 1969 as an anti-nuclear group by Robert O Anderson^[4] who contributed $200,000 in personal funds to launch FOTE with David Brower, Donald Aitken and Jerry Mander after Brower's split with the Sierra Club. FOTE main mission was to lock up and prevent further development of nuclear energy.^[5][6] Their first employee was Amory Lovins, who kicked off FOE in the UK. It became an international network in 1971 with a meeting of representatives from the U.S., Sweden, the UK and France.^[7] For further historical details, see articles on the national FOE organizations.

FoEI is assisted by a small secretariat (based in Amsterdam, Netherlands) which provides support for the network and its agreed major campaigns. The executive committee of elected representatives from national groups sets policy and oversees the work of the secretariat. In 2016, Uruguayan activist Karin Nansen was elected to serve as chair of Friends of the Earth International.^[1]

Campaign issues

Friends of the Earth considers environmental issues in their social, political and human rights contexts. Their campaigns stretch beyond the traditional arena of the conservation movement and seek to address the economic and development aspects of sustainability. Originally based largely in North America and Europe, its membership is now heavily weighted toward groups in the developing world.

The current campaign priorities of Friends of the Earth internationally are:^[8]

• economic justice and resisting neoliberalism
• forests and biodiversity
• food sovereignty
• climate justice and energy (Including releasing the song "Love Song To the Earth")

The campaign priorities are set at the bi-annual general meeting of Friends of the Earth International.

In addition to the priority campaign areas Friends of the Earth International has a number of other campaign areas which are active internationally. They include:^[8]

• desertification
• Antarctica
• water
• maritime
• mining and extractive industries
• nuclear power (see nuclear debate)^[9]
• consumption and intensive meat production (see Meat Atlas)^[10]

All FoE International campaigns incorporate elements of three core themes which are:^[8]

• protecting human and environmental rights
• protecting the planet's disappearing biodiversity
• the repayment of ecological debt owed by rich countries to those they have exploited.

Successes attributed to FOEI since their founding include their help in leading efforts which have:

• Eliminated billions in taxpayer subsidies to corporate polluters;
• Reformed the World Bank to address environmental and human rights concerns;
• Pushed the debate on global warming to pressure the U.S. to attempt the best legislation possible;
• Stopped more than 150 destructive dams and water projects worldwide;
• Pressed and won landmark regulations of strip mines and oil tankers; and
• Banned international whaling.^[11]

Friends of the Earth groups

'Friends of the Earth' workshop, at Nambassa Festival 1978, New Zealand.

The Friends of the Earth in each country are themselves many-tiered networks reaching from individual activists up to the national pressure group which campaigns for environmentally progressive and sustainable policies. The groups and activists at all levels also carry out educational and research activities.

Friends of the Earth groups are required to act independently of party political, religious or other influences; be open, democratic and non-discriminatory in their internal structures; and be willing to cooperate with other organizations who are working for the same goals.^[12] These are conditions of remaining a member of FOEI.^[12]

The national groups work on the main issues affecting their own country and choose to participate in the international campaigns of FoEI which are relevant to them. In turn, the local campaigners can work on local, national and/or international campaigns.

Structure of the network

The member organization in a particular country may name itself Friends of the Earth or an equivalent translated phrase in the national language, e.g., Friends of the Earth (US), Friends of the Earth (EWNI) (England Wales and Northern Ireland), Amigos de la Tierra (Spain and Argentina). However, roughly half of the member groups work under their own names, sometimes reflecting an independent origin and subsequent accession to the network, such as Pro Natura (Switzerland), the Korean Federation for Environmental Movement, Environmental Rights Action (FOE Nigeria) and WALHI (FOE Indonesia).

Friends of the Earth International (FoEI) is supported by a secretariat based in Amsterdam, and an executive committee known as ExCom.^[13] The ExCom is elected by all member groups at a general meeting held every two years, and it is the ExCom which employs the secretariat.^[14] At the same general meeting, overall policies and priority activities are agreed.

In addition to work which is coordinated at the FoEI level, national member groups are free to carry out their own campaigns and to work bi- or multi-laterally as they see fit, as long as this does not go against agreed policy at the international level.

Publications

'Friends of the Earth' publication Meat Atlas includes graphs on the consumption and production of meat.

Diet for a Small Planet by Frances Moore Lappé, 1971

The Meat Atlas is an annual report on the methods and impact of industrial animal agriculture. The publication consists of 27 short essays and, with the help of graphs, visualises facts about the production and consumption of meat. The Meat Atlas is jointly published by Friends of the Earth and Heinrich Böll Foundation.^[15]

Notable supporters

• Rock musician George Harrison became associated with Friends of the Earth after attending their anti-nuclear demonstrations in London in 1980. He dedicated his 1989 greatest hits album, Best of Dark Horse, to Friends of the Earth, among other environmental organisations.^[16]
• Jay Kay, frontman of the funk/acid jazz group Jamiroquai, is known for donating a part of the profits earned from his album sales to Friends of the Earth and Oxfam, among other things.
• Dominique Voynet, who ran in the 1995 and 2007 French presidential elections in the "les verts" parti, or Green Party, is a member.
• Thom Yorke, lead singer of Radiohead, has publicly supported a number of Friends of the Earth campaigns.
• A chorus of superstar voices on "Love Song to the Earth" — including Paul McCartney, Jon Bon Jovi, Sheryl Crow, Fergie, Sean Paul, and Colbie Caillat—join forces on this inspirational pop anthem. All proceeds from each sale of the single will be donated to Friends of the Earth U.S. and the United Nations Foundation.

Member organizations

We are fed up!-protests: Friends of the Earth Germany is part of the coalition which organises the demonstration.^[19]

Bibliography

• Brian Doherty and Timothy Doyle, Environmentalism, Resistance and Solidarity. The Politics of Friends of the Earth International (Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2013).
• Jan-Henrik Meyer, “'Where do we go from Wyhl?' Transnational Anti-Nuclear Protest targeting European and International Organisations in the 1970s,” Historical Social Research 39: 1 (2014): 212-235.

Notes and references

See also

• Friends of the Earth, Inc. v. Laidlaw Environmental Services, Inc.
• List of environmental organizations

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Friends of the Earth.

• Official website
• Article of Friends of the Earth France "Multinationals : Ecologists See Red"
• Friends of the Earth International YouTube channel