Friends of the Earth International

Friends of the Earth International – Green Issue Activists Two million members, 76 national groups, 5,000 activist groups spread across all continents. Friends of the Earth has grown immensely since American green issues activist David Brower split from the Sierra Club to form Friends of the Earth (FOE) in 1969 over the reluctance of the Sierra Club to challenge the construction of nuclear power plants. FOE campaign around the world on a wide range of ecological, political and economic issues – desertification, biodiversity, deforestation, mining and extractive industries, food sovereignty, sustainable development, bio-engineering, fishing, factory farming etc., etc. Their statement says that Friends of the Earth 'considers environmental issues in their social, political and human rights contexts.' They have proved to be fairly effective at getting 'green' issues into the public eye and promoting fuller debate over many difficult questions. I don't agree with all their views – for example, I doubt if the world will be able to totally move away from nuclear power. I am however, very glad that organisations like Friends of the Earth exist to highlight the dangers and protest at any rash developments and foolish exploitations that threaten the long term good of what is left of this rather small planet that we all inhabit. This website http://www.foei.org is the main international site – you can click through to the many national websites on one of the drop down menus. There is lots of information on current campaigns and how to contact and support them. Website versions in English, French and Spanish.