Friends of the Earth Europe

Friends of the Earth Europe (FoEE) is the European regional branch of Friends of the Earth International, a global grassroots environmental network. It brings together 33 national member organisations and thousands of local groups across Europe. Rather than operating as a consumer-facing brand, FoEE functions as a campaigning, advocacy, coordination and capacity-building network focused on environmental justice, social justice and democratic accountability. Its Brussels office serves as the network’s regional secretariat and represents member organisations in dealings with the European Union institutions. The office is located in a sustainable building shared with Belgian and European non-governmental organisations near the European Parliament. Its work includes monitoring EU legislation, developing policy positions, coordinating campaigns, supporting national and local groups, communicating environmental concerns to the public and building alliances with other civil-society organisations. FoEE’s principal policy areas are climate justice and energy, food and agriculture, biodiversity, economic justice, and resource justice and sustainability. On climate and energy, it advocates a rapid and equitable transition away from fossil fuels, expanded energy efficiency, community-owned renewable energy and a Europe that does not rely on nuclear power. It has also opposed extractive activities and technologies such as fracking and tar-sands development, which it associates with climate, ecological and human-rights risks. In food and agriculture, FoEE campaigns for a more sustainable and equitable Common Agricultural Policy, stronger protection of biodiversity and support for family farming. It has participated in European opposition to genetically modified crops and has criticised agricultural systems that depend heavily on imported soy for livestock feed. The organisation also scrutinises EU trade agreements, including CETA and TTIP, arguing that such agreements can weaken environmental safeguards, public-interest regulation and human-rights protections. Its economic-justice programme examines corporate influence over European policy-making, including lobbying, revolving-door practices, weak transparency rules and the effects of European companies’ overseas operations. FoEE argues that companies should be accountable for environmental and labour abuses connected with subsidiaries and supply chains outside Europe, and it supports stronger rules governing corporate lobbying and access to EU decision-makers. The resource-justice programme addresses Europe’s consumption of land, water, materials and carbon, including resources embedded in imported goods. FoEE promotes reduced consumption, reuse and recycling, opposes waste incineration as a central waste-management solution and supports implementation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the EU 2030 Agenda. FoEE also develops movement-building and educational work through its School of Sustainability, which uses popular-education methods to strengthen the network and connect environmental justice with human rights. Its youth network, Young Friends of the Earth Europe, was established in 2007 as an autonomous youth-led network linked to FoEE and Friends of the Earth International. The youth network organises campaigns, educational activity and climate-justice participation across European countries. The organisation is funded through a mixture of membership contributions and grants from public and philanthropic sources. Identified funding sources include the European Commission’s LIFE+ programme, the European Climate Foundation, Oak Foundation and Isvara Foundation. FoEE is also active in coalitions including the Green 10, the Alliance for Lobbying Transparency and Ethics Regulation and the European Coalition for Corporate Justice.

Friends of the Earth Europe developed as the European regional structure of Friends of the Earth International. Its role is distinct from that of an individual national member organisation: it provides a shared European platform for policy advocacy, campaign coordination, public communication and organisational support. Through its Brussels office, the network engages directly with the European Commission, the European Parliament and other European institutions while connecting EU-level policy debates with campaigns led by member groups in individual countries. The network includes 33 national organisations and a much larger number of local groups. This federated structure gives FoEE a broad grassroots base while allowing it to coordinate positions on issues that cross national borders, such as climate change, energy infrastructure, agricultural policy, trade agreements, corporate accountability and resource consumption. Its office also acts as a secretariat, helping members exchange research, organise joint actions and develop common advocacy strategies. A major part of FoEE’s history has been its opposition to policies and technologies that it views as environmentally damaging or insufficiently accountable. In climate and energy policy, the organisation has called for a rapid fossil-fuel phase-out, substantial energy-efficiency improvements and a transition to renewable systems owned or controlled more closely by communities. It has challenged fossil-fuel extraction and promoted climate justice, linking emissions reduction with questions of fairness, social rights and the distribution of environmental harms. FoEE has also been involved in European debates over genetically modified agriculture, the Common Agricultural Policy and biodiversity protection. Its agricultural work has promoted farming systems that are less damaging to ecosystems and more supportive of family farmers. It has criticised the environmental consequences of intensive livestock production, including the land-use implications of imported soy. Alongside these issues, the network has campaigned against major trade agreements such as the EU-Canada CETA agreement and the proposed EU-US TTIP agreement, arguing that investor and corporate interests could receive excessive influence over public regulation. Corporate power and democratic accountability became another established strand of the organisation’s work. FoEE has investigated and publicised corporate influence over EU decision-making, including lobbying practices, revolving-door relationships between public officials and industry, incomplete lobby registration and other transparency gaps. It has advocated stronger EU standards for lobbying disclosure and more balanced access for civil-society interests. Its corporate-justice work also addresses the responsibility of European companies for labour, environmental and human-rights impacts associated with operations and subsidiaries outside Europe. In July 2005, FoEE was among the founding and steering-group participants in the Alliance for Lobbying Transparency and Ethics Regulation, commonly known as ALTER-EU. The alliance brought together civil-society groups concerned about corporate influence in EU policy-making. FoEE has also participated in the Green 10 coalition of major environmental organisations active at European level and in the European Coalition for Corporate Justice. Youth organising became more formally visible through the creation of Young Friends of the Earth Europe in 2007. The youth network was designed as an autonomous, youth-led structure connected to the wider Friends of the Earth federation. It brought together youth groups from both EU and non-EU countries, supported campaigns on climate justice and challenged what its members described as false climate solutions, including nuclear energy. In 2010, the network organised a parallel youth convergence in Brussels during the COP16 climate negotiations in Cancún, creating a European space for education, mobilisation and discussion alongside the official process. It has also participated in the broader Youth Climate Movement and in youth engagement with UN climate negotiations. FoEE’s School of Sustainability extends this movement-building approach. Inspired by popular-education traditions associated with Latin American environmental-justice organising, the project aims to strengthen common analysis across the European network and equip participants to challenge unequal power structures. Today, FoEE remains an active regional environmental network whose work combines institutional advocacy, coalition-building, grassroots support, research, public campaigning and youth participation.

• 2010

  Youth climate convergence held during COP16

  [1]Friends of the Earth Europeen.wikipedia.org

  Young Friends of the Earth Europe hosted a parallel convergence in Brussels during the United Nations climate talks in Cancún, Mexico, supporting regional youth climate organising and movement-building.

• 2007

  Young Friends of the Earth Europe established

  [1]Friends of the Earth Europeen.wikipedia.org

  A youth-led European network was created by national Young Friends of the Earth groups affiliated with Friends of the Earth member organisations.

• 2005

  ALTER-EU launched

  [1]Friends of the Earth Europeen.wikipedia.org

  Friends of the Earth Europe participated in founding the Alliance for Lobbying Transparency and Ethics Regulation, a civil-society coalition focused on corporate influence and transparency in European Union decision-making.

A grassroots, environmental-justice network that combines EU-level advocacy in Brussels with support for national and local Friends of the Earth organisations.

• Campaign programme

  Climate justice and energy programme

  FoEE’s climate and energy work advocates a fair transition to a fossil-fuel-free Europe, with a strong emphasis on renewable energy, energy efficiency, reduced resource use and community ownership. The programme also challenges fossil-fuel extraction, fracking, tar-sands development and nuclear power as responses to climate change.

• Campaign programme

  Food, agriculture and biodiversity programme

  This programme addresses agricultural policy, genetically modified crops, biodiversity and the future of family farming. FoEE supports reforms to the EU Common Agricultural Policy that reduce environmental damage, limit climate impacts, protect ecosystems and create more equitable conditions for farmers and communities.

• Policy and advocacy programme

  Economic justice programme

  The economic-justice programme examines corporate influence over EU policy, lobbying transparency and accountability for European companies operating abroad. It campaigns for stronger safeguards against corporate capture, better disclosure of lobbying activity and access to justice for people affected by corporate environmental or labour abuses.

• Campaign programme

  Resource justice and sustainability programme

  This programme focuses on Europe’s use of land, water, materials and carbon, including resources embedded in imports. It promotes lower consumption, reuse and recycling, opposes incineration as a central waste strategy and supports the Sustainable Development Goals and the EU 2030 Agenda.

• Education and capacity building

  School of Sustainability

  The School of Sustainability uses popular-education methods to develop shared political analysis and strengthen the Friends of the Earth Europe network. Its work connects environmental justice, human rights and challenges to concentrated political and economic power.

• Youth network · 2007

  Young Friends of the Earth Europe

  Young Friends of the Earth Europe is an autonomous, youth-led network connected to FoEE and the wider Friends of the Earth federation. It organises European campaigning and education on social and environmental justice, with a longstanding focus on climate justice and youth participation in international climate processes.

• 2010Young Friends of the Earth Europe COP16 convergence

  Europe · International climate movement

  Young Friends of the Earth Europe organised a parallel Brussels convergence during the COP16 climate talks in Cancún, providing a regional youth space for climate-justice education, mobilisation and discussion.

  Source
• Fossil-fuel-free and renewable Europe

  Europe

  FoEE campaigns for an equitable transition to a fossil-fuel-free Europe, including faster fossil-fuel phase-outs, major energy-efficiency gains, community-owned renewable energy and opposition to fracking, tar sands and nuclear power.

  Source
• Food, agriculture and biodiversity reform

  Europe

  The organisation advocates environmentally sustainable farming, Common Agricultural Policy reform, biodiversity protection, reduced dependence on imported soy for livestock and support for family farming. It has also participated in opposition to genetically modified crop cultivation.

  Source
• Opposition to CETA and TTIP

  Europe

  FoEE opposed the EU-Canada CETA agreement and the proposed EU-US TTIP agreement, arguing that these trade frameworks could undermine environmental safeguards, human rights and democratic regulatory control.

  Source
• Corporate accountability and lobby transparency

  European Union

  FoEE campaigns for greater transparency in corporate lobbying, stronger controls on revolving-door practices and accountability for the overseas environmental and labour impacts of European companies.

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• Resource justice and reduced consumption

  Europe

  The campaign promotes reduced European consumption of land, water, materials and carbon, together with reuse, recycling and implementation of international and European sustainability goals.

  Source

1. 1Friends of the Earth Europeen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Friends of the Earth Europe official websitefoeeurope.org