Friends of the Earth International
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UnclaimedA global network of grassroots environmental organizations campaigning for environmental, economic, and social justice.
Last updated November 4, 2026
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Overview
Friends of the Earth International (FoEI) is a worldwide federation of grassroots environmental organizations. The network links national and regional groups that may use the Friends of the Earth name in their own languages or operate under independent names, including Milieudefensie in the Netherlands, Pro Natura in Switzerland, the Korean Federation for Environmental Movement, Environmental Rights Action in Nigeria, and WALHI in Indonesia. Its members work across environmental protection, climate policy, human rights, economic justice, biodiversity, food systems, and opposition to environmentally destructive infrastructure and extractive industries. The movement began in San Francisco in 1969, when environmental campaigners David Brower, Donald Aitken, and Gary Soucie established Friends of the Earth following Brower's departure from the Sierra Club. A central point of disagreement was the Sierra Club's comparatively favorable position toward nuclear energy. Friends of the Earth developed an explicitly campaigning orientation, combining public advocacy with community organizing and criticism of government and corporate policies. In 1971, representatives from the United States, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and France met to create an international network. Over time, the federation expanded into a broad membership structure spanning 73 countries, with national groups retaining substantial autonomy. FoEI is not a conventional commercial brand. Its international secretariat is based in Amsterdam and supports coordinated campaigns, communications, research, and network administration. Policy and strategic priorities are set through a general meeting held every two years. Member organizations elect an executive committee, commonly known as the ExCom, which oversees the secretariat and helps implement the federation's agreed program. National members can conduct their own campaigns and form bilateral or regional alliances provided that their activities remain consistent with international policy. The network's principal campaign areas include economic justice and resistance to neoliberal economic policies; forests and biodiversity; food sovereignty; and climate justice and energy. Related work addresses mining, fossil fuels, oil transport, international financial institutions, ecological debt, waste, overconsumption, industrial agriculture, nuclear power, dams, and other large infrastructure projects. FoEI presents environmental issues as inseparable from political and human-rights questions, particularly the rights of Indigenous peoples, local communities, workers, and people affected by pollution or displacement. Friends of the Earth organizations have participated in anti-nuclear campaigns, efforts to stop dams and water projects, campaigns against destructive mining and strip-mining practices, advocacy for stronger climate legislation, and challenges to corporate emissions and environmental damage. A prominent recent example was the climate case brought by Milieudefensie, the Dutch member group, against Royal Dutch Shell. In 2021, a Dutch court ordered Shell to reduce its emissions by 45 percent by 2030 relative to 2019 levels. The ruling was widely described as a landmark because it required a private company to align its emissions policy with the Paris Agreement, although the decision was overturned on appeal in November 2024. FoEI also produces or supports research intended for public campaigning. The Meat Atlas, produced jointly with the Heinrich Böll Foundation, examines industrial livestock production and meat consumption through essays, statistics, and explanatory graphics. The organization has also supported public-facing climate campaigns and collaborations with cultural figures. Its supporters and campaign partners have included musicians such as George Harrison, Thom Yorke, Jay Kay, and artists involved in the 2015 charity single Love Song to the Earth. The organization describes its record as including the removal of public subsidies benefiting polluting industries, pressure for stronger safeguards at the World Bank, opposition to destructive dams and water schemes, tighter rules affecting strip mines and oil tankers, and support for international restrictions on whaling. Critics have argued that some Friends of the Earth campaigns prioritize media visibility, oppose development projects in poorer countries, or rely too heavily on funding connected with oil and gas interests. These disputes reflect wider debates about environmental advocacy, development, campaign finance, and the role of international NGOs. Friends of the Earth International remains an active federation whose campaigns are implemented through a mixture of international coordination and locally led member-group action.
History
Friends of the Earth was created in San Francisco in 1969 by David Brower, Donald Aitken, and Gary Soucie. Brower had recently separated from the Sierra Club, in part because of disagreement over the Sierra Club's positive approach to nuclear energy. The new organization adopted a more confrontational campaigning style and treated environmental protection as a matter of public policy, corporate accountability, and democratic participation. The organization became an international network in 1971, when representatives from groups in the United States, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and France met to coordinate their work. The network later developed into Friends of the Earth International, a federation of national organizations with different institutional histories, names, and political contexts. Although roughly half of the member groups use a local-language equivalent of Friends of the Earth, others joined under established names. This structure allows member groups to preserve their local identity while participating in global campaigns and governance. FoEI's work expanded from early anti-nuclear and conservation campaigns into a broad environmental-justice agenda. Member organizations have opposed nuclear power, destructive dams, mining projects, strip mines, fossil-fuel infrastructure, and environmentally damaging practices by multinational companies and international financial institutions. They have also campaigned on forests, biodiversity, food sovereignty, industrial agriculture, climate change, waste, overconsumption, and ecological debt. The network generally frames these issues through the effects of environmental decisions on communities, Indigenous peoples, workers, and human rights. The federation is coordinated by an Amsterdam-based secretariat. Its member groups meet in a general assembly every two years to agree policies and priority activities and to elect an executive committee. The ExCom supervises the secretariat and represents the network between general meetings. This governance model leaves national organizations considerable freedom to conduct domestic campaigns or cooperate regionally, while requiring consistency with policies adopted internationally. Leadership of the federation has included Uruguayan activist Karin Nansen, elected chair in 2016, and Sri Lankan environmental activist Hemantha Withanage, who became chair in 2021. The network's campaigns have sometimes achieved policy or legal results that it presents as evidence of impact, including pressure related to public subsidies for polluting industries, World Bank safeguards, dams and water projects, strip mining, oil-tanker regulation, whaling, and climate legislation. A significant recent legal intervention came through Milieudefensie, the Friends of the Earth member group in the Netherlands. In 2021, a Dutch court ordered Shell to reduce its emissions by 45 percent by 2030 from a 2019 baseline. The judgment was notable because it imposed a climate-related obligation directly on a private corporation. An appeals court overturned the specific reduction order in November 2024, illustrating both the legal ambition and uncertainty surrounding strategic climate litigation. Friends of the Earth also uses research and cultural campaigning to broaden public engagement. Its Meat Atlas, produced with the Heinrich Böll Foundation, documents the environmental and social effects of industrial meat production. Musicians and public figures have supported individual campaigns, including George Harrison's association with anti-nuclear demonstrations, Thom Yorke's support for the Big Ask, and the 2015 Love Song to the Earth fundraising collaboration. At the same time, critics have accused the network of seeking publicity, opposing development, and accepting problematic funding. FoEI continues to operate as a decentralized international movement rather than as a conventional centralized corporation.
- 2024
Shell ruling overturned on appeal
[3]A Dutch appeals court overturned the earlier specific emissions-reduction order in November.
- 2021
Hemantha Withanage becomes chair
[1]Sri Lankan activist Hemantha Withanage succeeded Karin Nansen as chair.
- 2021
First-instance Shell climate judgment
[3]A Dutch court ordered Shell to reduce emissions by 45 percent by 2030 compared with 2019, following litigation led by Milieudefensie.
- 2016
Karin Nansen elected chair
[1]Uruguayan activist Karin Nansen was elected to lead the international federation.
- 2015
Love Song to the Earth released
[5]A multi-artist charity single generated proceeds for Friends of the Earth U.S. and the United Nations Foundation.
- 2006
Big Ask campaign supports UK climate legislation
[4]The Big Ask campaign mobilized public support for binding UK climate legislation and was followed by the government's introduction of a Climate Change Bill.
- 1980
George Harrison becomes associated with anti-nuclear demonstrations
[1]George Harrison became publicly associated with Friends of the Earth after attending anti-nuclear demonstrations in London.
- 1971
International network established
[1]Representatives from the United States, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and France met to create an international Friends of the Earth network.
- 1969
Friends of the Earth founded in San Francisco
[1]David Brower, Donald Aitken, and Gary Soucie established Friends of the Earth after Brower's departure from the Sierra Club.
Products and positioning
A decentralized, grassroots-led international environmental federation that connects ecological protection with economic justice, human rights, and community power.
Research publication
Meat Atlas
An annual publication produced jointly by Friends of the Earth and the Heinrich Böll Foundation. It examines industrial animal agriculture, meat production, and consumption through short analytical essays, data, charts, and explanatory graphics. The publication is used to support debate about food sovereignty, climate impacts, land use, biodiversity, public health, and the social consequences of intensive livestock systems.
Advocacy program
Climate Justice and Energy Campaign
A coordinated area of work addressing climate change, fossil fuels, energy policy, nuclear power, corporate emissions, and the rights of communities affected by energy projects. The program combines public campaigning, policy advocacy, legal action, and support for national member-group initiatives.
Advocacy program
Forests and Biodiversity Campaign
A network-wide program focused on forest protection, biodiversity, land rights, and the effects of commodity production, extraction, and infrastructure on ecosystems and local communities. Its approach links conservation with the rights and participation of Indigenous peoples and other forest-dependent communities.
Advocacy program
Food Sovereignty Campaign
A campaign area promoting community control over food systems and challenging industrial agriculture, excessive corporate concentration, and environmentally damaging production models. The program connects agricultural policy with land rights, biodiversity, labor, climate, and access to healthy food.
Controversies
2021
Shell climate litigation
The Shell case was a major legal and political controversy involving Friends of the Earth Netherlands. The initial ruling required Shell to reduce emissions by 45 percent by 2030, while the order's reversal on appeal became a significant setback for the campaign.
Criticism over funding and development positions
Critics have questioned the network's acceptance of substantial funding from companies or charities associated with oil and gas and have argued that some campaigns prioritize publicity or impede development in developing countries. The available reference material does not establish a specific finding of misconduct.
Marketing campaigns
- 2021Shell climate case
Netherlands · International
Milieudefensie sued Shell, arguing that the company had a legal duty to reduce its greenhouse-gas emissions in line with climate objectives.
Outcome. The trial court ordered a 45 percent reduction by 2030 against a 2019 baseline; the order was overturned on appeal in 2024.
- 2015Love Song to the Earth
International
Friends of the Earth U.S. supported a charity music project featuring multiple well-known performers, with proceeds directed to environmental and international causes.
Outcome. Raised funds and public attention for climate and environmental advocacy.
- 2006The Big Ask
United Kingdom
Friends of the Earth UK's campaign asked the public to pressure members of Parliament to support binding climate legislation.
Outcome. The campaign was associated with the introduction of the UK Climate Change Bill and later Climate Change Act.
- 1980Anti-nuclear demonstrations
United Kingdom · United States · Europe
Friends of the Earth participated in opposition to nuclear power and supported demonstrations against nuclear energy. Its anti-nuclear work became one of the movement's defining early campaign themes.
Outcome. Long-term public advocacy and opposition to selected nuclear facilities and policies.
- Stop destructive dams and water projects
Global
Friends of the Earth member groups have campaigned against dams and water infrastructure considered destructive to ecosystems or communities.
Outcome. The network claims that more than 150 destructive dams and water projects have been stopped, although the cited material does not provide a complete project list.
Brand decisions
2021
Support strategic climate litigation against ShellOtherBackground
Milieudefensie, the Netherlands-based Friends of the Earth member group, argued that Shell's emissions policies violated a duty to protect people and the environment from climate harm.
Action taken
The member group pursued a court case seeking a binding emissions-reduction order.
Aftermath
The trial court issued a 45 percent reduction order for 2030, but a Dutch appeals court overturned the specific order in November 2024.
2015
Use music fundraising to expand environmental outreachOtherBackground
Friends of the Earth sought to connect environmental advocacy with public participation and cultural outreach.
Action taken
Friends of the Earth U.S. participated in the Love Song to the Earth charity project, with proceeds shared with the United Nations Foundation.
Aftermath
The project increased public visibility for environmental causes and generated charitable proceeds.
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