Friends of the Earth England, Wales and Northern Ireland (also known as FoE EWNI) is one of 75 national groups around the world which make up the

Friends of the Earth Friends of the Earth International (FoEI) is an international network of environmental organizations in 73 countries. The organization was founded in 1969 in San Francisco by David Brower, Donald Aitken and Gary Soucie after Brower's split with ...

network of

environmental organisations An environmental organization is an organization coming out of the conservation or environmental movements that seeks to protect, analyse or monitor the environment against misuse or degradation from human forces. In this sense the environmen ...

. It is usually referred to as just 'Friends of the Earth' within its home countries.

History

Friends of the Earth Bring back Returnables sticker

Friends of the Earth in England was founded in 1971, two years after the group was first founded in San Francisco in 1969. Its first leader was Graham Searle, a former vice president of the National Union of Students. In 1975, Searle documented the New Zealand Beech Forest Controversy for Friends of the Earth during a year's sabbatical in that country. One of the early campaigns of the newly founded organisation was to dump almost 1000 glass bottles in front of the HQ of soft drinks giant

Schweppes Schweppes (, ) is a beverage brand that originated in the Republic of Geneva; it is made, bottled and distributed worldwide by multiple international conglomerates, depending on licensing and region, that manufacture and sell soft drinks. Schwep ...

in Connaught House, London in protest at the company's policy of having non-returnable bottles. Other initial activities focused on opposing an open cast copper mine in the

Snowdonia National Park Snowdonia or Eryri (), is a mountainous region in northwestern Wales and a national park of in area. It was the first to be designated of the three national parks in Wales, in 1951. Name and extent It was a commonly held belief that the nam ...

(which led to an early victory when this was stopped) and on work to save endangered species. This grew into the world-wide 'Save the Whale' campaigns by FoE,

Greenpeace Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by Irving Stowe and Dorothy Stowe, immigrant environmental activists from the United States. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth t ...

and others. Campaigning for safe energy was also an early issue, in which FoE EWNI were supported by US expert

Amory Lovins Amory Bloch Lovins (born November 13, 1947) is an American writer, physicist, and former chairman/chief scientist of the Rocky Mountain Institute. He has written on energy policy and related areas for four decades, and served on the US Nationa ...

. Opposition to

nuclear power Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced b ...

and support for renewable energy was a core campaign issue which developed into work on climate change – now in 2020 the central theme for FoE EWNI work. Local action across the UK is a distinguishing feature of FoE EWNI, which has a network of licensed 'local groups' that enjoy a degree of autonomy over the issues on which they work. Soon after the launch in 1971 there were eight local branches and by 1976 there were 140. In 1978 groups in Scotland split off to form their own organisation,

FoE Scotland Friends of the Earth International (FoEI) is an international network of environmental organizations in 73 countries. The organization was founded in 1969 in San Francisco by David Brower, Donald Aitken and Gary Soucie after Brower's split with ...

. In 1980 FoE had 250 groups and 17,000 registered supporters, but the growth of the peace movement and

CND The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) is an organisation that advocates unilateral nuclear disarmament by the United Kingdom, international nuclear disarmament and tighter international arms regulation through agreements such as the Nucle ...

from 1980–84 saw support move away and FoE downsizing to 12 staff. In 1984

Jonathan Porritt Sir Jonathon Espie Porritt, 2nd Baronet, CBE (born 6 July 1950) is a British environmentalist and writer. He is known for his advocacy of the Green Party of England and Wales. Porritt frequently contributes to magazines, newspapers and books, ...

, a former teacher and chairman of the

Ecology Party The Green Party, also known as the Green Party UK, was a Green political party in the United Kingdom. Prior to 1985 it was called the Ecology Party, and before that PEOPLE. In 1990, it separated into three political parties: * the Green Par ...

(renamed the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation ...

in 1985), became the director of the organisation. Porritt left in 1990, by which time membership had grown to 226,000 and staff numbers from 12 to over 100. The next executive director was Dave Gee, followed by Charles Secrett who held the position till 2003. Between 2003 and 2008, FoE EWNI's executive director was

Tony Juniper Anthony Juniper (born 24 September 1960) is a British campaigner, writer, sustainability advisor and environmentalist who served as Executive Director of Friends of the Earth, England, Wales and Northern Ireland. He was Vice Chair of Friends ...

who in 2019 became Chair of

Natural England Natural England is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. It is responsible for ensuring that England's natural environment, including its land, flora and fauna, ...

. From 2006–2008 FoE played a lead role in the campaign (known as the 'Big Ask') for a UK Climate Act, which became law in 2008. From 2015–2020 Craig Bennett was Chief Executive, who left to become Director of the

Wildlife Trusts The Wildlife Trusts, the trading name of the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts, is an organisation made up of 46 local Wildlife Trusts in the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man and Alderney. The Wildlife Trusts, between them, look after more than 2, ...

. Miriam Turner and Hugh Knowles were appointed Co-CEOs in January 2021.

Structure and funding

FoE EWNI has a dual structure, comprising a trust, which is a registered charity, and a limited company, which carries out political campaigning – UK legislation limits how far a charity may campaign. Total income for Friends of the Earth Ltd. for the year ending May 2019 was £11.2m of which about £8m was a grant from the FoE Charitable Trust.https://cdn.friendsoftheearth.uk/sites/default/files/downloads/FOE%20Ltd%20Accounts%2030%20June%202019%20%20FINAL.pdf

References

{{Reflist

External links

A full list of FoE EWNI local groupsBirmingham Friends of the EarthOxford Friends of the EarthManchester Friends of the EarthWebsite
of

Friends of the Earth Europe Friends of the Earth Europe (FoEE) is the European branch of the world's largest grassroots environmental network, Friends of the Earth International (FOEI). It includes 33 national organizations and thousands of local groups. The Friends of the ...

Friends of the Earth Environmental organisations based in the United Kingdom Environmental organizations established in 1971 1971 establishments in the United Kingdom