Friends of the Earth International (FoEI) is a global group made up of local environmental organizations in 73 countries. About half of these groups use the name "Friends of the Earth" in their own languages, while the rest have different names. The organization was started in 1969 in San Francisco by David Brower, Donald Aitken, and Gary Soucie. This happened after Brower left the Sierra Club because the Sierra Club supported nuclear energy. In 1971, FoEI became a worldwide network when representatives from four countries—United States, Sweden, the UK, and France—met to join the group.

Today, FoEI has a central office in Amsterdam, Netherlands, that helps the network and supports its major campaigns. A leadership group made up of elected members from each country sets rules and oversees the work of the central office. In 2016, Karin Nansen from Uruguay was chosen to lead the organization. Since 2021, Hemantha Withanage from Sri Lanka has been the leader of FoEI.

Campaign issues

Friends of the Earth International is a global organization with members in many countries around the world. Its programs focus on environmental, economic, and social issues, and they examine how these issues connect to politics and human rights.

According to its website, the main goals of Friends of the Earth International include promoting economic fairness and opposing neoliberalism, protecting forests and biodiversity, supporting food sovereignty, and addressing climate justice and energy. These goals are decided during the organization’s meetings held twice a year. Friends of the Earth International also works on other topics, such as waste and overconsumption, international financial institutions, ecological debt, mining, and opposition to nuclear power. The group has worked to close the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant in California. It also supports efforts led by its members, such as the Meat Atlas campaign by Friends of the Earth Europe, which focuses on meat consumption and farming practices.

Friends of the Earth International says it has achieved several successes, including reducing billions in taxpayer money given to polluting companies, changing the World Bank to better address environmental and human rights issues, pushing governments to take stronger action on global warming, stopping over 150 harmful dam and water projects worldwide, and helping create rules to protect ecosystems from mining and oil transportation. Critics argue that the organization focuses more on gaining media attention, such as through events like releasing the song "Love Song to the Earth," rather than working closely with local communities to solve complex problems. They also claim the group allows funding from companies and charities linked to the oil and gas industry, which may affect its independence.

One recent campaign by Friends of the Earth was the "Shell Case," led by Milieudefensie (Friends of the Earth Netherlands). In 2021, a court in the Netherlands ruled that the oil company Shell must cut its emissions by 45% by 2030 compared to 2019 levels. This was the first time a company was legally required to follow the goals of the Paris Agreement. However, this ruling was later reversed in November 2024.

In January 2025, when UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced plans to address people who oppose major infrastructure projects like nuclear power, roads, railways, and wind farms, Friends of the Earth criticized Starmer. They said he was unfairly blaming people for having "valid concerns about a project's impact."

Structure of the network

The group in each country may choose a name such as Friends of the Earth or a similar name in their language, for example, Friends of the Earth (US), Friends of the Earth (EWNI) in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, or Amigos de la Tierra in Spain and Argentina. About half of the groups use their own names, often because they started independently and later joined the network, such as Pro Natura in Switzerland, the Korean Federation for Environmental Movement, Environmental Rights Action (FOE Nigeria), and WALHI (FOE Indonesia).

Friends of the Earth International (FoEI) is managed by a team based in Amsterdam called the secretariat. A group of leaders, called the ExCom, is chosen by all member groups during a meeting held every two years. The ExCom hires the secretariat and decides on major policies and activities during the same meeting.

While FoEI coordinates some work, each national group can also run its own campaigns and work with other groups as it chooses, as long as these actions follow international policies agreed by FoEI.

Publications

The Meat Atlas is a yearly report that explains the ways and effects of industrial animal farming. It includes 27 short articles and uses graphs to show information about meat production and eating habits. The report is published together by Friends of the Earth and the Heinrich Böll Foundation.

Notable supporters

• Rock musician George Harrison joined Friends of the Earth after attending their anti-nuclear protests in London in 1980. He dedicated his 1989 greatest hits album, Best of Dark Horse, to Friends of the Earth and other environmental groups.
• Jay Kay, the lead singer of the band Jamiroquai, donates part of the money from his album sales to Friends of the Earth and Oxfam, along with other charities.
• Thom Yorke, the lead singer of Radiohead, has supported Friends of the Earth campaigns, such as the Big Ask. This campaign helped the UK government introduce the Climate Change Bill in the Queen's Speech on November 15, 2006, after reports that 200,000 people across the UK asked their members of Parliament to support the bill.
• Money from the sale of the song "Love Song to the Earth" (2015), performed by Paul McCartney, Jon Bon Jovi, Sheryl Crow, Fergie, Sean Paul, and Colbie Caillat, helped support Friends of the Earth U.S. and the United Nations Foundation.

Member organizations

• Friends of the Earth Japan
• Indonesian Forum for Environment, Indonesia
• Korean Federation for Environmental Movement
• Friends of the Earth Middle East
• Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center – Kasama sa Kalikasan
• Centre for Environmental Justice, Sri Lanka
• Sahabat Alam Malaysia

• Friends of the Earth Europe, Brussels
• Young Friends of the Earth Europe, Brussels
• Friends of the Earth – France
• Friends of the Earth Scotland
• Pro Natura (Switzerland)
• Amigos de la tierra, Spain
• Bund für Umwelt und Naturschutz Deutschland, Germany
• Friends of the Earth (EWNI), England, Wales and Northern Ireland
• Birmingham Friends of the Earth
• GLOBAL 2000 [ de ], Austria
• Friends of the Earth Malta
• Friends of the Earth Finland
• Friends of the Earth Hungary
• Priatelia Zeme Slovensko (Friends of the Earth Slovakia)

• Friends of the Earth (EWNI), England, Wales and Northern Ireland
• Manchester Friends of the Earth
• Green Action, Croatia
• Hnutí DUHA, Czech Republic
• Milieudefensie, Netherlands
• Norwegian Society for the Conservation of Nature, Norway
• Friends of the Earth (Malta)
• NOAH, established in 1969 in Denmark, became the national organization for Friends of the Earth in 1988, Denmark.

• Friends of the Earth Canada
• Les AmiEs de la Terre de Québec [ fr ], Canada
• Friends of the Earth (US)

• Friends of the Earth Australia