Friends of the Earth (EWNI)
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Friends of the Earth (EWNI) (England, Wales and Northern Ireland) is one of 70 national groups around the world which make up the Friends of the Earth network of environmental organizations. It is usually referred to just as Friends of the Earth within its home countries.
Friends of the Earth Scotland operates separately, so there is no single Friends of the Earth (UK).
Since 2003, Tony Juniper has been the executive director, working on some very successful campaigns, most recently the Big Ask Campaign heavily supported by Radiohead's Thom Yorke.
In November 2006, The Big Ask campaign was widely credited with forcing the government to include the Climate Change Bill in their legislative programme, set out in "the Queen's Speech".
[edit] Local groups
Friends of the Earth EWNI defines itself as a grassroots organisation, with over 200 local groups making it the largest environmental network in the UK. FoE local groups are largely autonomous, but most work on at least some national campaigns, especially Climate Change. FoE local groups have significant power in shaping the direction of the national organisation, for example by electing a majority of Board Members.
[edit] Campaigns
The major campaign issues of Friends of the Earth in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are:
- Corporate Accountability
- Real Food
- Climate change
- Global trade
- Biodiversity
- Waste
- Safer Chemicals
- Transport
High profile campaigns have included the return of 1500 non-returnable bottles to Schweppes in 1971, and the successful "Alice's Meadow" campaign of 1983 - which helped force the diversion of the proposed M40 motorway around Otmoor.
