Friends of the Earth International

Friends of the Earth was founded in 1969 in the United States by David Brower after his split with the Sierra Club based in part on their reluctance to challenge the construction of nuclear power plants. It became an international network in 1971 with a meeting of representatives from the U.S., Sweden, the UK and France. For further historical details see articles on the national FOE organizations.
Friends of the Earth International (FOEI) is an international network of environmental organizations in 77 countries.
Friends of the Earth International are the world's largest grassroots environmental network and they campaign on today's most urgent environmental and social issues. They challenge the current model of economic and corporate globalization, and promote solutions that will help to create environmentally sustainable and socially just societies.
In contrast to many other NGOs operating internationally, Friends of the Earth International is structured from the bottom up as a confederation of groups. Each country has its own separate organization, which in many cases existed and campaigned in its own right before choosing to affiliate to the global network. The groups conduct their own campaigns and coordinate their activities through the umbrella body Friends of the Earth International. The national groups are often composed of grassroots local groups working in their own areas.
FOEI is assisted by a small secretariat (based in Amsterdam) which provides support for the network and its agreed major campaigns. The executive committee of elected representatives from national groups set policy and oversee the work of the secretariat.
Friends of the Earth considers environmental issues in their social, political and human rights contexts. Their campaigns stretch beyond the traditional arena of the conservation movement and seek to address the economic and development aspects of sustainability. Originally based largely in