a short history of foei
Friends of the Earth International (FoEI) was founded in 1971 by four organizations from France, Sweden, England and the USA.
Today's federation
of 69 groups grew from annual meetings
of environmentalists from different
countries who agreed to campaign
together on certain crucial issues,
such as nuclear energy and whaling.
In 1981, a small International Secretariat was set up, initially staffed by volunteers, which rotated from country to country. By 1983, the organization had grown to 25 members, and an Executive Committee was elected to oversee the issues worked on between meetings.
In 1986, the Annual General Meeting (AGM) was hosted for the first time by an organization from the South, Sahabat Alam Malaysia (FoE Malaysia). At that time, the federation had 31 members from all over the world which were fully involved in the environment and development debate, and clearly recognized the need to change lifestyle and consumption patterns in the North.
In the meantime, in 1985, the European members of FoEI set up a regional coordinating body of their own, FoE Europe, with an office in Brussels. Among other work, FoE Europe has been responsible for a pioneering programme to strengthen the environmental movement in Eastern Europe.
The 1994 AGM decided that
international cooperation should be
further intensified through the
development of an 'agenda' that
presents common points of view within a
coherent framework. In the past years,
this agenda has been further clarified
and implemented in a variety of
publications, projects, campaigns, and
international fora within the framework
of the
Sustainable Societies
Programme.
There are now 69 Friends of the Earth
member groups which are campaigning
internationally, nationally and locally
to protect the environment and create
sustainable societies. They are united
by the common conviction that
environmentally sustainable development
requires both strong grassroots
activism and effective national and
international campaigning.
In 2008, the combined number of members and supporters of Friends of the Earth groups was more than two million, and the FoEI umbrella united more than 5,000 local activists groups. Together, the 69 FoE groups employed approximately 1,200 staff members.
