Austria

Global 2000 was founded in October 1982 in Vienna and is a member of the FoE network since 1998. With 55,000 honorary members, Global 2000 is the largest and most well-known Austrian environmental protection organization. The work is financed almost completely by fundraising and donations from private persons. As an environmental lobby Global 2000 not only uncovers environmental scandals and the responsibility Austria has in international environmental problems, but also offers ecological approaches for solutions.

The instruments used in campaigns are political lobbying, broadly effective media work, non-violent direct action, operations designed for public participation, pilot projects, advertising and marketing. Global 2000 is most decidedly against any form of discrimination, fascism and dictatorship, and its struggle is to secure peace and the personal liberty of each and every individual, to strengthen the means of direct democracy and civil rights.

The main campaigns of Global 2000 are:

• Nuclear campaign - Since 1993 the main objectives have been to stop unsafe nuclear power plants -NPP- in the neighbouring countries. The first focus was on Temelin (Czech Republic) and later Mochovce (Slovakian Republic). Since 1999 the objective of the Nuclear Campaign is to use EU-enlargement to induce nuclear phase-out. Besides this campaign, Global 2000 also supports a children's hospital in Charkov (the Ukraine) in which children with cancer - resulting from the late after-effects of the reactor accident in Cernobyl - can receive treatment. Further to this Global 2000 has developed the completely independent radiation early warning system RAMOS, operation around the Dukovany Nuclear Power Plant (Czech Republic); the extension to the Mochovce NPP (Slovakian Republic) is planned for 1999.
  
• Genetic Engineering - Since 1995, Global 2000 has been carrying on a campaign against genetic engineering, with the focal points being foodstuffs and agriculture. A referendum initiated in part by Global 2000 was signed by 1.2 million Austrian citizens. Global 2000 was able to prevent, up till now, the release of genetically manipulated plants in Austria.
  
• Department on perennial raw materials - (German: NAchWAchsende ROhstoffe = NAWARO) The use of perennial raw materials (NAWARO) such as hemp, flax and wood) is one of the central aspects of a sustained society. By means of intensive publicity and political lobbying, Global 2000 wants to make sure that NAWARO does really become an important contribution to sustained development.
• Rainforest projects - Global 2000 coordinates and administrates rainforest projects to support the indigenous population in Brazil and Columbia. The objectives of the projects are to support indigenous cultures in the actualization of self-determined and careful development strategies, the long-term maintenance of their habitats and a rash counteraction to the destruction of the rainforests.
  
• Energy - In order to expose the inappropriateness of the energy policy, and to save valuable river landscape areas, Global 2000 has organized campaigns against senseless H.E.P. stations and occupied, with partial success, some of the construction sites (Hainburg, Lambach, Lechtal).