Friends of the Earth is the U.S. voice of Friends of the Earth International, an international federation of diverse grassroots-based environmental organizations in 77 countries working in solidarity for sustainable, equitable and just societies.
We believe that as the world’s biggest historical global warming polluter, and as a wealthy nation with considerable resources, the United States has a special responsibility to lead the world in forging equitable solutions to the climate crisis, and we hold elected officials accountable for living up to that responsibility. We also believe, for the poorest countries on our planet, the global economic system has been an underlying cause behind environmental degradation and disruption of people’s livelihoods, and we work to change unjust global financial institutions and trade rules.
Read the latest news and updates from our International campaigns:
The financial crisis has pushed millions around the world deeper into poverty and forced already strapped countries to further cut budgets for environmental and health programs. Yet Wall Street continues to reap massive profits and pay its executives exorbitant bonuses. It’s past time to tax Wall Street greed to pay for global needs! Smart new legislation now exists to do just that, and it needs our support.
By Kate Horner
For over a decade, Friends of the Earth has been fighting against little known provisions in our trade agreements that grant broad privileges to multinational corporations and put profits ahead of the public interest. These trade policies allow companies to sue governments for adopting health or environmental laws that may reduce their current or future profits.
Unfortunately, our worst nightmares have just come true for our friends and allies in El Salvador, which is facing a lawsuit under the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA).
As the UN climate talks headed toward a close in Bonn, Germany, nearly 300 civil society groups from across the world declared that the World Bank should have no role in managing climate funds.
The first major UN climate talks since December's Copenhagen summit ended in failure are taking place in Bonn, Germany from May 31 - June 11, 2010. The Bonn talks are an opportunity to get negotiations back on track and make progress toward a just and effective global agreement to address the climate crisis.
Unfortunately, the position the United States is taking to Bonn promises to undermine the existing framework guiding global cooperation.
After months of tedious negotiations, Senators John Kerry and Joe Lieberman last week introduced a draft of their cap-and-trade bill, the American Power Act. The bill pampers the country's worst industrial polluters while eliminating key components of the Clean Air Act.
The American Power Act stakes solving the climate crisis on the creation of a risky new carbon market that depends on carbon offsets to reduce global warming pollution.
On April 8, the World Bank took us one step closer to climate chaos while also pushing South African communities into years of poverty and pollution. It approved a US$3.75 billion loan to the South African utility company Eskom to help build what will be the world’s fourth largest coal plant. The loan was approved despite widespread protest from South African communities and civil society organizations. In this post, Bobby Peek, director of groundWork, Friends of the Earth South Africa shares his analysis of the vote and its consequences.
Despite strong opposition from South African citizen, union, faith-based and environmental justice groups -- and from allies across Africa, Europe and the United States -- the World Bank voted April 8, 2010 to approve a $3.75 billion loan to help South African electricity company Eskom build a massive new coal plant. This loan is unjust and unacceptable -- and Friends of the Earth will work with allied groups to hold the World Bank accountable.
A coalition of organizations, including Friends of the Earth, have signed a letter asking President Obama to recognize that solutions to the climate crisis must be agreed upon at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), as it is the only space that respects the sovereign and equal rights of all countries – those most responsible for climate change and those most affected by it – to protect their economies, their people, their territory and their planet from the threat of climate change.
President Obama's climate negotiators are in Copenhagen, joining leaders from across the globe for the critical two week climate conference. Friends of the Earth U.S. president Erich Pica and staff members Nick Berning, Kate Horner, Karen Orenstein, Ian Illuminato and Elizabeth Bast are reporting in a variety of ways on what's happening both inside and outside those talks. We're working with more than 400 colleagues in the Friends of the Earth international network to push President Obama and other leaders of developed countries to lead the way to a strong and just global agreement to tackle climate change.
Check back here regularly from December 7 - 18 for videos, pictures, notes and ways you can become involved!
