Editing Friends of the Earth (section)

== Campaign issues ==
Friends of the Earth International is an international membership organisation, with members spread across the world. Its advocacy programs focus on environmental, economic and social issues, highlighting their political and human rights contexts.

As per its website, the current campaign priorities of Friends of the Earth International are:<ref name="FOEI Campaigns">{{cite web|url=http://www.foei.org/en/what-we-do|title=Home - Friends of the earth international|access-date=25 May 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140325231024/http://www.foei.org/en/what-we-do|archive-date=25 March 2014}}</ref> [[economic justice]] and resisting [[neoliberalism]]; [[forest]]s and [[biodiversity]]; [[food sovereignty]]; and [[climate justice]] and energy. The campaign priorities of FOEI are set at its bi-annual general meeting. Additionally, FOEI also plans campaigns in other fields, such as waste and overconsumption, international financial institutions, ecological debt, [[mining]] and [[Extractive industry|extractive industries]], and [[Anti-nuclear movement|opposition]] to [[nuclear power]].<ref name="FOEI Campaigns" /><ref>{{cite journal|url=http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0168-ssoar-383932|title= "Where do we go from Wyhl?" Transnational Anti-Nuclear Protest targeting European and International Organizations in the 1970s|doi=10.12759/hsr.39.2014.1.212-235|access-date=25 May 2016|last1=Meyer|first1=Jan-Henrik|journal=Historical Social Research |volume=39|year= 2014|issue=1|pages=212–235}}</ref> FOEI has campaigned for the closure of the [[Diablo Canyon Power Plant|Diablo Canyon nuclear plant]] in California.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Milman |first=Oliver |date=20 March 2024 |title=A nuclear plant's closure was hailed as a green win. Then emissions went up |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/mar/20/nuclear-plant-closure-carbon-emissions-new-york |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> FOEI also supports campaigns from the regions or member groups, such as the one on the [[Environmental impact of meat production|consumption and intensive production of meat]] (''[[Meat Atlas]]'') by [[Friends of the Earth Europe]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.foei.org/en/what-we-do/land-grabbing/latest-news/friends-of-the-earth-europe-new-report-international-2018meat-atlas2019|title=Home - Friends of the earth international|access-date=25 May 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140307190807/http://www.foei.org/en/what-we-do/land-grabbing/latest-news/friends-of-the-earth-europe-new-report-international-2018meat-atlas2019/|archive-date=7 March 2014}}</ref>

FOEI claims that it has been successful as it has eliminated billions in taxpayer subsidies to corporate polluters, reformed the [[World Bank]] to address environmental and human rights concerns, pushed the debate on global warming to pressure the U.S. and U.K. to attempt the best legislation possible, stopped more than 150 destructive dams and water projects worldwide, pressed and won landmark regulations of strip mines and oil tankers and banned [[International Whaling Commission|international whaling]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.foei.org/member-groups/north-america/united-states-of-america|title=United States of America - Friends of the Earth International|work=foei.org|date=8 November 2013|access-date=18 January 2017}}</ref> Its critics claim that the organization tries only to obtain media attention (as by releasing the song "Love Song to the Earth"), but does not stay with locals to actually solve complicated problems, and that it prevents development in developing countries. They have also been critical of its policy to accept high levels of funding from companies and charities related to oil and gas.<ref name="cr">{{cite news |title=Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth hit back over 'out-of-touch' criticism |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2011/jun/13/greenpeace-foe-charles-secrett-criticism |access-date=16 October 2018 |newspaper=The Guardian |date=13 June 2011}}</ref>

One of Friends of the Earth's most recent campaigns and legal battles was the "[[Milieudefensie v Royal Dutch Shell|Shell Case]]", led by [[Milieudefensie]] (Friends of the Earth Netherlands). In 2021, a court in the Netherlands ruled in a landmark case that the oil giant Shell must reduce its emissions in 2030 by 45% compared to 2019 levels. This was the first time that a company had been legally obliged to align its policies with the [[Paris Agreement]]. This was later overturned in November 2024.<ref>{{Cite news |last=van den Berg |first=Stephanie |date=12 November 2024 |title=Shell wins appeal against landmark Dutch climate ruling |url=https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/shell-wins-appeal-against-landmark-dutch-climate-ruling-2024-11-12/ |work=Reuters}}</ref>

In January 2025 when UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced plans to take on [[NIMBY|NIMBYs]] who block major infrastructure projects, such as nuclear power, roads, railway and wind farms, Friends of the Earth criticized Starmer, saying he was scapegoating people with "valid concerns about a project's impact".<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-01-23 |title=Starmer vows to curb 'Nimby' legal blocks on infrastructure schemes |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ce3l9jdy2q1o.amp |website=BBC News |language=en-gb}}</ref>