mobilise, resist, transform

friends of the earth international

annualreport

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contents

Letter from Jagoda Munic 32013 highlights 4-11Our programmes in focus 12-19Our federation 20-21Our finances 22Our executive committee 23Our groups 24

mobilise, resist, transform

friends of the earth international

our vision

Our vision is of a peaceful and sustainable world based onsocieties living in harmony with nature. We envision a society ofinterdependent people living in dignity, wholeness andfulfilment in which equity and human and peoples’ rights arerealised. This will be a society built upon peoples’ sovereignty andparticipation. It will be founded on social, economic, gender andenvironmental justice and free from all forms of domination andexploitation, such as neoliberalism, corporate globalisation, neo-colonialism and militarism. We believe that our children’s futurewill be better because of what we do.

Friends of the Earth International is the world’s largest grassroots environmental network with 74member groups and over two million members and supporters around the world.

our mission

• To collectively ensure environmental and social justice,human dignity, and respect for human rights and peoples’rights so as to secure sustainable societies.

• To halt and reverse environmental degradation anddepletion of natural resources, nurture the earth’s ecologicaland cultural diversity, and secure sustainable livelihoods.

• To secure the empowerment of indigenous peoples, localcommunities, women, groups and individuals, and to ensurepublic participation in decision-making.

• To bring about transformation towards sustainability andequity between and within societies with creativeapproaches and solutions.

• To engage in vibrant campaigns, raise awareness, mobilisepeople and build alliances with diverse movements, linkinggrassroots, national and global struggles.

• To inspire one another and to harness, strengthen andcomplement each other’s capacities, living the change wewish to see and working together in solidarity.

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annualreport

In solidarity,Jagoda Munic, CroatiaFriends of the Earth International Chair

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letter from

Jagoda Munic

Dear Friends,

On 22 November 2013, just one day beforethe planned conclusion of the UN climatetalks in Warsaw, I was one of hundreds ofactivists from every continent, representingsocial movements, trade unions and non-governmental organisations, who walkedout of the conference to protest against thelack of progress and the sponsorship andparticipation of polluting businesses.

Despite the fact that the world wasstunned by the lethal effects of supertyphoon Haiyan, which killed thousands ofpeople in the Philippines just hours beforethe climate talks started, we did not see anyadded sense of urgency at the conference.

Our current energy system—the way weproduce, distribute and consume energy—is unsustainable and unjust, and harmscommunities, workers, the environmentand the climate. This is fundamentally anissue of power: the energy system islocked in place because corporate and elitepower and interests outweigh the powerof ordinary citizens and communities.

At Friends of the Earth International we argue that the world needs to move away fromall dirty energies (not just fossil fuels) towards a just, sustainable and climate-safeenergy system. Our vision is guided by the principle of energy sovereignty, which is theright of people to have access to energy and to choose sustainable energy sources andconsumption patterns that will lead them towards truly sustainable societies.

We believe that sovereignty is a fundamental human right. We work to empower peopleand communities to reclaim the rights and resources that have been taken from themby corporations and states who act in their name but in fact serve the interests of a few.

This concept of sovereignty applies as much to other resources as it does to energy. Thatis why we are also advancing the principle of food sovereignty: the right of people tohealthy and culturally appropriate food produced through ecologically sound methods.Just as energy sovereignty is about empowering people rather than energy corporations,so food sovereignty is about feeding people instead of corporate profit.

The idea of people and communities being in control of their resources presents a majorthreat to the corporate-dominated status quo that exists in many countries. This boldand challenging work often puts our activists in danger, because they are frequentlythreatened by those that benefit the most from the current system. That is why we havealso prioritised supporting communities and environmental rights activists who arefacing harassment, threats, imprisonment or even assassination at the hands of statesand the private interests they often protect, simply for defending their land, theirlivelihoods and the health of our planet.

People’s sovereignty is the foundation of the global grassroots environmental movementthat we are building, and the vision of a peaceful and sustainable society in harmonywith nature that we seek to realise.

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warsaw climateconference: polluterstalk, we walk One day before the scheduled conclusion of

the international climate talks in Warsaw,hundreds of climate activists including FoEIwalked out in protest at the summit's lackof ambition, and in solidarity with peopleaffected by climate change. © foee/luka tomac

2013 highlights

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Left: Press conferencewith the Philippines leadnegotiator Yeb Sano.

System change not climatechange march, Warsaw, 16 November 2013.

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FoEI participated in the UN’s COP-19 climate change summit inWarsaw in November, to ensure that a strong narrative about thedangers of dirty energies was heard. Our report, ‘Good Energy, BadEnergy: transforming our energy system for people and the planet,’set out the case for an urgent transformation of our energy system.

However, it was already anticipated that corporate capture of the talkswas likely to be a significant roadblock, since the Polish governmenthad welcomed destructive corporations with open arms, hosting acoal summit during the talks, and accepting dirty energy companiessuch as Alstom and Arcelor Mittal as corporate sponsors.

As a result, developed countries that are dominated by corporateinterests — in particular Australia, Canada, Japan and the US —once again blocked the safety exit, refusing to cut emissions orprovide real finance to tackle climate change. Yeb Sano, leadclimate negotiator from the Philippines, broke down in tears ashe addressed COP-19, which took place not long after supertyphoon Haiyan had left thousands dead in his native land. Hedeplored the lack of progress over the last 20 years and declaredhe would undertake a hunger fast for progress in the talks. At aninformal press conference with him, Young FoE Europeannounced that civil society would also fast in solidarity.

Eventually, the vast majority of civil society organisations decidedto make a strong statement against the corporate capture of thetalks and leave the moribund negotiations. FoEI played a leadingrole in helping to coordinate and unite those involved in thisunprecedented walk out. The stairs exiting the conference hall

turned into a cascade of white T-shirts bearing the message‘Polluters talk, we walk’, which we had proposed.

We also organised and participated in multiple actions aroundthe conference venue and in the streets of Warsaw, and helpedto generate enormous media impact, reaching citizens in allcontinents in over ten languages. groundWork/FoE South Africaorganised a parallel People’s Climate Camp in Durban, whichYoung FoE Europe, who sent a 25-strong team to Warsaw, wereable to connect with via a live Skype link-up.

We achieved important results in Warsaw, including stopping theestablishment of new carbon markets. Our message that thecorporate capture of the COP is unacceptable resounded widelyin international media reporting on the Warsaw conference. Ourco-lobbying of UNFCCC head Christiana Figueres also helped todelegitimise the coal summit, when she finally stated that mostcoal reserves must be left in the ground to avoid dangerousclimate change.

Young Friends of theEarth Europe andCorporate EuropeObservatory telldecision makers to kickcoal out of the climatetalks in Warsaw.

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Above: Press conference with the Philippines lead negotiator Yeb Sano.

Top right: Friends of the Earth activists outside the international coalsummit, being run alongside the international climate talks.

Right: Hundreds of climate activists walking out of the Warsaw negotiationsgenerates strong media interest.

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environmental justicein palestine

FoEI's Executive Committee visited PENGON, FoEI's member group in Palestine. The team was led by our Chairperson, Jagoda Munic. © foei/david hirsch

2013 highlights

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Left: Visit to a Palestinian family in Jubbet Adh Dhib village near Bethlehem. The village has been denied access to the electricity grid by the Israeliauthorities. In 2010 an internationally sponsored project to install solar-powered street lights was also rejected.

A part of the separation wall.

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The Israeli occupation continues to visit egregious environmentalinjustices and degradation on the people of the OccupiedPalestinian Territory (OPT, which comprises the West Bank andthe Gaza strip). Along with the unabated construction of newIsraeli settlements, military installations, roads, factories andseparation barriers, this illegal occupation involves less visiblebut just as toxic environmental injustices. These include theexpropriation of fertile land and fresh water resources, thedumping of hazardous and nuclear waste, and the transfer ofbanned hazardous industries from Israel to the OPT.

Friends of the Earth International supports the demand of ourmember, the Palestinian Environmental NGO Network (PENGON),in calling upon the international community and the UN to holdIsrael accountable for its illegal acts against Palestinians, and tostop treating Israel as a country above international law. FoEI hasexposed environmental injustices and resource grabbing aroundthe world, but the Israeli government’s systematic policies ofsegregation, and land and water grabbing are truly shocking.

In 2013 we published a detailed investigation exposing theenvironmental injustices being foisted on the people of Palestine, inour report ‘Environmental Nabka: Environmental injustice andviolations of the Israeli occupation of Palestine.’ This report outlinesthe results of investigations by a FoEI observer mission to the WestBank in 2012. That mission witnessed numerous examples of theexpropriation of land and water resources and heard the testimoniesof officials, researchers, local people and environmental activists.

In October 2013 a delegation of FoEI’s Executive Committee led byour Chairperson, Jagoda Munic, visited Palestine in order to launchthe report, learn more about the environmental crisis and helpsupport the work of PENGON, which is an umbrella group of 15Palestinian environmental organisations. The delegation includeda radio and camera team to document the solidarity/fact-findingtrip. The mission observed industrial sites with little or no controlson emissions, untreated sewage piped from urban developmentsonto agricultural land and streams, and waste hills created as aresult of decades of uncontrolled dumping.

Our observations, together with other research published in ourreport, ‘Economic Drivers of Water Financialization,’ also led usto publish a strongly-worded FoEI statement on water apartheidin Palestine. While all Israeli settlements in the West Bank areconnected to piped water supplied by the Israeli state watercompany Mekorot, and many have swimming pools, anestimated 15% of the Palestinian population is not serviced bywater supply and some Palestinian cities, towns and villages mayhave water only once a week or even once a month.

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FoEI's delegation meet with PENGON members.

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A part of theseparation wall.

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protecting and defendingenvironmental activists

Women lead the resistance in San Jose del Golfo, Guatemala, againstthe Exmingua mine, owned by Canadian Radius Gold Corporation. © foei/victor barro

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Participants of the World Forum onHuman Rights andSustainability inNantes, France, whereFoEI held the photoexhibition 'CorporatePower in Guatemala,Human Rights andEnvironmentalDefenders.'

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The increasing criminalisation and defamation of environmentaland community-rights defenders is a growing concern. Inaddition to the ongoing violence and hostility faced by suchdefenders, there is an emerging trend to restrict spaces for civilsociety, allegedly in the name of counter-terrorism.

For example, in work against land grabbing in Liberia, whichFriends of the Earth International has been supporting, nationalgroups have been depicted as ‘foreign agents’ who ‘challengenational sovereignty’ and undermine development. In Uganda,FoEI’s member NAPE is threatened by potential new lawsprohibiting the convening of public meetings and criminalisingthose who criticise public or private sector investments. FoEUganda has already been harassed for their defense of localcommunities, and the Ugandan government is working to closedown NGOs campaigning against land grabbing.

In 2012 FoEI created an emergency fund designed to respond tourgent cases within the FoEI network, where environmentaldefenders and their families are at imminent risk. In 2013, FoEIprovided emergency funds to support urgent cases in Colombia,Honduras, Mexico, Costa Rica, Guatemala, the Philippines,Indonesia and Nigeria. These grants have been used for emergencyshelter and relocation as well as for medical attention for defenderswho suffered attacks. Funds have enabled the implementation ofsecurity measures such as alarms and other improvements to

homes and offices. Urgent response campaigns have also beensupported to report on forced disappearances and requestinformation on the whereabouts of defenders who are missing.

In order to bring greater international attention to the plight ofthese human rights defenders, especially those in Africa andLatin America, FoEI co-organised a side event during the 2nd UNForum on Business and Human Rights in December. During theforum we also made a series of recommendations from the floorabout safeguarding the human rights of land and environmentalrights defenders.

During the year we also helped to organise internationalsolidarity actions on-line, in support of individual defendersharassed by their national authorities. Statements of solidarity,on-line petitions, and email actions target decision-makers andlet defenders at risk know that they are not alone, the world iswatching. For example, Rubén Herrera was arrested inHuehuetenango, Guatemala, on flimsy charges includingincitement and kidnapping. These were decisively refuted byRubén, and thousands of people around the world signed FoEI’son-line petition. At the next court hearing the judge eventuallydecided to release him.

Berta Cáceres was similarly harassed in Honduras, again forhelping communities to defend their lands. Adding to voices ofsolidarity in Honduras and around the world, FoEI wrote to theHonduran authorities, demanding that the legal proceedings beannulled. Following an eight-hour trial Berta was eventuallycleared of all charges.

In May, 2013, Friendsof the Earth Guatemalacoordinator Natalia Atzand Paula del Cid ofthe Feminist Allianceof Guatemala traveledto the headquarters ofHidralia SA in Spain to raise awareness inEurope about theinvolvement of thecompany in human rightsviolations.©

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exposing the drivers of land grabbing

Vale coal mine-displaced communities in Cateme,Tete province, Mozambique. © foe mozambique/gregor zielke

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Left: Men, women and youth in the Joghban Clan have been involved in thestruggle to protect the Clan's land and remained united despite the divide and rule tactics of the company.

Young men from the Joghban Clan work to produce palm oil in the traditional way.

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Industrial agriculture has long been a major cause of forestdestruction, but the ceaseless expansion of palm oil plantations forfood, fuel and cosmetics has unleashed a new wave ofdeforestation and land grabbing. There is some good news. In 2013,after years of campaigning by Friends of the Earth and other civilsociety groups, Indonesia — one of the main producers of palm oil— introduced a law limiting the size of plantations. However, thebad news is that palm oil-fueled land grabbing is shifting to Africa.

In 2013, Friends of the Earth International supported ourmember groups in Liberia and Uganda in fighting land grabs forpalm oil. We exposed the finance flowing to palm oilcorporations Wilmar and Sime Darby (operating in Uganda andLiberia respectively) and found that the land grabs are beingbacked by European financiers in particular. Our researchpinpointed British, Dutch, French and German banks backingWilmar, and found that European and American financialinstitutions have purchased substantial shares in the company.We called on these investors and their governments to putpressure on Wilmar to clean up its operations. Our campaignprompted the Dutch parliament to hold a hearing; and wesuccessfully demonstrated the risks involved in palm oilinvestments to various investors who contacted Wilmar andSime Darby about their role in land grabbing.

Friends of the Earth Europe focused on reducing demand forpalm oil by urging the EU to cap and then reduce the use ofagrofuels to zero. FoEE also published a report (‘Hidden Impacts’)on Europe’s role as a major user of global land resources anddriver of land grabbing. FoEI brought the issue of land grabbingand associated human rights violations at the hands of SimeDarby (in Malaysia) and Golden Velorum (in Indonesia) to theattention of political leaders gathered at a UN high-level panelhosted by the Liberian government in Monrovia.

In Uganda, we worked with FoEI member NAPE and local partnersto expose the activities and impacts of a palm oil project run by asubsidiary of Wilmar in Buvuma and Kalangala, usingphotoessays and videos to capture the personal and movingtestimonies of affected people. The Ugandan local governmentlaunched an official enquiry into the Wilmar-related land grab,which found in favour of FoEI and NAPE, and action to remedy thisis ongoing. NAPE also joined with other Ugandan organisationsto sue the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA)for approving the expansion of a flower farm into the LutembeWetland, a hidden bird paradise on Lake Victoria. Reclamation ofthis land is illegal under Uganda’s wetland laws.

In Liberia, FoEI partner SDI supported community-basedorganisations that are working with local communities to informthem about Sime Darby’s imminent arrival in their areas and tolet them know about the impacts experienced by othercommunities in Liberia. We also helped provide new evidenceabout human rights violations by Sime Darby, implicatingEuropean investors. In addition, SDI collaborated with villagecommunities in Grand Bassa County to file a complaint to theRoundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) relating to theconduct of the UK-based palm oil company Equatorial Palm Oil(EPO). Communities in Liberia are now better equipped to resistthe negative impacts of palm oil expansion. Our demands thatthe Liberian government reassess the process of land concessions,that Sime Darby redraft contracts with the government to betterobey human rights and Liberian law, and that EU investorsinvestigate their investments in Sime Darby are all being pursued.

Other FoEI members are also challenging the expansion ofindustrial plantations, especially in Africa. For example, inMozambique FoEI partner Justiçia Ambiental has been challengingand mobilising against the ProSavanna Master Plan which is pavingthe way for a massive land grab in northern Mozambique.

In December 2013, in response to years of pressure from civilsociety, including FoEI and many FoE member groups, WilmarInternational announced a ‘No deforestation, No Peat, NoExploitation Policy.’ However, FoEI’s campaigns continue todemonstrate that voluntary policies from corporations are merelygreen washing. FoEI is calling for governments in both home andhost countries to regulate the activities of companies currentlyengaged in land grabbing.

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climate justiceand energy

FoE Spain's action saw 200 supporters create a people's windmill,calling for a community-controlled renewable energy system. © foe spain

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Rich countries are allowing themselves to be unduly influenced bydirty energy corporations. This is one of the main reasons why, after20 years of negotiations, we still find ourselves without a bindinginternational agreement to collectively stop climate catastrophe.Governments propped up by corporate interests are clinging to dirtyenergy and its infrastructure, while trying to hide behind false andunworkable so-called ‘solutions’ like agrofuels and carbon trading.

In 2013 we focused on energy as the most important way to tackleclimate change. We researched and published ‘Good Energy, BadEnergy: transforming our energy system for people and the planet,’explaining why a just, sustainable, and climate-safe energy systemis more urgent than ever. Our report included a compendium ofthe various destructive energy sources, and a trenchant analysisof the economic drivers propping up the current energy model.

We also documented some 50 cases of community resistance todirty energies, which are being supported by FoEI and ourmembers. These include struggles against Australia’s Wandoanmega coal mine, the Hidroituango Megadam in Colombia, theresponse to the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan, oil palmplantations in Liberia, oil pollution in the Niger Delta, fracking inthe UK, and waste-to-energy incineration in Uruguay.

Tar sands and other unconventional fossil fuels (UFF) such as shale gaswere a key priority throughout the year. FoE US has been campaigningvociferously with many others to stop the Keystone XL tar sands oilpipeline, intended to transport Canadian tar sands oil across the US.FoE US’s director was one of 47 high profile environmental andprogressive leaders arrested for civil disobedience at the gates to theWhite House. Approval of the pipeline has so far been postponed.

FoEI member groups are supporting community resistance to theextraction of shale gas using hydraulic fracturing processes(‘fracking’) in many countries around the world, including SouthAfrica, Argentina, Australia, the Netherlands, Ukraine, and the UK.October saw the second annual Global Frackdown, which involvedprotests in 28 countries; and bans and moratoria on fracking arenow in place in numerous countries both in the EU and elsewhere.

FoE Europe researched and published economic analysis showing thatthe so-called success story of fracking in the US cannot be repeatedin the EU, circulating the results to a wide range of EU officials andinstitutions, and presenting them at a conference they organised inthe European Parliament. The Parliament voted for shale gas activitiesto be subject to Environmental Impact Assessment procedures.

2013 was marked by other notable dirty energy campaignvictories. Colombia’s first municipality-level public consultation onoil projects rejected them. The European Bank for Reconstructionand Development cancelled a loan for a controversial Croatiandam. Guatemalan communities successfully blocked studiesconcerning the construction of the Xalalá hydrolectric project. AndYoung FoE Norway received the long awaited news that vulnerableareas in the extreme north of Norway, the Lofoten islands, are tobe closed to the oil industry for the next four years.

Collaborative movement-building activities included helping toorganise a global day of action to ‘End the Age of Coal’, and the ‘ReclaimPower’ month of action in November. FoEI helped facilitate the ‘GlobalPower Shift,’ a training programme for 500 young climate activists, inTurkey. FoEI, Justiça Ambiental/FoE Mozambique and others co-hostedthe inaugural meeting of the new ‘No REDD in Africa’ network, inMaputo; and FoEI member groups participated in activities organisedwithin the ‘Climate Space’ and by the Global Campaign to DemandClimate Justice, at the World Social Forum in Tunis.

Throughout the year we engaged in the ongoing UN climatechange negotiations, specifically focusing on the need to stopdirty energy and develop non-market mechanisms that delivertransformative solutions.

In 2013 we also paid special attention to dirty energy campaigncommunications. groundWork/FoE South Africa published aprimer on climate change and false solutions in April. Togetherwith Sourced TV, we also published a powerful video about theimpacts of climate change and tourism development on mangroveforests and the livelihoods of communities in El Salvador.

Left: Friends of the Earth demands climate justice in Warsaw.

The Everest 'climbing for climate justice' expedition aimed to raise awarenessof the impacts of climate change and the need for climate justice. It wasorganised by Save the Himalayas Campaign and Khangri Media in collaborationwith Friends of the Earth Nepal/Pro Public.

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Activists includingfrom FoE US arearrested in front ofthe White House whilstprotesting against theKeystone XL pipeline.

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forests andbiodiversity

FoE Sri Lanka/CEJ organised a Buddhist tree ordination ceremony to raisepublic awareness about land grabbing in Nigala. As a result the governmenttook action and the land grabbing stopped. © foe sri lanka/CIC

Our programmes in focus

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Left: Worker harvesting palm from one of the vast plantations in West Kalimantan.

Community forest rangers in the Lower Lempa Valley, El Salvador. They guard against regular illegal hunting and tree felling, and stop cattle entering the forest.

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The acquisition of land for industrial agriculture and the rampantconsumption of oil, timber and mining products continue todevastate the world’s forests and biodiversity. However, thesethreats are being aggravated by new policies that seek tocommodify and financialise natural processes themselves,transforming the vital functions of forests, biodiversity andecosystems into new, complex and profitable financial products.Special mechanisms, such as carbon markets and REDD (ReducingEmissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation), have beencreated to facilitate the buying and selling of these products.

This hostile take over of nature is being disguised as a ‘solution’ tobiodiversity loss and climate change, yet it is anything but. In 2013Friends of the Earth International focused on developing a clear anddetailed critique exposing the faulty logic being employed, with aview to achieving a ‘No REDD’ position. REDD provides an exampleof how complex, risky and unreliable financial mechanisms can be.For example, it conflates the long-term geological carbon cycle withthe short-term above-ground carbon cycle, creating an illusion thatwe can continue to extract fossil fuels from below ground whilstprotecting the climate. This head-in-the-sand deception allowspolluters to keep on polluting. REDD also creates perverseincentives that can actually encourage deforestation and theexpansion of tree plantations. It is also risky and unreliable; and itdoes nothing to actually address excessive demand for foods andother commodities whose production leads to deforestation.

During the year FoEI member groups in countries such as Nigeria andCosta Rica helped to expand the global movement against REDD, byworking with communities to collect testimonies, oppose nationalpolicies and develop alternatives. FoEI’s partner in Mozambique,Justiçia Ambiental, co-hosted the inaugural meeting of the new ‘NoREDD in Africa’ network (NRAN) in August, together with alliesincluding the World Rainforest Movement and La Via Campesina

FoEI also supported the work of Indonesian partner WALHI andFoE Australia in helping put an end to the first REDD pilot projectin Kalimantan. Funded by Australia Aid, the Kalimantan Forests

and Climate Partnership (KFCP) was quietly shelved in 2013,having failed to achieve any of its objectives.

Fortunately community-led forest management provides a viableand effective solution to forest degradation and deforestation. Forexample, FoEI member CESTA campaigned with coastal communitiesin El Salvador to protect their livelihoods and the country’s mangroveforests and endangered species — all of which are threatened by theFomilenio II tourism infrastructure development plan. Collectivelythey developed sustainable crab and clam management processes,and CESTA advocated for the legal recognition of the communitiesas managers of the mangrove area. The campaign was enhancedwith a photo gallery and powerful video testimonies. With FoEI’sIndonesian member WALHI we also produced a video on communityforest management in West Kalimantan.

We also continued supporting communities resisting the relentlessspread of tree plantations and illegal logging in numerouscountries, including Cameroon, Indonesia, Malaysia and Uganda.

This practical approach was underpinned by publications suchas ‘From Policy to Reality,’ a detailed analysis of the timber tradein Malaysia, Japan, South Korea and Australia; and videos andfactsheets about community forest management in Indonesia.

FoE Australia also hosted an Australian speaking tour forrepresentatives from WALHI to highlight the adverse andirreversible damage that can be expected if Australiancorporation BHP Billiton succeeds in establishing a massivecoalmine in Central Kalimantan in Indonesia.

In addition, FoEI, FoE member groups in Finland and Sweden, andallies filed a complaint with the UN Human Rights Councilagainst Nordic pulp and paper giant Stora Enso, concerning itsdisrespect for nature and human rights in China.

Left: The KamparPeninsula in Indonesiais under threat of beingdeforested and treeplantations installedfor REDD money.

One of the largestcoalmines inKalimantan, Indonesia.

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Concepcion Martinez Vigil is the vice president of the Octavio Ortiz community, El Salvador.He is concerned by the climatic changes and flooding which increasingly affects the LempaRiver, but he believes that his method of farming, along with his hugely diverse cropsystem, is helping him to continue to feed his family and earn an income. © foei/jason taylor

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food sovereignty

Our programmes in focus

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La Troja is a solidarytrade shop run by FoECosta Rica in thecentre of San Jose. Itsells 100% local andfairly traded products.

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In 2013, we focused on building a deeper understanding of andsupport for member groups seeking to implement agro-ecologyas a feasible and healthy alternative to industrial food production.

For example, in Honduras, Friends of the Earth Internationalmember Madre Tierra promoted agro-ecological vegetablegardens in 16 slum communities, with teaching and capacity-building for women about water saving, irrigation, organic pestcontrol, earthworms and compost. The initiative impressed thePresident, who allocated funds to improve the communities’housing and tenure. Similarly, Maudesco, FoEI’s member groupin Mauritius, completed a project empowering 1,500 householdsto compost their household waste for use in small-scale familyfarming. It was so successful they found themselves with anincredible waiting list of 10,000 households!

We also continued collaborative campaigning internationally,especially with strategic ally La Via Campesina and otherorganisations promoting food sovereignty under the umbrella of the Nyéléni Newsletter. A key focus was the 40th session of theCommittee on World Food Security (CFS) in Rome, where we succeeded in getting governments to commit to investmentssupporting the central role of smallholders in agriculture and food security.

In addition we continued to resist and mobilise opposition to theagribusiness model. In El Salvador, for example, FoEI partnerCESTA and allies successfully persuaded the Legislative Assemblyto ban 53 agrotoxics (a ban which now needs to be ratified bySalvadoran President Mauricio Funes). In Uruguay, FoEI memberREDES and allies had similar success raising public and officialawareness about the dangers of genetically modified (GM)organisms, convincing the municipal legislature of Montevideoto require the labeling of food containing GM ingredients.

Campaigning against industrially produced and geneticallyengineered food also continued apace in the US and Europe. FoEUS initiated a new campaign for GE-free seafood, and FoE Europeand allies launched a new ‘Stop the Crop!’ campaign as theEuropean Commission moved to reconsider approvals for 25 GMcrops. Research commissioned by FoE Europe found the pesticideglyphosate in human urine samples in 18 European countries.FoE Europe also published an innovative report, ‘The Meat Atlas’,outlining the impact of intensive meat and dairy production onfreshwater usage and land across the world.

Walter Gomez, is anagronomist working forFoE El Salvador. Heworks with localcommunities promotingagroecologicalpractices.

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Organic fruit,vegetables andproducts beingproduced in a smallfarm in an urban area,La Gomera.

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economic justice –resisting neoliberalism

Protests in Chiapas, Mexico, on the InternationalDay Against Dams, 14 March 2013. © foe mexico/otros mundos chiapas

Our programmes in focus

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Transforming economic systems so that they deliver realeconomic and environmental justice remains central to Friendsof the Earth International’s vision and mission. In 2013, wesought to catalyse radical change by co-hosting an internationalseminar on ‘Beyond Development, Extractivism, Globalizationand Capitalism’ in Maputo. This fostered fertile discussionamongst a diverse group of people, from communities engagedin grassroots struggles against coal in Mozambique, through towomen’s movements building principles of feminist economiesand academics from South Korea.

Many FoEI member groups, such as CENSAT Agua Viva inColombia, are mobilising in defence of water, so we also wadedinto the murky waters of financialisation. The resulting report,‘Economic Drivers of Water Financialization,’ provides an incrediblediversity of contexts and points of view about water injustice,economic drivers, people’s solutions and policy recommendations.

Governments’ and corporations’ relentless efforts to promote abusiness-friendly deregulation and liberalising agenda continueto be a major concern in all sectors. For example, although theWTO’s struggling negotiations focused on an unclear ‘BaliPackage’ at its 9th Ministerial Meeting in Bali in December, theresults still pose a significant threat to food sovereignty, and willlead to more hunger and death. FoEI took part in mobilisationsagainst the WTO, and in the people’s tribunal on the WTO andcorporate crimes related to the privatisation of nature. We alsojoined talks about alternatives for economic justice—economiesfor life—contributing the outcomes of the Maputo seminar.

FoEI member groups in Europe and FoE US are alarmed by the newlyinitiated Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP)negotiations which threaten environmental, consumer and socialregulatory standards on both sides of the Atlantic, especially if TTIPallows foreign investors to sue governments. TTIP could, for example,prevent the EU restricting imports of dirty tar sands or geneticallymodified organisms. FoE Europe published numerous analyses onthe subject in 2013, including ‘Trading Away our Future?’.

FoE Mexico similarly observed that the proposed Trans-PacificPartnership (TPP) could be even worse than  the previouslyproposed (but failed) negotiations to establish a Free Trade Treatyof the Americas (FTAA). These threats are explained in a short filmpublished by FoE US in 2013, ‘Peril in the Pacific: Trans Pacifictrade agreement threatens people and the planet.’

In March, groundWork/FoE South Africa co-hosted a civil societyforum in Durban, in parallel to the meeting of heads of statesfrom the ‘BRICS’ countries—Brazil, Russia, India, China and SouthAfrica—denouncing the corporate-led model of developmentbeing implemented by BRICS governments, which is highlyenergy intensive and focused on the extractive industries.

FoE Europe is making great strides in terms of challenging theongoing corporate capture of EU institutions and officials. In2013 they filed or pursued complaints about: the ethics policy ofthe European Chemicals Agency (ECHA); a conflict of interestconcerning the European Commission (EC) and thebiotechnology industry; unethical lobbying and misleadingadvertising by the shale gas industry; and the prohibited use ofparliamentary premises for lobbying by the Association of FormerMEPs. In July, the European Ombudsman ruled in favour of acomplaint about maladministration by the EC, in relation to BP’sand Shell’s lobbying budgets.

Left: Civil society representatives challenge the WTO'scorporate agenda inside the WTO Ministerial Conferencein Bali, Indonesia, 3-6 December 2013.

People challenge the WTO's corporate agenda outside the WTO Ministerial in Bali.

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Left: FoE Europe and allies organised a protest outside the European Parliament,in which bankers speculating on food were restrained with hazard tape.

FoE US opposing the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the environmentalderegulation and social injustice that comes with it.

African activists unite to challenge REDD at a seminar in Maputo,Mozambique, co-organised by FoE Mozambique. © foe mozambique/no redd in africa network

20 | foei

building capacity andincreasing engagement

Our federation

foei | 21

Friends of the Earth International recognises that in order toachieve our vision, we must work to build an environmentaljustice movement with the capacity to fundamentally transformour world. Indeed, FoEI’s ‘theory of change’ entails membergroups transforming themselves in order to transform the world.Our power lies in the collective strength of our member groups,and we are investing in developing member groups’ capacity tocollaborate with others and engage in transnational advocacyand campaign work.

Sustainability School

In May, FoE Latin America and the Caribbean organised theregion’s ‘Sustainability School’ in Colombia. The school focusedon building common political analyses and developing strategiesfor popular environmental justice education. Representativesfrom FoE groups in Africa and Europe were also invited in orderto integrate international perspectives, promote exchangebetween regions, and find out how to replicate the school inother FoE regions. As a result, the Sustainability School will bepiloted in Tanzania in 2014.

Communicators for Climate and Energy Justice

In June, FoEI organised a workshop in Johannesburg to build thecommunications capacity of member and partner organisationscampaigning on climate justice and energy issues in Africa.Together with FoEI campaign and communications staff,participants developed communications strategies focused ondirty energy development in Africa. Participants drafted a jointletter to the US government co-signed by 75 Africanenvironmental organisations, raising concerns about the ‘PowerAfrica’ initiative and the ‘Electrify Africa Act’, and the involvementof US-based fossil fuel companies in large-scale energyinfrastructure development in Africa.

Targeted member group support

As a result of FoEI-facilitated meetings in Palestine in October2013, FoEI has developed strategies with FoEI’s Palestinianmember group, the Palestinian Environmental NGO Network(PENGON) to strengthen its network coordination capacity, andprovide more opportunities for collaborative campaigning by itsmembers. The plan will also serve to make Palestinianenvironmental justice issues and the work of PENGON morevisible internationally, and to make international environmentaljustice issues more visible within Palestine.

Support for Human Rights Defenders

FoEI also supported member groups dealing with an alarmingincrease in violence towards community members acting indefence of their rights and livelihoods. Based on the experiences ofallied human rights defenders and FoEI groups’ legal teams,numerous efforts included trainings for activists in Sri Lanka,Colombia and Belgium, to build awareness of the legal and practicaltools available for defending human rights, and to develop context-specific strategies for protecting environmental defenders.

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FoE Latin America and the Caribbean'sSustainability Schoolmet in Colombia in 2013.

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Climate Communicatorsworkshop inJohannesburg, SouthAfrica, May 2013.

22 | foei

our

finances

Amounts in Euro

Total Expenses 1,809,571

FoEI’s complete audited financial statement is available at www.foei.org/about-foei/annual-reports/annual-report-2013/

Friends of the Earth International wishes to thank our generous individualsupporters and institutional donors:

Dutch Ministry of Foreign AffairsIsvara FoundationEurope AidSwedish Society for Nature ConservationEED / Brot für die Welt

Lee & Gund FoundationFriends of the Earth CroatiaCharles Stewart Mott FoundationFriends of the Earth Hungary

Fundraising(71,744; 4%)

Governance(114,521; 6%)

Administration(145,538; 8%)

Programmes (803,722; 45%)

Support members& regions (674,046; 37%)

Total Revenue 1,860,3712013 Surplus 50,800

Grants(1,395,315; 75%)

Membership fees(443,770; 24%)

Other (11,572; 0.6%)Donations (9,715; 0.5%)

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Above: FoEIinternationalprogrammecoordinators.

FoEI internationalsecretariat staff.

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foei | 23

our 2013

executive committee

Chair: Jagoda Munic, FoE Croatia

Vice Chair: Karin Nansen, FoE Uruguay

Treasurer: Hemantha Withanage, FoE Sri Lanka

Tatiana Roa Avendaño, FoE Colombia

Nnimmo Bassey, FoE Nigeria

Elaine Gilligan, FoE England, Wales and Northern Ireland

Meena Raman, FoE Malaysia

Daniel Ribeiro, FoE Mozambique

Meena Raman at a UNFCCCpress conference.

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FoEI ExecutiveCommittee members

(from left to right):Tatiana Roa Avendano,Meena Raman, ElaineGilligan, HemanthaWithanage, Jagoda

Munic, Nnimmo Bassey,Daniel Ribeiro.

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Tatiana Roa Avendano.

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Nnimmo Bassey talkingat the World Forum onHuman Rights andSustainability inNantes, France.

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FoEI Chair person Jagoda Munic at a pressconference in Ramallah with FoE Palestine/PENGONChair Dr. Ayman Rabi.

www.foei.org

Africa

CameroonGhanaLiberiaMaliMauritiusMozambiqueNigeriaSierra LeoneSouth AfricaSwazilandTanzaniaTogoTunisiaUganda

Asia - Pacific

AustraliaBangladeshIndonesiaJapanMalaysiaNepalNew ZealandPalestinePapua New GuineaPhilippinesSouth KoreaSri LankaTimor-Leste

Europe

AustriaBelgium (Wallonia & Brussels)Belgium (Flanders)BulgariaCroatiaCyprusCzech RepublicDenmarkEngland, Wales and

Northern IrelandEstoniaFinlandFranceGeorgiaGermanyHungary

IrelandItalyLatviaLithuaniaLuxembourgMacedonia (formerYugoslav Republic of)MaltaNetherlandsNorwayPolandScotlandSlovakiaSpainSwedenSwitzerlandUkraine

Latin America and Caribbean

ArgentinaBrazilChileColombiaCosta RicaCuraçao (Antilles)El SalvadorGrenada (West Indies)GuatemalaHaitiHondurasMexicoParaguayUruguay

North America

CanadaUnited States

Friends of the Earth groups around

the world

Friends of the Earth International Secretariat P.O. Box 19199, 1000 GD Amsterdam, The Netherlands Tel: 31 20 622 1369 Fax: 31 20 639 2181

cover image © foei/jason taylor