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annual report 2009friends of the earth international

B a r c e l o n a c l i m a t e t a l k s

.

F o E B e l g i u m ( F l a n d e r s & B r u s s e l s ) .

F o E I F l o o d A c t i o n i n C o p e n h a g e n , C

h r i s t o f f e r A s k m a n .


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2 | annual report [2009]

our vision and our mission

contents

4about friendsof the earthinternational

3hello friendsaround theworld!

5radio mundoreal

sustainabilityschool

6networkdevelopment

8internationalprogramhighlights in2009

25funding 2009

26contact us

24new media

and creativecampaigning

our visionFriends of the Earth International is a worldwide grassroots environmental network campaigning for an ecologicallysustainable, just and peaceful world. We are a vibrant, credible and effective federation, driving social transformationand securing sustainable, gender just and equitable societies.

Our strength comes from our solidarity, passion, and shared beliefs. We respect each other and value our diversity. Weinspire and bring about change by living according to our values, and we learn from our experiences. In turn, we areinspired by successful campaigns and strengthened by the friendships and alliances we forge.

Our vision is of a peaceful and sustainable world based on societies living in harmony with nature. We envision a society of interdependent people living in dignity, wholeness and fulfilment in which equity and human and peoples rights are realized.

This will be a society built upon peoples sovereignty and participation. It will be founded on social, economic, genderand environmental justice and free from all forms of domination and exploitation, such as neoliberalism, corporateglobalization, neo-colonialism and militarism.

We believe that our childrens future will be better because of what we do.

our mission1. To collectively ensure environmental and social justice, human dignity, and respect

for human rights and peoples rights so as to secure sustainable societies.2. To halt and reverse environmental degradation and depletion of natural resources,

nurture the earths ecological and cultural diversity, and secure sustainable livelihoods.3. To secure the empowerment of indigenous peoples, local communities, women,

groups and individuals, and to ensure public participation in decision making.4. To bring about transformation towards sustainability and equity between and within societies

with creative approaches and solutions.5. To engage in vibrant campaigns, raise awareness, mobilize people and build alliances

with diverse movements, linking grassroots, national and global struggles.6. To inspire one another and to harness, strengthen and complement each others capacities,

living the change we wish to see and working together in solidarity.

23website,

media andpublications

13member groupvictories in2009


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Ronnie Hall.

annual report [2009] | 3

hello friends around the world!nnimmo bassey | friends of the earth international chair, nigeria

Who we are, what we doand why we do the thingsthat we do: these are thequestions we set out toanswer in this, our 2009annual report. Should I startby saying who I am? Thank you. I am Nnimmo Bassey,Chair of Friends of the EarthInternational, and it is myhonor to welcome you to our2009 annual report. We hope you will find it an inspiringand energizing read!

Although the struggles of peoples andcommunities across the world remain manyand varied, it is clear that more and more of us are now joining hands to make a real andlasting difference to the world we live in.

Strong new links are being forged on thebasis of a common agenda, founded on ashared desire for justice and sustainability.FoEI is committed to this collective effort, toresistance, mobilization and transformation.We work closely with allied socialmovements, such as La Via Campesina andthe World March of Women.

In case you do not know us yet, we are aglobal grassroots environmentalorganization uniting 77 national membergroups and some 5,000 local activistgroups across all continents. The groupscampaign together to improve the abilityof peoples and communities around theworld to secure sustainable livelihoods andto protect our environment for futuregenerations. We work on the basis of solidarity, drawing our energies from ourdiverse backgrounds but pursuing a unified

vision of the world we wish to live in.Happily, this annual report shows thechanges that people from so manydifferent walks of l ife can bring aboutwhen they choose to walk together!

what will you find in this report?

You can read more about who we are, andour vision and mission.

Find out how our Strategic Action Plan isshaping up, how we are strengtheningFoEI and decentralizing it, how we areworking with movements, building ourstrategic alliances and transformingourselves into a learning organization,that builds on past experiences andcurrent skills and knowledge.

What did we achieve in 2009? The answer

is that together with our allies, weachieved a great deal! With so manygroups, in so many parts of the world,working on so many issues, the list is long.There is only space in this report todescribe some of the highlights of ourinternational programs and campaigns (formore information about our campaignsplease see our on-line annual report atwww.foei.org/en/resources/publications/annual-report/annual-report-2009 ).

These highlights illustrate how we helped to

foster international solidarity for crucial localand national struggles for environmental justice, and how we campaignedinternationally to shift the balance of power,economically and institutionally, towardsthe needs of peoples and the environment.

Find out about our communicationsachievements throughout the year usingwords, images, art, film, video and music.Learn more about Real World Radio, andfind out about our annual photographycompetition. Read about FoEIs media work.

And read about the amazing diversity,creativity and power of our member groupsin Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean,Asia Pacific, Europe and North America.Many of the activities of these groups onthe ground have been supported by ourMembership Support Fund.

Last but not least, you can see how ourlocal, national and international workis supported by our generous fundersand donors.

N n i m m o B a s s e y i n C o p e n h a g e n .


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In 1981, a small International Secretariatwas set up, and in 1983 an ExecutiveCommittee was elected. In 1986, theannual meeting was hosted for the firsttime by an organization from the South,Sahabat Alam Malaysia/Friends of theEarth Malaysia. In 1985, a Europeancoordinating body was established withan office in Brussels, Friends of the EarthEurope; in 2001, Latin American andCaribbean groups formed their own

regional coordinating body; in 2006Friends of the Earth groups in Africaformally established a coordinating body;body; and in 2008 the Asia Pacific regionadopted a formal regional structure.

Friends of the Earth International is highlydecentralized: we are made up of autonomous organizations that complywith the guidelines established by thefederation. Friends of the EarthInternational is democratic: every two yearsthere is a general meeting where thepolicies and activities of the federation aredecided, and in which all members have anequal say. This Bi-annual General Meeting(BGM) elects an Executive Committee

(ExCom), which meets several times per year. The ExCom employs and oversees thework of an International Secretariat inAmsterdam composed of some 20 staff and volunteers from all over the world.

There are now 77 Friends of the Earthmember groups and 12 affiliatescampaigning internationally, nationallyand locally. We are united by the commonconviction that creating environmentallyand socially sustainable societies requiresboth strong grassroots activism and

effective national and global campaigning.

about friends of the earth international

Friends of the EarthInternational wasfounded in 1971 byfour organizationsfrom France,Sweden, Englandand the USA. Todaysfederation of 70groups grew fromannual meetings of environmentalists

from differentcountries whoagreed to campaigntogether on certaincrucial issues, suchas nuclear energyand whaling.


Y o u n g F o E E a c t i v i s t s i n B o n n .

F o E I B G M i n H o n d u r a s .


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The annual Sustainability School convenedby Friends of the Earth Latin America and theCaribbean (ATALC) provides space for a newform of learning and information exchangein Latin America and the Caribbean.

In 2009, the Sustainability School moved toCosta Rica. 35 participants joined FoE CostaRica/COECOCeiba in the community of Juanilama, a rural settlement in theNorthern Zone that is home to some 124campesinos, who grow grains and manage asmall forest reserve. The participants - whocame from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia,Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala,Honduras, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru and

Uruguay - enjoyed the generous hospitalityof the community, staying with peasantfamilies for the duration of their visit.

The Sustainability Schools activities weredeveloped collectively and the centraltheme was the defense of land. In this way,the five-day School aimed to integrate therealities - faced by communities across theregion - in to ATALCs fights and campaigns,including on plantations, forests,biodiversity, food sovereignty, mining,climate change and free trade. A detailedand colorful report of the meeting wassubsequently published, to ensure that theresults of the school were accuratelyrecorded and can be shared with others.

with thanks to our funders:the isvara foundation

Radio Mundo Real (Real World Radio) isFriends of the Earths online multilingualradio service run by Friends of the EarthUruguay/REDES. It was established inSeptember 2003 to cover the protests at theWorld Trade Organizations 5 th MinisterialConference in Cancun, Mexico. The radiosupports social movements, networks andorganizations resisting liberalization.

Real World Radio produces a daily newsreport, which is syndicated to communityradio stations around the world. The reportis offered in a variety of formats, both audioand written, and CDs are distributed to radiostations in regions without good internetaccess. A newsletter with the most relevantnews stories and features on specific themesis distributed to a list of subscribers - mostlyorganizations - and to several electronic lists.The different themes it covers have beenorganized to foster and facilitate interactionwith FoEI programs. New sections have alsobeen created, such as the one for PeoplesAffected by Climate Change.

In 2009, Real World Radio launched its newwebsite, with a range of new features,including video transmission. It started alive show in English with correspondentsfrom Asia and Africa. It also launched thesite in French, in partnership with

colleagues from Friends of the Earth Togo,and with the help of a volunteer who readsthe stories in French from its studio inUruguay. It also updated its Italian site, andbroadcast a special live show in Italianduring the Peoples Forum for FoodSovereignty 2009 held in November inRome, in parallel to the FAO World Summiton Food Security.

The radio collected community testimonieson the peoples struggles and resistance tomining, agrofuels and transnationalcorporations engaged in genetic modification.

During 2009, the radio also covered severalevents organized by La Via Campesina,

Friends of the Earth International and otherorganizations, at which it was able tointerview activists, peasants and nativepeoples from around the world. Anexample of this was Real World Radioscoverage of the Peoples Summit and thePermanent Peoples Tribunal againstTransnational Corporations, held in May inMadrid, in parallel to the Summit of Headsof State and Government of Latin Americaand the EU.

The radio also began coverage of theactivities held parallel to the FAOsconsultations on land grabbing, whichbegan in Brasilia, and will continue inBurkina Faso and Rome.

Real World Radio decentralized itsproduction. It was able to include manymore voices from different countries inLatin America, Asia and Africa (specificallyin Argentina, Colombia, El Salvador,Guatemala, Palestine and Togo) by creatinga network of correspondents both fromFriends of the Earth groups and from otherorganizations, all of whom are dedicated tocommunity communications.

real world radio: voicing the concerns of thousands

FoE Costa Rica hosts sustainabilitity school.

R a d i o M u n d o R e a l .

sustainability school


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FoEI has been developing andimplementing its current strategicplan over the course of the pastfour years. It incorporates apolitical framework, a strategicaction plan, and numerousorganizational developmentprocesses and activities, includingthose that enable us to analyzeour effectiveness, and modify ourfuture actions on the basis of whatwe have learned. As such, FoEIsstrategic plan is a working

document, not one that is writtenin stone: it is constantly beingrevised and refined, based onexperience and on the ever-changing global and politicalcontext within which we work.


program integration team

At the end of 2008, FoEIs HondurasBiannual General Meeting (BGM)mandated the Program Integration Team(PIT) to take responsibility for the progressand development of FoEIs programs andcampaigns, to ensure political coherencebetween them, and alignment with FoEIsstrategic plan.

The PIT team met all program andcampaign coordinators at a meeting inOxford, UK, in 2009. This meeting was alsopreceded by an international campaigns

skillshare, during which 35 FoEIcampaigners came together over four daysto share skills, experiences and ideas.

The skillshare increased our understandingof similarities in the way we work indifferent countries and regions. It alsodeepened our understanding of thecomplexity of our international campaigns breaking through the myths of North-South divides to understand the nuancesof political positions, and effectivecampaigning with communities.

We also learned more about the linksbetween local and international struggles,particularly the practical implications of bringing our mission and vision to thenational level.

membership development team

2009 was a very exciting year formembership development. Membergroups articulated key membership-related questions and then proposed and

drafted a Membership DevelopmentStrategy (MDS) based on FoEIs vision,mission and values.

The MDS has brought greater clarity toFoEIs membership areas. Priorities are therevision of membership criteria; thestrengthening and involvement of membergroups in the international programs;evaluation; expansion of the federation;the organization of FoEI membershipissues, including the formal delegation of membership issues to regions; and

decision-making and conflict resolution.

FoEIs overall strategy describes thestrategic themes: resist, mobilize and

transform. But it doesnt describe thespecific political objectives that thefederation as a whole is seeking toaccomplish through these strategies; nordo the political discussions and outcomesof each of the individual programs.

In the end, FoEI is only as effective as thecoordinated actions of its member groups:by increasing the level of clarity about ourpolitical goals and objectives we canengage broader and more diversecontributions from member groups and

the regions.We need to create more space for membergroups to act internationally in theirnational and regional contexts, whilst notlosing our political focus.

FoEI decided that an important next stepwould be to translate the overall strategicplan into a concrete strategic action plan(STAP) with specific political targets thatthe federation aims to achieve in themedium and short term.

Over the past four years, FoEI decided onthe political framework for the differentprogram areas, and engaged in severaltargeted campaigns. We also established anumber of federation-wide networkdevelopment teams.

network development

F o E C r o a t i a t o x i c s a c t i o n .

F o E I f o r e s t c a m p a i g n e r s a t B o n n c l i m a t e t a l k s

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W


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annual report [2009] | 7Three steps one bow action Incheon FoE South Korea/KFEM.The Elders with FoE Middle East.

In addition to the membership criteriathemselves, we have developed a series of

indicators of organizational capacity, inorder to gauge the different obstacles ourmembers face when trying to participate inFoEI programs.

Based on need, individual capacity buildingplans are to be developed by groups, andshared at the regional level, rendering FoEImore fully a learning organization. TheMDS will be circulated for furtherconsultation in the regions in 2010.

communications integration team

The BGM in Honduras also agreed that thefederation needed a communicationsstrategy, and a team to ensure itsimplementation. The CommunicationIntegration Teams main focus in 2009 wasthe drafting of this strategy, with inputfrom international program coordinators,national communicators, regionalmeetings, and FoEIs Executive Committee.

The communications strategy has beencreated in order to provide clear andsynchronized messages about thefederation and our campaigns, so that wecan better harness the power of all of ourgroups and campaigns and move to ahigher level in terms of our credibility andimpact as a global federation. The strategyincludes a goal, objectives, main messages,key audiences, and important tools.

As with other areas of the FoEI strategicplan, we hope that groups will work toalign their own communications strategieswith the federations strategy. The idea isthat national communications strategies,regional communications strategies, andthe FoEI communications strategy aremutually supportive. Groups are of coursefree to use the elements of the strategythat work best in their national context,and also to adapt other elements to fittheir specific realities.

Each program and campaign also workedthroughout 2009 to draft keycommunications messages that will beintegrated into the overall communicationsstrategy. The draft communications strategyis slated for adoption at the 2010 BGM.

decentralizing foei

Decentralization is a key theme that hasemerged from the strategic planning process.FoEIs commitment to decentralization stemsfrom our grassroots nature and ourcommitment to helping to develop orstrengthen social movements. For FoEI, theterm decentralization refers to a process thatallows all member groups to maximize theirability to participate in and lead thefederations organizational and politicaldevelopment. Supporting a more regionalapproach to mobilization will increase FoEIsoverall capacity to reach out to the public.

FoEI has taken several successful steps todecentralize key functions while ensuring astrong international focus in all of ouractivities. Key recent achievements includeensuring that program strategies arerooted in local realities, and that programsteering committees are regionallyrepresentative. Regional structures are alsotaking on regional capacity buildingprojects, membership expansion, and tosome extent resource allocation.

learning within foei

FoEI is a learning organization. We arecommitted to ongoing learning, be itpolitical, strategic or organizational. As theworld changes, FoEI needs to change theway we campaign, the way wecommunicate, and the way we organizeourselves internally. Learning is not anoption; it is a necessity for any organizationthat wants to be able to address theshifting environmental, social and

economic challenges we face.Learning within FoEI is happening throughour network development teams, which areconstantly being challenged to analyze theeffectiveness of their activities, and adaptand sharpen their strategies in response.

solidarity with social movementsand strategic allies

In 2009, FoEI sharpened its understandingof its role in the broader political context of the different social movements. It is clearthat FoEI is not a social movement itself:we are an international network of grassroots organizations. In the broadercontext, however, FoEI acts as a socialchange organization that aims to move amovement of people in support of ourvision and mission. Strengthening ourstrategic alliances has become our mosteffective strategy for mobilizing people insupport of a just and sustainable world.

The scope of FoEIs strategic alliance with LaVia Campesina (LVC) expanded dramaticallyin 2009. The cooperation extends from theleadership of both organizations to thenational and local levels, where membergroups of both organizations campaign sideby side. Working to establish a similarrelationship with the World March of Women(WMW), FoEI has increased cooperation at thelevel of actions and campaigns.

FoEI also hosts solidarity missions. In July2009, for example, following the coup byHonduran President Manuel Zelaya, FoEIalso sent an international mission toHonduras, together with Via Campesina.The mission consisted of a delegation of Central American peasants andrepresentatives of several internationalsocial organizations. They visited Hondurasto offer their support and solidarity tonational social organizations calling for thereturn of the democratically electedpresident; many of these organizationshave also been key players in theMovement of Victims Affected by ClimateChange in Central America.


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un and oecd draft new ruleson corporate behaviorThrough the European Coalition forCorporate Justice (ECCJ), FoEI has helped todevelop legal proposals for corporateaccountability and to improve OECDguidelines. The OECD now plans to reviseits guidelines for multinational companies.The UN has also adopted the RuggieFramework for Business and Human Rights,in response to pressure from civil societygroups including FoEI. The EU has alsostarted research into improving protectionfor developing country citizens, against thenegative impacts of EU-based business.

new eu register tracks lobbyistsThe EJRN Program also developed proposalsfor the EU and G-20 to regulate both EUlobbying and the financial sector. Thisincluded a campaign for the implementationof an EU lobby registry which has now beenimplemented (although it only calls forvoluntary registration so far). FoE alsoconvinced the European Commission that theEuropean Chemical Industry Council (CEFIC)had falsified its lobby expenditure report, andthe Commission temporarily suspended CEFICas a result. Additionally, FoE won a case withthe European Ombudsman concerning EU

officials that accepted gifts from companiesthey were supervising. The EU is nowpreparing new rules on conflicts of interest.

call for suspension of eu-perutrade negotiationsIn 2009, FoEs Global Europe campaigncalled for the suspension of the EU-Perutrade negotiations, particularly overconcerns about human rights violations.FoE also supported a delegation of representatives of Indigenous Peoples fromPeru, Bolivia and Colombia, who touredEuropean capitals to publicize the impactsof mining and biofuels. Although thenegotiations have not yet been suspended,this collaborative campaign has so farresulted in a commitment from theEuropean Commission that the AssociatedAgreement with Peru will not contain anyprovision which would be detrimental tothe rights of indigenous people. On theother hand it will contain proposals thatguarantee that trade and economicdevelopment respect the environment, aswell as a binding human rights clause.

exposing shells big dirty secretPersuading Shell to improve its businesspractices continues to be a priority. This hasincluded support to FoE Nigeria to exposethe harmful nature of gas flaring, whichcontributed to the Nigerian foreign ministerpublicly committing to enforcing the ban ongas flaring as of January 2010. FoEI alsocollaborated with several organizations topublish Shells Big Dirty Secret, whichdocuments Shells continued investment inthe dirtiest forms of energy and its positionas the worlds most carbon intensive oilcompany. An OECD complaint filed by FoENetherlands resulted in a commitment byShell to improve its oil depot in thePhilippines and communication withsurrounding communities.

shell settles out of court for complicityin murder of nigerian activistsIn the US, the ShellGuilty campaignlaunched by FoEI, Oil Change and PlatformLondon, finally saw justice done when Shellwas forced to pay a US$15.5 million out-of-court settlement for its complicity in the1995 murder of nine Nigerian activists whoopposed its gas flaring, under the US AlienTort Statute.

The Economic Justice-Resisting Neoliberalism Programsobjective is to develop sustainable societies by buildingpeoples power and dismantling corporate power,stopping corporate-led neo-liberalism and globalization,and challenging the institutions and governments thatpromote unequal and unsustainable economic systems.

economic justice-resisting neoliberalism

international campaign highlights in 2009


F o E E u r o p e

f i n a n c i a l c r

i s i s a c t

i o n .

S h e l l G u i l t y a c t i o n .

F o E I A n g r y M e r m a i d c a r t o o n .


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foei and nigerians take shellto court in the hagueOn 3 December the Netherlands-basedcourt case against Shell got under way inThe Hague. The case has been brought bythree Nigerian communities and FoENetherlands/Milieudefensie over oilpollution in Nigeria. Shell asked the courtto rule that the Dutch court has no jurisdiction over Shell Nigeria, but on 30December the court held that the Dutchcourt does have jurisdiction. Given thatShell has now lost this point, an importanthurdle has been overcome, and the reallawsuit can begin. This is the first timein history that a Dutch company hasbeen brought to trial in a Dutch courtfor damages occurring abroad.

third annual sustainability school andcommunity exchanges a great successThe EJRN Program was also very successfulin strengthening hundreds of communityindividuals and activists across the world,including through the Third Annual LatinAmerican Sustainability School (see page13), and community exchanges in LatinAmerica. Many other publications andcommunications materials werepublished during the year.

monitoring world bank clean energyinvestment and emissions tradingDuring 2009 we also continued to monitorand conduct advocacy around the WorldBanks framework on clean energyinvestment and the emissions tradingschemes promoted by the internationalfinancial institutions (IFIs). In 2009, boththe G-20 and the UN made agreements tophase out subsidies for fossil fuels, whichwill have a positive impact on thedevelopment and spread of renewableenergy technologies.

foei in copenhagenFoEI took a team of 400 activists toCopenhagen, who variously engaged inlobbying and advocacy work, andorganizing and participating in alternativeevents and daily mobilizations, includingour hugely successful Flood for Climate

Justice mobilization. One of the CJEPrograms goals is to ensure that richindustrialized Annex I countries commit toneeded emissions reductions, and tofinancing and transferring technology tohelp developing countries mitigate andadapt to climate change.

The joint efforts of FoEI and key allieshelped to ensure that a number of governments, including Bolivia, officiallyvoiced their concerns about the potentialnegative impacts of UNFCCC, World Bankand national policies to finance ReducingEmissions from Deforestation and forestDegradation (REDD).

climate justiceand energy

FoEIs Climate Justice and EnergyPrograms overall objective is to

build a diverse, effective and globalmovement for climate justice.

We published a substantial number of policy proposals and analyses in the run-upto the COP-15 UNFCCC in Copenhagen, inDecember 2009. This included an ethicalclimate finance criteria matrix, whichprovided governments with a set of criteria

for judging climate financing mechanismsproposed during negotiations.

big ask climate campaign reaps rewardsA number of FoEI member groups in theglobal North have been very effective inpersuading their governments to introducebinding national climate change laws,which will help to reduce those countriescarbon emissions. This was especially thecase in Europe where France, Scotland andthe UK passed climate change laws settingbinding emissions reductions targets. Itseems likely that similar laws will soon bepassed in a number of other Europeancountries including Austria, Belgium,Hungary, Ireland and Slovenia.

fostering and building linkswith social movementsIn 2009, FoEI continued its closecollaboration with key social movements,especially La Via Campesina, and the WorldMarch of Women, and the new Movementof Victims Affected by Climate Change inCentral America (MOVIAC). New links withindigenous networks and movementswere also fostered at key events during the

year, and FoEI collaborated with manyother networks including Climate JusticeNow!, Asia Pacific Peoples Solidarity forClimate Justice, and Climate Justice Action.


FoEI in Copenhagen. Ronnie Hall. YFoEE carbon trader action. FoEI in Copenhagen.

N n i m m o B a s s e y a n d H e n r y S a r a g i h o f L a V i a C a m p s i n a a t t h e K l i m a f o r u m i n C o p e n h a g e n .

Anti-nuclear demonstration in Berlin.


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challenging high-level meetingon food securityIn 2009, we attended the High-LevelMeeting on Food Security in Madrid whereLa Via Campesina and FoE Spains jointactions outside the conference gotexcellent coverage, and Henry Saragihfrom La Via Campesina was eventuallyinvited to speak on behalf of civil society inthe final plenary session. The responsefrom the conference was striking: the

applause was deafening, and the meetingended without consensus on a new GlobalPartnership, in line with civil societyproposals (although the official website isless clear about this outcome).

progress on food sovereignty at csdThe 17th session of the UN Commission onSustainable Development (CSD) also sawimportant progress on food sovereigntywith the UN Special Rapporteur on theRight to Food endorsing peoples right toaccess land and define their own foodpolicies, and the need for governments tosupport the least protected people andimplement food production models that donot contribute to climate change. Thisposition strongly echoes the positions of La

Va Campesina and FoEI, although it doesnot yet go far enough.

challenging the biotech giantsThe struggle for a GM-free world remainsa priority for FoEI, and includes campaignsagainst soy monocultures, geneticallymodified (GM) food aid, and the dominantmodel of production. FoEI is campaigningto increase land available to family farmersand for rural agriculture. There have beenstrong FoE campaigns against GM crops inmany countries, including in Europe, andin Mexico, Nigeria and Paraguay.

There has been a particularly markedimpact in Europe, where EuropeanCommission efforts to allow two newvarieties of genetically modified (GM) maizeto be grown in Europe, and to force Greece,

Hungary and France to drop their nationalbans on a similar GM maize, wereoverturned by member states. Civil societyorganizations were clearly instrumental inthis. In April, Germany banned MonsantosGM maize MON810, a huge success for FoEGermany and other environmental andagricultural organizations who have workedhard for this outcome for many years.

In 2009, we published our annual researchreport on GM crops, Who Benefits fromGM Crops? Feeding the biotech giants, not

the worlds poor, which challenges theability of GM crops to contribute topoverty reduction, global food security orsustainable farming.

new collaborative agribusiness campaignFoEI is also starting to build a new globalcampaign challenging agribusiness, with LaVia Campesina and the World March of Women. In 2009, this included regional foodsovereignty forums in Paraguay and Nigeria.Together with Food and Water Watch and theEuropean Co-ordination of La Via Campesina,we also produced a groundbreaking film,

Killing Fields: the battle to feed factoryfarms, which investigates the impacts of growing soy in South America to feed factoryfarms in Europe.

FoEIs Food SovereigntyProgram aims to halt thecorporate control of food,and stop the spread of genetically modifiedorganisms: it defends theright of people todetermine and control

their own food systems.

food sovereignty

Understanding gender issues can shedlight on the ways in which the currentneoliberal economic model affects menand women differently, both in terms of itssocial and environmental impacts. It alsoreveals the self-perpetuating nature of thepatriarchal society. For FoEI, a fullercomprehension of the harsh realities facedby women in different countries and

regions across the world will help usconstruct better and more effectivecampaign strategies, and change the waywe ourselves act. A document on how towork from a gender perspective has alreadybeen completed and circulated internally.

women re-sisters testimoniesGender campaigners also supported theproduction of video testimonies fromWomen Re-sisters, women resistingmining, some of which can currently beviewed on the FoEI YouTube channel.Friends of the Earth also participated in La

Escuela de Formacin de Dirigentas (aschool for future women leaders) organizedby the Coordinadora de Organizaciones delCampo (CLOC) and Via Campesina del ConoSur, in Paraguay, in July 2009.

supporting women with via campesinaand world march of womenTogether with allied social movementsincluding La Via Campesina (LVC) and theWorld March of Women (WMW), we aim tosupport women to resist, transform andmobilize, both at the local andinternational levels, to bring about theworld they want to live in.

integrating gender analysesin foei programsIn 2009, we focused on integrating agender analysis into our programs on FoodSovereignty and Economic Justice-ResistingNeoliberalism (EJRN), and to support theinclusion of a feminist perspective into theEJRN Programs analysis of the globalfinancial crisis. FoEI was also invited toparticipate in WMWs Second RegionalEncounter in the Americas, in August 2009,in Cochabamba, Bolivia.

uruguay: investigating gender impactsFriends of the Earth Uruguay/REDES hasbeen particularly active in promoting FoEIsfocus on gender, in terms of supporting theinternational coordination of this complexand cross-cutting issue, providing

genderFoEIs gender work

focuses on deepeningour understanding of

why the feministperspective is critical

to the FoEI federation.

conceptual contributions, and engagingactively at the national level. In June 2009,this included publication of a book thatconsiders the impacts of forestmonocultures and soya on ruralpopulations, with a special emphasis onthe consequences for human rights andgender relations. FoE Uruguay also draftednumerous papers on food sovereignty andgender concerns including a report on therole of rural women in the defense of foodsovereignty, based on investigation andinterviews with women from la Red deGrupos de Mujeres Rurales (the Networkof Rural Women).

international campaign highlights in 2009 F o E E W N I p r o d s M P s i n t o

a c t i o n o n f o o d .

W o m e n i n I n d i a w i t h l a p t o p .


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lobbying for cbd biodiversity targetsThe Forests and Biodiversity Program isalso focused on challenging and changingintergovernmental policies that already orpotentially could contribute to thedestruction of forests and biodiversity, Forexample, it participated in the Conventionon Biological Diversitys High-level WorkingGroup on the 2010 biodiversity target andpost-2010 target(s), and successfullypersuaded governments to incorporate anumber of key paragraphs into the final2010 Biodiversity Targets.

challenging governments and businessin unfccc and at world foresty congressCollaborative side and parallel eventsduring intergovernmental forums,including meetings of the UN FrameworkConvention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)negotiations in Copenhagen, and theWorld Forestry Congress in Buenos Aires,were also successful in raising civilsocietys concerns and challenginggovernment perspectives.

stora enso video and photo exhibition

FoEI also produced a video about theperformance of Finnish pulp and papercompany Stora Enso in Uruguay, and aphoto exhibition on the impacts of cellulose/logging corporations in the

forests andbiodiversity

The Forests and Biodiversity programsfocus on strengthening and promotingsustainable local initiatives means thatsome of its key activities and successesoccur at the national level.

uruguay: stopped building of ence millFor example, Friends of the EarthUruguay/REDES successfully haltedconstruction of the controversial pulp andpaper mill proposed by ENCE who hadbeen planning to invest US$1,500 million.

malaysia: lawsuit filed to save jerai forestFriends of the Earth Malaysia filed a lawsuitto save a water-catchment forest on theJerai mountain in Kedah from a quarryproject that has been illegally approved bythe state government.

This is a new FoEI program,and groups are concentratingon planning joint campaign

work and mapping FoEIscurrent work with communities.

Some international activities are alsounderway however. In 2009, theseincluded a number of actions againstCanadian open-pit mines on 22 July, incountries including Australia, Canada,Mexico and Thailand, to mark the GlobalDay of Action Against Open Pit Mining.Another important event was theConference on Extractive Industries:Blessing or Curse? Impacts of the Oil andGas Industry, held by FoE Europe inBrussels in October.

bringing together successful nationalmining campaignsSome FoEI groups already have establishedcampaigns on mining, oil and gas,resulting in some important nationaldevelopments and successes. In December2009, for example, FoE Hungary celebratedthe introduction of a landmark ban on theuse of cyanide in mining. FoE Philippines

has filed an Alternative Mining Bill,intended to introduce a new mining policyto regulate the exploration, developmentand utilization of mineral resources. ManyFoE groups, including in Indonesia,Guatemala, the Philippines, Ghana,Hungary and Costa Rica, are also workingon an on-going basis with localcommunities affected by mining.

new media mining testimoniesTestimonies from mining communitiesalso feature strongly in FoEIs new mediaprojects, as do videos on tin mining inIndonesia, and oil pollution in Nigeria,both of which can be seen on YouTube.FoEI also embarked on an ambitiousproject to create a series of videotestimonies by women affected by large-scale metal mining.

resisting miningoil and gas

waterFriends of the Earth member groups

continue to work on issues related towater, defending water territories for

the benefit of communities andbiodiversity. We work together withlocal communities in protecting the

right to water, and opposingprivatization of water and development

projects that pollute rivers and that uselarge quantities of water. Finally, wemobilize the public to vote for new laws

and regulations that keep water in thepublic domain and uphold water as a

human right.

To strengthen and promotesustainable local initiatives for theprotection and local use of forests

and biodiversity. We resist andmobilize against destructives

practices, actions and policies that

destroy forests and biodiversity. Wealso work to build and strengthen aglobal movement for forests,

biodiversity and the communitiesthat depend on them, in the

medium and long term.

Colombian campaign for the right to water.

oE groups at World Forestry Congress.

F o E B e l g i u m ( F l a n d e r s & B r u s s e l s )

.

FoE South Korea/Ulsan KFEM Save Whale campaign.Kalyan Varm, FoEI photography competition winner.

f o e i .

Southern Cone of South America, which wasexhibited at the World Forestry Congress.

looking to future at world social forumThe program also participated in the 2009World Social Forum in Belem, Brazil, co-hosting a workshop on plantations, marketmechanisms and false solutions, with theGlobal Forest Coalition; and publishedCommunity-based Forest Governance:from resistance to proposals forsustainable use.


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agrofuels

FoEIs Agrofuels Campaignaims to stop theproduction, trade andconsumption of agrofuels,by raising publicawareness about itsnegative impacts on localcommunities and globally.

In 2009, the campaign focused onstrengthening local communities defenseof their territories, and exposing falsesolutions to the climate and energy crisis.A prerequisite for this was compiling FoEImembers research, reports, and nationaland regional positions.

call for mandatory code of conduct formalaysian palm oil companiesThe Agrofuels Campaign integrates FoEIsongoing campaign against deforestationcaused by oil palm plantations. FoEI groupsfrom Indonesia, Malaysia and Papua NewGuinea joined forces to develop andpropose a mandatory code of conduct forMalaysian palm oil companies operating inIndonesia and Papua New Guinea. Theyreceived positive responses fromMalaysias Human Rights Council and theOpposition Party, who accepted thatMalaysian palm oil expansion has createdadverse impacts.

uk advertising standards authority rulesagainst malaysian palm oil councilFriends of the Earth also filed a complaintwith the UK Advertising StandardsAuthority (ASA) against the Malaysian PalmOil Council for falsely advertising that palmoil is the only product able to sustainablyand efficiently meet a larger portion of theworlds increasing demand for oil crop-based consumer goods, foodstuffs andbiofuels. The ASA ruled that this statementwas misleading, as was the Malaysian PalmOil Councils claim that palm oil contributesto alleviation of poverty.

rspo grievance filedIn November 2009, we also filed a grievancewith the Roundtable on Sustainable PalmOil (RSPO) against the Malaysian Palm OilCouncil, for violating the members Code of Conduct and continuing to mislead thepublic and make unsubstantiated claimsabout the production, procurement and useof palm oil.

capacity-building on agrofuels, land rightsand monocultureA process of capacity-building onagrofuels, land rights and monoculturewas also initiated in Central America. Wehelped to coordinate different groups andcommunities wanting to work together onagrofuels. A video on Monocultures, Landand Agrofuels in Central America wascreated by FoE El Salvador withcommunities support.

international mission gathers evidencein colombiaFoEI also organized an internationaldelegation to gather evidence on theimpact of agrofuels in Colombia.

lost in palm oil broadcast

Friends of the Earths aim of reaching abroader public was also substantiallyachieved through the broadcasting of footage from our commissioned film,Lost in Palm Oil.

analyzing and challenging eubiofuels policyLobbying efforts in Europe remain focusedon challenging the EUs target of 10% of allroad transport fuel coming from renewablesources by 2020, with a majority likely tocome from agrofuels. Key to this isincreasing Europeans awareness of the

impacts of agrofuels and about potentialalternatives. This included the publication of Biofuels: handle with care, an analysis of EU biofuels policy with recommendationsfor action, in November 2009.

2009 was particularly notable because of the World Banks suspension of its

investments in oil palm plantationcompanies. A coalition of local and

international NGOs, spearheaded by theUK organization Forest Peoples Program

and including FoE Netherlands, had previously filed a complaint with the

International Finance Corporation (IFC)sinternal watchdog, the Compliance

Advisory Ombudsman office (CAO), about a series of loans to palm oil giant Wilmar

International. A joint report by threeNGOs (FoE Netherlands, Kontak Rakyat Borneo and Gemawan) had examined Wilmars plantations in Sambas, West

Kalimantan, Indonesia, and found that the company was working with dubious

licenses, and was entangled in land rightsconflicts and illegal logging activities. Thiscomplaint triggered an audit by the CAO,

which concluded that the IFC had violated

its own procedures, and that commercial interests had overruled the IFCsenvironmental and social standards.


FoE Germany palm oil protest.

W T O M i n i s t e r i a l . R o n n i e H a l l .

F o E S p a i n G M a c t i o n

.

D a v i d G i l b e r t , F o E I p h o t o g r a p h y c o m p e t i t i o n w i n n e r .

international campaign highlights in 2009


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member group highlights in 2009

Friends of the Earth Africa bringstogether groups throughout Africa toparticipate in international programsand develop initiatives to strengthencampaigning in the region.

FoE member groups in Africa are

particularly active in community-based forest management;extractive industries and Africanpeoples need for access to cleanrenewable energy; foodsovereignty and the struggleagainst GMOs; and the dangers of agrofuels expansion in the region.

africa: opposing land grabs, agraand non-ecological agricultureIn 2009, Friends of the Earth Nigeria/ERAhosted a key conference on AGRA, LandGrabs and Non-Ecological Agriculture.Enormous tracts of land in Africa are beingturned over to transnational agribusinessesand others interested in maximizing profitsby exporting agricultural products,including for agrofuels production. TheAlliance for a Green Revolution in Africa(AGRA), established by the RockefellerFoundation and the Bill & Melinda GatesFoundation is part of the problem: AGRAssupporters are pushing incessantly for thedeployment of genetically modified cropsin Africa. FoE Nigeria aims to unmask AGRA,unveil the scourge of land grabs in Africa,build communities resistance and promoteagro-ecological agriculture. The conferencehad a huge impact and also helped buildsupport for FoE Nigerias memorandum toNigerian lawmakers on the draft NigerianBiosafety bill, sent in December 2009.

with thanks to our funders:hivos and the isvara foundation

uganda: stopping flow of fundsto bujagali damThe Ugandan government began buildingthe Bujagali dam on the River Nile in 2007,even though the project had previouslybeen delayed for over ten years for manyreasons, including exorbitant project costsand its predicted economic andenvironmental impacts. The project isfinanced by the World Bank (WB), theAfrican Development Bank (AfDB) and theEuropean Investment Bank (EIB), all of whom have overlooked and even ignoredtheir own safeguard policies.

Friends of the Earth Uganda held meetingswith the Bujagali dam developers, damaffected communities, civil societyorganizations, and the World Bank and theAfDB, to agree on mitigation, monitoringand evaluation measures. Together withother European NGOs, Friends of the EarthUganda also submitted a complaint to theEuropean Investment Bank.

The government agreed to protect the

Karagala and Itanda falls to reduce theoverall environmental damage caused bythe Bujagali dam, and to compensate forthe cultural loss that will be brought about

by the submergence of the Bujagali falls.The World Bank and other donors haveagreed a disclosure policy and to set asidefunds to support geothermal explorationand solar energy development in Uganda.

with thanks to our funders: the dutchministry of foreign affairs (dgis)

FoEI

F o E N i g e r i a

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f o e i .


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africa

malawi:calling for climate justiceExtreme climatic events are pushingMalawis poverty-stricken people deeperinto poverty, exacerbating food crises andmalnutrition, and causing devastating lossof life and damage to property andinfrastructure. Yet the Malawiangovernment supports the sale of valuableagricultural land to provide offsets whichcan be set against the emissions of wealthynorthern countries. FoE Malawi began topromote the concept of climate justice,though dialogues, interviews andconsultations, and it helped host meetingsof the Malawi Civil Society Network onClimate Change (CISONECC) and localcommunity consultations on pro-poorclimate change resilience. These culminatedin a peoples national climate changestrategy, and priorities for the internationalclimate change negotiations, which wereput to the Malawian government.


cameroon: monitoring fsc,tracking industrial plantationsand illegal loggingIn 2009, FoE Cameroon (working togetherwith FoE France, and FoENetherlands/Milieudefensie) continuedmonitoring the activities of a number of FSC-certified forestry companies in CentralAfricas Congo Basin, one of the worldslargest reservoirs of biodiversity, includingSEFAC, Pallisco and Wijma. They found casesof non-compliance with FSC principles,issues affecting indigenous communities,and persistent non-compliance. Eventuallythe FSC responded, suspending both FSCcertificates (those of Wijma and SEFAC) andFSC certifiers (Bureau Veritas, ICILA). TheFSCs certification system has also beenimproved. For instance, Transformation REEFCameroon (TRF) abandoned more than20,000 ha of forest claimed by local

communities, and has established a processfor dealing with conflicts with localcommunities. Timber company Rougier hasalso requested advice for improvingcommunication with communities, todevelop conflict-prevention techniques.

FoE Cameroon is also monitoring theimpact of industrial plantations inCameroon, gathering evidence that clearlydemonstrates the severe negative impactsthat companies such as SOCAPALM (palmoil) and Hevecam (rubber) are having onthe environment, and on indigenouscommunities living in the area. Thecompanies expansion plans are now on

hold as a result.A joint field visit to a concession beinglogged illegally was also undertaken by FoECameroon, FoE France and FoE Netherlands,together with representatives of Europeanlogging companies active in Africa, andtimber buyers in Europe. The visit exposedillegal operations and their social andenvironmental impacts. The Europeanbuyers decided not to buy any more timberfrom companies that are unable to provethe legality of their operations.


nigeria: financing gas projects,poisoning foodsLocal women in the Niger Delta use oilcompanies gas flare sites to dry a popularcassava-based food, kpokpo garri. The oilcorporations count this as an economicbenefit for the local people, and use it as yet another reason to justify theircontinued presence in the area. But foodprocessed in this way is poisoned, andharmful to human health.

Friends of the Earth Nigeria/ERA, visited theIwherekan, Uzere and Ozoro communities, allin Delta State. Campaigners spoke withwomen food processors, and held town hallmeetings and consultations about the healthimpacts of using gas flares to dry food, withcommunity women, farmers, fisher folk andtraders. Friends of the Earth Nigeria alsoexposed the claims of the World Bank and itsconsortium that the proposed West AfricanGas Pipeline (WAGP) project would providecheap energy, improve the environment,better the lot of the communities andpromote regional development.

A detailed analysis of the data collectedshowed that the use of gas flares for foodprocessing resulted in a wide range of health problems. The project succeeded inpopularizing locally proven and traditionalmethods of food processing. It raised localcommunities awareness of theenvironmental and social impacts of gasflaring, and the need for facilities forprocessing agricultural products. Itheightened the struggle against gas flaring.

with thanks to our funders: the dutch

ministry of foreign affairs (dgis)

F o E N i g e r i a P o i s o n F o o d s c a m p a i g n .

M a r g a r e t L a n g a a t S o u t h A f r i c a n W a s t e p i c k e r s C o n v e n t i o n .


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The Asia Pacific region of Friends of the Earth is a very diverse region,encompassing groups from theglobal North and the global South.

Member groups from the regionare very active in community-basedstruggles against mining and otherextractive industries. They workhand-in-hand with indigenouspeoples, peasant farmers, andfisherfolk to secure sustainablelivelihoods and fight againstvulnerability to natural disasters.

bangladesh: ship-breakingindustry smashed?Bangladeshs ship-breaking beaches aresoaked in a toxic soup of hazardoussubstances, including oily wastes,asbestos, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs),lead and arsenic. These toxins leak out of ships as they are being dismantled. The1995 Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of HazardousWastes and their Disposal bans the exportof toxic waste. Yet many of these shipscome from countries such as the US andthe UK. They are illegally exported byowners seeking to cut costs.

Because the environment is so severelycontaminated, and because of frequentfires, explosions and accidents, life forthose in the ship-breaking industry isextremely hazardous and there are regularfatalities. It is estimated that, on average,

one ship-breaking worker dies inBangladesh every week. There are 20,000men working in the industry, some as young as 14, and all are paid very little,housed in the most basic accommodation,and provided with little or no medical care.

In 2009, Friends of the Earth Bangladeshscored a resounding victory when theBangladeshi High Court declared that allship-breaking yards operating withoutenvironmental clearance - in other wordsall of them - should close their operationswithin a matter of weeks. This followed awrit filed by Friends of the EarthBangladesh, challenging the entry of a

Greenpeace-blacklisted ship, MT Enterprise.Rizwana Hassan, Programs Director of Friends of the Earth Bangladesh and anadvocate of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh, was awarded the 2009Goldman Award for spearheading the legalbattle to reduce the impact of Bangladeshs ship breaking industry. Shealso received the United NationsEnvironment Programmes Global 500award for Friends of the EarthBangladeshs outstanding work.

philippines: linking foodsovereignty and the right toself-determinationFriends of the Earth Philippines/LRC-KsKsnew food sovereignty campaign focuses onindigenous peoples and other ruralcommunities loss of access to and controlover their land and resources from a foodsovereignty perspective. It seeks to link thefood sovereignty discourse to existingpeoples struggles for the right to self-

determination and against resourceextraction and energy projects.

A food sovereignty profiling tool has beendeveloped for participatory communityresearch into communities capacity toproduce food and control their foodproduction systems, as well as the threatsposed by resource extractive and energyprojects. Discussions with communitiesalso highlighted the connection betweenresource extractive and energy projects,and threats to croplands, forests and watersystems, agricultural biodiversity,

indigenous food production systems,culture, and livelihoods.


indonesia/sri lanka: asianpeoples movement against theasia destructive bank Although the Asian Development Bank hasestablished a Carbon Fund, a RenewableEnergy Fund and a Climate Fund, itsprofessed commitment to addressingclimate change is completely underminedby the fact that ADB-backed projects havemany negative social and environmentalimpacts, with many contributing directlyor indirectly to climate change.FoEI members in the Asia Pacific (APac)region published a report entitled,Climate Impacts of the ADBs Business:How the Asian Development Bankfinances climate change. This reportincludes three detailed case studies,

recommends climate justice as analternative basis for sound and equitabledevelopment, and makes specificrecommendations on climate finance. Itwas distributed during the official UNFCCCclimate change negotiations and civilsociety meetings in Bangkok (October2009) and Copenhagen (December 2009).

With a combination of hard-hittingcampaigns, testimonies and a publictribunal, FoE APac was able to explain whythese projects are not beneficial for peoplein the region. It was clear that FoEsinterventions during the ADBs 42nd AGMin Bali (2-5 May 2009) successfullyconveyed this growing resistance to ADB:this led to the Bank reviewing its climatefinancing schemes.

A key feature of the project during 2009was the fact that it enabled FoE APac tohelp mobilize the new and growing AsianPeoples Movement, which launched thecampaign against the Asia DestructiveBank during the ADB AGM.



Planting reeds in Masan Bay, South Korea.

FoE Indonesia anti-REDD action.

B a n g l a d e s h i s h i p w o r k e r s .


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asia pacific

bangladesh: assessing villagecommon forestsVillage Common Forest (VCF) is an ancientsystem of forest use and managementpracticed by tribal communities living inthe Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) in South-east Bangladesh. The communities arehighly dependent on the forests in theremaining VCFs, and work to ensure theirstreams and rivers continue to flow.However the Bangladeshi government isextremely reluctant to develop a legalframework that supports communityforest management, and refuses torecognize VCFs officially.

The first step was to assess the currentVCFs, particularly in Khagrachhari and alsoin Rangamati. Friends of the EarthBangladesh interviewed tribalcommunities, spoke with a range of government officials and others, held four

multi-stakeholder discussion meetingsand compiled a video documentaryrecording peoples testimonies.

The results were clear. Forest resources,including biodiversity, springs and aquifersare protected most effectively when localpeoples links to it are also protected.When these links are broken, exploitativepractices spring up, degrading the forestsand their biodiversity, and pushing thosewho were reliant on the forests intopoverty. The communities and others are

much more aware of their rights. Thescene is now set for a strong campaign.

with thanks to our funders: the sigridrausing trust

malaysia: pursuing citizensrights in courtGovernment authorities and companiesmust abide by the law. If not it sometimesbecomes necessary to resort to legal meansto bring about change. Friends of the Earth

Malaysia/Sahabat Alam Malaysia iscurrently engaged in two such cases.

One is to save a water-catchment forest onthe Jerai mountain in Kedah from aquarrying project illegally approved by the

State Government. Clearing the mountainsforests has led to massive floods in severaldownstream villages, and the silting up of the communities rice-fields and orchards.The community aims to halt the quarry,and rehabilitate the forests.

The second case concerns Malaysiancompany, Raub Australian Gold Mining. Anoutdated 10-year old environmentalimpact assessment (EIA) has been used toauthorize current mining using cyanideand other toxic substances, but a veryactive local community has launched alegal action to secure a new EIA, whichFriends of the Earth Malaysia is supporting.

In 2009, both cases involved thepreparation of legal research, submissionsand the filing of necessary documents inthe High Courts, the Court of Appeal andFederal Court. Both also involvedmobilizing and engaging communities,alerting the media, and building alliances.Both cases continue.with thanks to our funders: the dutchministry of foreign affairs (dgis)

australia: stopping the flowof agrofuelsThe agrofuels sector is expanding rapidly,with so-called biofuels being marketed asa clean, green solution to climate changeand oil vulnerability. The Australiangovernment is expected to look more andmore to Asia for imports of agrofuelsfeedstocks, such as palm oil. However theproduction of agrofuels feedstocks canhave serious social and environmentalimpacts and Friends of the Earths long-term goal is to halt the expansion of thepalm oil industry in the region.

In 2009 Friends of the Earth Australiainitiated a project designed to develop anew national campaign in Australia, anddevelop a common understanding andshared regional campaign activities withother Friends of the Earth groups inIndonesia, Malaysia and Papua New Guinea.

FoE Australia hired project coordinatorswho initiated research and travelled toaffected areas both within Australia andIndonesia, to get a better understanding of the real world impacts of agrofuelsproduction, to strengthen links withregional campaigners, and to map future

activities. FoE Australia also succeeded indeveloping a clear and targeted nationalagrofuels campaign strategy, and built andstrengthened relationships with Australiannetworks working on palm oil,deforestation issues and agrofuels.

Although this campaign is only in itsinfancy, there have already been some keysuccesses. In particular, FoE Australia andpartner groups in Australia have focusedon halting the use of palm oil products infood manufacturing in Australia. In 2009this resulted in several major foodmanufacturers agreeing to remove palmoil from food production. These includedCadburys (chocolate), KFC (Kentucky FriedChicken) and Woolworths (Australiasbiggest retailer).

with thanks to our funders: the sigridrausing trust


A n i s l a g a n p i c k e t l i n e . F o E P h i l i p p i n e s .

FoE Australia Hazelwood action.

F o E A u s t r a l i a H a z e l w o o d a c t i o n .

South Korea campaign to save rivers.FoEI.

S o u t h K o r e a E n v i r o n m e n t a l L a w C e n t e r .

C o m m u n i t i e s p r o t e c t i n g t e r r i t o r i e s . F o E M a l a y s i a

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Friends of the Earth Europe, basedin Brussels, unites more than 30national Friends of the Earthorganizations with thousands of local groups.

Friends of the Earth Europe hasfive main program areas:Economic Justice; Climate andEnergy; Food and Biodiversity;Resources, Consumption, andWaste; and Network Developmentand Capacity Building.

You can download FoE Europes2009 annual report here:www.foeeurope.org/publications/2010/foee_annual_review_2009.pdf

exposing the real impactof agrofuelsAt the end of 2008 the EU adopted amandatory 10% renewable energy targetfor transport, to be reached by 2020. InNovember 2009, Friends of the EarthEurope and a range of other EuropeanNGOs co-published Biofuels - Handle withcare, which analyzes the EUs new biofuelpolicy in detail.

This was followed by another publication,Losing the plot, in December 2009,looking at jatropha, an agrofuel crop thatcan be grown on poor soil. There ismounting evidence that fertile land isactually being turned over to jatrophaproduction, meaning that there is less landavailable to grow food.

FoE Germany/BUND, together with humanrights and development NGOs, alsodelivered 10,000 signatures to theColombian Embassy in Berlin, to protestagainst continuing human rights abuses inColombia, which the expansion of thepalm oil industry is fuelling.

new laws protect forests andbiodiversityIn 2009, Friends of the Earth Norwaycelebrated its 95 th anniversary, as well asthe adoption of Norways new NatureDiversity Act. Friends of the EarthSwitzerland/Pronatura celebrated similarsuccesses, combining its 100 th anniversarywith a favorable response from the Swissparliament with respect to Pronaturascampaign for a new law to protect rivers.

In coalition with CEE Bankwatch Network,FoE Europe also launched a new map of 55environmentally destructive andeconomically unsound infrastructureprojects, worth a total of 23 billion, in theten new member states of central andeastern Europe.

Other national successes included adecision to build a shopping centre in agreen recreation zone in one of the biggestindustrial cities in Ukraine, Dnipropetrovsk,being overturned; and the Spanish

government promising to reduce the useof plastic bags by 50%.

resistance to gmos continuesto growFriends of the Earth Europes 2009 report,Who Benefits from GM crops? Feedingthe biotech giants, not the worlds poor,looks behind the biotech industrys spinand exposes the reasons why GM cropscannot, and are unlikely to ever, contributeto poverty reduction, global food securityor sustainable farming. The report alsoexposes inconsistencies in Europeanbiotech lobby group EuropaBios reporting:the group inflated the figures for GM cropcultivation by almost a quarter to mask anactual decline.

Germanys 2009 decision to ban thecultivation of Monsantos geneticallyengineered corn MON 810 was a keyhighlight during the year. This was a majorblow to the GM industry in Europe.Working in close alliance with farmers,consumers and citizens groups, Friends of the Earth Germany played a key role inpersuading German politicians to make

this important shift.

Resistance to GM cultivation is alsogrowing in Spain, the only European Unioncountry with a substantial area of GMcrops. On 17 April 2009, more than 15,000people joined a protest in Madrid callingfor Agriculture and Food Free from GMOsco-organized by Friends of the Earth Spainand consumer and farmers groups andothers. Friends of the Earth Spain alsoorganized an action on the newlyauthorized GM potato, in front of theSpanish Parliament. In a further action in

September, Friends of the Earth Spainsactivists - dressed as Spanish maize - fledto the French Embassy in Madrid, fearingcontamination from genetically modifiedmaize varieties like Monsantos MON 810GM maize, which is banned in France butgrown in Spain with little precaution takenagainst cross-contamination.

Working together with Food and WaterWatch and La Via Campesinas EuropeanCoordination, Friends of the Earth Europealso produced a groundbreaking filmKilling Fields revealing the hidden chain of

destruction stretching from factory farms inEurope to the forests of South America.


Y o u n g F o E E i n a c t i o n .

F o E S c o t l a n d p e n g u i n a c t i o n .


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Amigos de la Tierra Amrica Latina y Caribe (ATALC FoE LatinAmerica and the Caribbean) hasbecome a recognized bodybringing forward a social-environmentalist perspectiveamong social movements in theregion, with a visible role in spaceslike the Americas Social Forum.

ATALC groups also have sub-regional campaigns, such as theEU-Central American free tradenegotiations; plantations and pulpmills in the Southern Cone; andthe building of climate affectedpeoples movements in CentralAmerica and the Andes.

uruguay: digging up the dirt onclean development mechanismThe Clean Development Mechanism(CDM) project portfolio for Uruguayincludes 33 activities, but Friends of theEarth Uruguay/REDES found that mostpeople knew nothing at all about the CDMor its projects, in Uruguay or elsewhere,even though the CDM is one of a numberof extremely damaging false solutions toclimate change.

Friends of the Earth Uruguay set out toclose Uruguays information gap, bystudying and reporting on the activities of three CDM projects in Uruguay: Partialsubstitution of fossil fuels with biomass incement manufacture, by CementosArtigas; cogeneration and fuel change inthe tannery operated by the Zenda-Branacompany; and the Fray Bentos BiomassPower Generation Project, by Botnia.

Friends of the Earth Uruguay publisheddetailed information about the CDM, theUruguayan process for approving andmonitoring CDM projects, and an in-depthanalysis of Botnias Fray Bentos CDM

project. This report considers the operationof transnational companies in Uruguayand elsewhere, the environmental andsocial impacts of their projects, and whostands to benefit or suffer because of them. Radio Mundo Real also producedthree radio reports, each focusing on oneof the projects.

Outreach work enabled Friends of theEarth Uruguay to inform the Uruguayanpopulation about these CDM projects; andcommunities also learned more about theways in which climate change andassociated false solutions impact on theireveryday lives.

with thanks to our funders: the swedishsociety for nature conservation and thedutch ministry of foreign affairs (dgis)

el salvador: building movementsagainst miningand mega-projectsEl Salvador signed the Central AmericanFree Trade Agreement (CAFTA) with otherCentral American countries and the US in2004. This allowed transnationalcorporations such as Holcim, Monsantoand Pacific Rim to intensify their operationsin the country, extracting the countriesnatural resources for export.

Until recently there was little public debatein El Salvador about the role and interestsof transnational corporations, and thenegative impacts they can have. To reversethis trend, Friends of the Earth ElSalvador/CESTA has been working withothers to improve awareness andstrengthen collective leadership ingrassroots organizations. These include theGlobal Movement of Victims and PeoplesAffected by Climate Change (MOVIAC); theEl Salvador National Network of PeopleThreatened and Affected by Dams andCanals; and the El Salvador Movement of People Affected by Lead.

In 2009, Friends of the Earth El Salvador,along with 16 groups from communitiesaffected by megaprojects, prepared a legalproposal called El Grito de las Vctimas(TheScream of the Victims) that summarizes thecommunities demands. The initiativecontains proposals for reforms to ElSalvadors Environmental Law, Public HealthCode, and Municipal Code. It was presentedto the Ministry of Environment andStrategic Affairs. The inhabitants of Cabaashave also been trying to stop the proposed

El Dorado gold mine, which would haveused water-intensive cyanide processing.

These collaborative grassroots campaignshave notched up a number of successes inthe last two to three years, and miningpermits have been halted until an in-depthstudy of the environmental impacts of goldmining has been undertaken. However,Canadian mining company Pacific Rim Corphas filed an investor suit against theSalvadoran government, under CAFTA.Disturbingly, these successes have alsobeen accompanied by increasing repressionin El Salvador, including the systematicassassination of mining activists.



F o E A r g e n t i n a w a t e r a n d g l a c i e r s f o r l i f e .


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chile: forests of truthIn 2009, Friends of the Earth Chile/CODEFFsBosques de Verdad(Forests of Truth)campaign focused on direct contact withgroups affected by plantations. Theypublished a range of informativedeclarations, reports, press materials, newsbulletins and audio-visual materials. This

included a booklet on the social andenvironmental impacts of forestmonoculture plantations, the CleanDevelopment Mechanism (CDM) and thevalue of native forests as an alternative forreal local development. Beautifully designedcampaign materials were widely distributed,including at the World Forestry Congress inBuenos Aires, in October 2009. The groupalso participated in many regional fairs andcommunity events in Chile, reaching out topeople of all ages and genders.

FoE Chile also conducted a detailed survey

assessing the state of the forest industry inChile, and the impacts of monocultureplantations of exotic species on affectedcommunities. This included field trips toidentify and visually record the testimonies

of people affected by climate change. Thegroup also strengthened its links withindigenous Mapuche communities inMolco and Lonkoche in the AraucanaRegion. Mapuche representatives attendedthe Meeting of Peoples Living in the Forestsin Buenos Aires, just before the WorldForestry Congress, together with Friends of the Earth Chile.


brazil: challenging investorsin brazilian agrofuels

In March 2009, the IDBs 50th anniversaryand governors annual meeting in Medellin,Colombia, provided an important campaignopportunity. Friends of the Earth Brazil andFriends of the Earth Colombia/CENSATparticipated in the organization of the

parallel public forum on behalf of Friendsof the Earth International. They distributedPortuguese and English language copies of the report New road to the same oldplace: the false solution of agrofuels,

published by FoE Brazil, FASE and Terra deDireitos. This evaluates the sugar canesector and associated investments in Brazil.The FoEI agrofuels cartoon collection wasalso on display at the forum, and copies of it were distributed to the media.

In August, FoE Brazil and FASE alsopublished an updated report on the sugarcane ethanol sector in Brazil, analyzing thechanges in policies, actors and scenarios inthe sector following the financial crisis. Thereport was presented at the Forum AgainstAgribusiness in Asuncin, Paraguay, whichwas organized by ATALC and Friends of theEarth Paraguay/Sobrevivencia. FoE Braziland other national groups and alliancesalso responded critically to Brazils newagro-ecological sugar cane zoning plan.

The IDBs investments were also monitoredthroughout the year. In addition, the grouptracked funds lent to Brazil by the WorldBank for environmental and climateadaptation purposes.with thanks to our funders:the c.s. mott foundation

paraguay: challengingagribusiness, building peoplesfood sovereigntyThe rapid spread of industrial agricultureacross Latin America is devastatingindigenous peoples, local communities andthe environment. The Southern Cone of Latin America is also a key region for thebiotech industry. Indigenous peoples, localcommunities, and women in particular, areaffected by the rampant spread of industrial-scale agribusiness. Civil society, inLatin America and elsewhere, is increasinglyresponding by resisting the spread of agribusiness, and working together to re-build food sovereignty.

To facilitate collaborative resistance Friendsof the Earth Paraguay/Sobrevivenciaprovided the venue for and co-hosted aforum on food sovereignty, in Asuncin, inAugust 2009. Many organizations workedtogether to make the forum possible,including FoEI, FoE Uruguay/REDES, ViaCampesina and the World March of Women.

The forum followed on from and built uponthe global Nyeleni Forum on FoodSovereignty convened in Mali in February2007. It provided another space for leaders

of different communities, movements andorganizations to come together to generateresistance strategies, exchange experiencesand testimonies, strengthen affectedcommunities and women, and furtherdevelop and implement the concept of buenvivir (the good life) in communities.

The Asuncin forum also looked specificallyat the agribusiness model, the soya-meatchain, the timber/cellulose-biofuels chain,and industrial fishing. It considered thecritical question of gender, looking at therole of women, especially in protectingseeds and conserving water resources, andthe impact that agribusiness has on them. Italso focused on building a de-globalizedagriculture and reconstructing national foodmarkets through agrarian reform, foodsovereignty, rescuing native seeds, andterritories free of transgenic organisms andagro-toxins.

The forum was recorded and shared throughmultiple media, including video,photography and radio. Radio Mundo Realbroadcast the event, and recordedinterviews with many different participants.with thanks to our funders: the dutchministry of foreign affairs


F o E P a r a g u a y a n t i - a g r i b u s i n e s s f o r u m .

School children visit Paraguays parliament.

F o E C h i l e a t W o r l d F o r e s t r y C o n g r e s s .

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united states: fighting forestcarbon offsetsDeforestation and forest degradation intropical forests account for nearly 20% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Forestprotection policies are therefore a vitalcomponent of national and internationalclimate policy. But many of the forest-related provisions in legislation such as theAmerican Clean Energy and Security Act(also known as the Waxman-Markey cap

and trade bill) will undermine domesticclimate change targets.

This is because such provisions allowindustries to purchase forest carbon creditsfrom reduced deforestation projects abroad,instead of cleaning up their own act. Theyalso fail to tackle the real underlying driversof deforestation in tropical forest countries,meaning that deforestation will continue -it will simply take place somewhere else.Forest carbon offset projects can also resultin serious negative impacts on indigenouspeoples, who may be forcibly removed fromtheir territories. To cap it all, forest carbonoffset projects are fraught with technicaldifficulties, and have been avoided bygovernments in the past for preciselythis reason.

Friends of the Earth US built a coalitionwith US-based organizations, which hasbeen effective in reframing the climatedebate to focus on what is necessaryrather than what is seen as politicallypossible. This coalition also publishedanalyses of climate policy, and draftedletters as well as lobbying collectively.

Friends of the Earth US also builtrelationships with environmental justiceadvocates whose communities stand to beimpacted by increased pollution from

regulated industries that purchase offsetsinstead of reducing their own emissions.

FoE US analyzed policies related to forestcarbon and carbon trading, and provideddetailed recommendations to policy-makers to improve the efficacy of USforest-climate policy, including ontransparency, governance, human rightsand environmental effectiveness.Campaigners addressed the Energy andCommerce Committee, and alerted theProgressive Caucus and the CongressionalBlack Caucus to serious flaws in the

proposed climate bill. They also lobbiedmembers of the US House of Representatives to limit the use of offsetsin any carbon trading system, and prohibitthe most problematic types of offsets.

north america

FoE US also invited Sam Nnah Ndobe of Friends of the Earth Cameroon to meet withpolicy makers in both the House and Senate,and coordinated lobbying visits for VickyTauli-Corpuz, the Chair of the UN PermanentForum on Indigenous Issues, who met withDonna Lee, the lead US delegate onReducing Emissions from Deforestation andforest Degradation (REDD).

In 2009, publications included a reportentitled Subprime Carbon whichhighlights how the financial crisis tells acautionary tale about the risks of carbontrading; and another on offsets,Dangerous Distraction. Through flashvideos, online advertising, and e-mailalerts, the group also mobilized itsmembers and activists to reach out totheir members of Congress.

Friends of the Earth US also participated inseveral conferences on the failures of theWorld Banks Forest Carbon PartnershipFund (FCPF).



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website, media and publications


Our communications work is aimed atreaching out to and mobilizing peoplearound the world so that they will join ourmovement for social and environmentalchange. In 2009 we continued tocommunicate our messages far and wide,using both traditional and new media (seepages 5 and 14). Our website continued togrow and attract new people, many of whom took part in our urgent cyberactions

or signed up to our Voices of the Earthe-newsletter.

We released many publications, materialsand audiovisual resources to promote ourcampaign messages, samples of which arehighlighted in these pages. In addition tothose described elsewhere in this report wepublished our annual Who benefits fromGM Crops? update focused on the myththat GM crops feed the poor. Voices fromthe South for Climate Justice includestestimonies from people in Central and

Latin America impacted by climate change.

We also released a series of materials onFinancing Climate Justice prior to theCopenhagen talks, where this controversialsubject was on the agenda.

website

In 2009 the Friends of the Earth International

website received an average of 23,500visitors a month with a total of 68,000 pageviews. This is an increase of 14% and 17%respectively on the year before.

Throughout the year the website hosted anumber of urgent cyberactions inspiringthousands of people from around theworld to take action, in the form of signingan online petition, sending a letter of solidarity or donating to a member groupin need.

Our reports and newly restructuredcampaigns pages continue to draw visitorsto the site keen to learn our take on topicalenvironmental issues.

Voices of the Earth, our bi-monthly e-newsletter, has more than doubled itsreadership in the last year. Available inEnglish, French and Spanish the newsletterhighlights the work of the federation. Atthe end of 2009 it had 3,000 subscribers.

We are also reaching new audiencesthrough social networks. Our FoEI grouppage on Facebook has 3,800 members whoregularly comment on the items we post,

and share them with their friends. OnTwitter we have around 300 followersranging from the media, other nongovernmental organizations and thegeneral public.

During one of our biggest events last year,the Copenhagen climate talks, we fullyutilized all the online tools available to us.Within hours of an event happening wewere blogging, calling on our cyberactivistsand Facebook fans to take online actions,providing high resolution photographs onFlickr, and uploading videos of the eventson our YouTube channel.

foei in the media in 2009

It was an exciting year in terms of media.

We carried out two successful trainings for journalists and campaigners, and enjoyed aparticularly impressive year in terms of media coverage around the world,especially in relation to our activities at theCopenhagen Climate Summit in December.

In 2009 hundreds of news items quotingFriends of the Earth messages were publishedand aired by a broad spectrum of mediaorganizations, ranging from the worldsleading newspapers and TV news programs,such as the Financial Times and CNN,through to alternative news sources including

the IPS news agency and Indymedia.Throughout the year, FoEI issued anaverage of three English-language pressreleases per month to journalistsworldwide. Many were also disseminatedin Spanish, and some were translated intoother languages by our member groups.

The FoEI news and comments whichobtained most coverage in the media werethose related to climate change and food.

In December 2009, during the UnitedNations climate change talks in

Copenhagen, FoEIs climate justicemessages reached millions of viewers andreaders around the world.

partnership with ips news agency

In 2008, FoEI started working in

partnership with the IPS news agency on athree-year project to increase awareness inEurope about major challenges to andachievements concerning sustainabledevelopment in the South.

Four main challenges are at the centre of this IPS-FoEI project: climate change;decreasing biodiversity; lack of foodsecurity and sustainable food production;and the effects of extractive industries.

As part of this project, IPS news agency, aninternational alternative news agency,publishes some 150 multi-sourced andindependent news articles and featuresevery year, concerning these four challenges.

During the three years that the project isrunning, FoEI is also organizing: threetraining workshops for communicators and journalists, to help impart better skills to atleast 30 communicators and spokespeoplefrom FoEI and other NGOs, and at least 30European journalists; three seminars andpublic discussion fora on the four keychallenges, to stimulate informed debateabout good practice and policies relating tosustainable development; and the

publication of thirty community testimoniesallowing local communities to tell their ownstories about their experiences of unsustainable development projects andpolicies, and the solutions they propose.

This project was made possible thanks to the financial assistance of th

02 foei annual report lr

Documents