Friends of the Earth International

Origin.

Friends of the Earth was founded in 1971 by a network of environmental activists from France, Sweden, the UK and the USA.

Mission.

The organization aims to ‘collectively ensure environmental and social justice, human dignity, and respect for human rights and peoples’ rights so as to ensure sustainable societies’.

Organization.

Friends of the Earth International comprises 73 national member groups, with a combined membership of millions of individuals around the world in thousands of local activist groups. A small, central Secretariat operates out of Amsterdam in the Netherlands and co-ordinates major campaigns, but grassroots activities are tailored by the relevant national or regional group.

  • Headquarters: PO Box 19199, 1000 GD Amsterdam, Netherlands.

  • Website: http://www.foei.org

  • Chair: Hemantha Withanage (Sri Lanka).

Global Environment Facility (GEF)

Origin.

The Global Environment Facility is an independent financial organization that brings together 184 countries in partnership with international institutions, civil society bodies and the private sector to address global environmental issues and support national development initiatives. It was established in 1991 under the aegis of the World Bank, becoming a permanent, separate institution in 1994.

Activities.

As of Jan. 2019 the GEF had provided US$17∙9bn. in grants and co-financed more than 4,500 projects in 170 countries totalling US$93∙2bn. since 1991. It also serves as the financial mechanism for the Convention on Biological Diversity, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, the UN Convention to Combat Desertification and the Minamata Convention on Mercury (an agreement to protect human health and the environment from the effects of mercury emissions).

Organization.

There is a GEF Assembly comprising representatives of each member country that meets every three to four years. The GEF Council is the main governing body, developing, adopting and evaluating specific programmes. The Secretariat is based in Washington, D.C., and there are also a scientific and technical advisory panel, an evaluation office and a number of agencies managing particular projects.

  • Headquarters: 1899 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Washington, D.C., 20006, USA.

  • Website: http://www.thegef.org

  • Chief Executive Officer and Chair: Carlos Manuel Rodriguez (Costa Rica).

Greenpeace International

Origin.

Greenpeace evolved out of a series of environmental and anti-nuclear protests in Canada in the late 1960s and early 1970s. In 1985 it became the focus of international attention when agents of the French security services blew up the organization’s flagship, Rainbow Warrior, while it was in Auckland Harbour, New Zealand.

Mission.

Greenpeace is an independent global environmental organization that aims to secure a planet ‘that is ecologically healthy and able to nurture life in all its diversity’. It campaigns to: prevent pollution and abuse of the Earth’s land, oceans, air and fresh water; end all nuclear threats; and promote peace, global disarmament and non-violence.

Organization.

Greenpeace International has its headquarters in Amsterdam in the Netherlands, from where it co-ordinates worldwide campaigns and monitors and advises 26 independent national and regional organizations in 55 countries across Europe, the Americas, Africa, Asia and the Pacific.

Financial contributions from governments, political parties and commercial organizations are not accepted. Funding is provided by individual supporters and foundation grants. In 2013 Greenpeace had 3m. individual supporters.

  • Headquarters: Ottho Heldringstraat 5, 1066 AZ Amsterdam, Netherlands.

  • Website: http://www.greenpeace.org

  • Executive Director: Arriba Hamid and Will McCallum.

World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)

Origin.

WWF was officially formed and registered as a charity on 11 Sept. 1961. The first National Appeal was launched in the United Kingdom on 23 Nov. 1961, shortly followed by the United States and Switzerland.

Mission.

WWF has as its mission preserving genetic, species and ecosystem diversity; ensuring that the use of renewable natural resources is sustainable now and in the longer term, for the benefit of all life on Earth; promoting actions to reduce to a minimum pollution and the wasteful exploitation and consumption of resources and energy. WWF’s ultimate goal is to stop, and eventually reverse, the accelerating degradation of our planet’s natural environment, and to help build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature.

Organization.

WWF is the world’s largest and most experienced independent conservation organization active in nearly 100 countries with over 6m. supporters and over 30m. followers on social media.

The National Organizations carry out conservation activities in their own countries and contribute technical expertise and funding to WWF’s international conservation programme. The Programme Offices implement WWF’s fieldwork, advise national and local governments, and raise public understanding of conservation issues.

  • Address: Rue Mauverney 28, CH-1196 Gland, Switzerland.

  • Website: http://wwf.panda.org

  • Director General: Kirsten Shuijt (Netherlands).

  • President: Adil Najam (Pakistan).