What is Friends of the Earth UK?

Friends of the Earth UK is a UK environmental organisation that describes itself as the UK's biggest grassroots network dedicated to protecting people and the planet. It covers England, Wales and Northern Ireland through more than 200 local action groups, and combines local organising, national campaigning and legal action. It is the right starting point if you want to understand what the organisation stands for, what it is currently campaigning on, or how to get involved locally.

What the organisation says it does

The group frames its purpose around the wellbeing and protection of the natural world and everyone in it. Its stated work falls into three broad areas:

• Local action — supporting local groups that protect local areas and make them more climate friendly.
• Legal action — taking government to court over projects that harm the environment.
• Global justice — fighting for environmental and social justice internationally, including stated solidarity with people facing oppression, human rights abuses and environmental injustice.

How it is organised

The local-group model is the distinctive part: rather than only running national campaigns, the organisation routes much of its activity through volunteer groups tied to specific places.

What it is campaigning on now

The homepage highlights several live campaigns, which give a useful picture of current priorities:

• Fossil fuels — opposing new oil, gas and coal development, including the government's approval of the Jackdaw North Sea gas field, and arguing for a move away from expensive, polluting fossil fuels.
• Airport expansion — a petition demanding no more airport expansion during a climate emergency, plus a separate piece setting out 15 reasons why Heathrow expansion is wrong, based on the government's own figures.
• Data centres — calling for a pause on data centre expansion until there is a clear plan and proper limits, framed around resource use.
• Water pollution — pressing polluters to clean up their act, linking contamination with rising bills and shareholder profits.
• International justice — a stated position that the UK must change direction on Palestine, framed as part of environmental and social justice work.

How to get involved

The site offers a few concrete routes in:

1. Join a local group — find one near you through the "Join a group near you" prompt; this is the most direct way to take part in local action.
2. Sign a petition — current petitions include airport expansion and data centre expansion.
3. Sign up for news — a form collects first name, last name and email to receive campaign updates, including whether you can help with a donation.
4. Read the campaign briefings — pages such as the Heathrow explainer and the water pollution campaign set out the arguments in more detail.

Note that the sign-up form asks for contact details and mentions donations as a possibility; the site does not state that membership or participation is free, so treat any cost as something to confirm directly.

What to expect if you are researching it

If your goal is a quick orientation, the homepage alone tells you the essentials: a national environmental organisation with a grassroots structure, a focus on climate, nature and pollution, and a working style that mixes petitions and public campaigns with litigation. If your goal is participation, the local group route is the most concrete next step; if your goal is to check a specific claim or campaign position, the individual campaign pages carry the detail, including the Heathrow piece built on government figures.