Friends of the Earth Ireland

We primarily measure the impact of our work by monitoring campaign progress and associated changes to government policy. For example, the 2020 Programme for Government included many of our campaign demands that we have been pushing for and working on for the past number of years from tackling plastic waste to supporting renewable energy. Another example, Supermarkets providing more loose produce and pledging to reduce plastic packaging after community pressure through our Sick of Plastic 'Supermarket Shop and Drop' actions in recent years.

Friends of the Earth focuses on Ireland's response to the big environmental challenges of our time such as climate change, energy, the waste crisis and sustainable food production. Because there is no one solution to these big challenges, we take a holistic approach. We push for policy change - urging politicians to commit to action and hold them to account, we champion practical solutions and we empower and support communities to create change from the bottom up too. We have particular experience in participatory education, campaign strategy, shaping public debate and driving policy change. We are committed to joining forces with other organizations and networks, of diverse experiences and perspectives, to build our collective power.

The Friends of the Earth office is based in Dublin but we work across Ireland engaging and supporting grassroots activists and communities in taking action on big environmental issues. We support people and groups working autonomously to connect their local work to the bigger national and international picture. We work with others to try to make sure our focus is transformational change, often by creating moments that exert maximum pressure on decision-makers. Friends of the Earth Ireland works closely with Friends of the Earth Northern Ireland and with our sister organizations across Europe.

Our Faster and Fairer Climate Action campaign resulted in Ireland passing the Climate Bill this year, a landmark moment in Irish climate policy, and one of the biggest victories the environmental movement has ever had. In June, thanks to Friends of the Earth research and campaigning, a new bill was introduced in the Seanad to remove planning restrictions for the installation of solar panels on schools and other buildings. EU countries finally transposed the Single Use Plastic Directive into law - this is one of the asks in our Sick of Plastic petition and it means that many single use plastic items such as cotton buds, straws and plastic cutlery will be banned and should be replaced with alternative materials.