Campaigning for a greener and fairer Wales since 1984

Our 40th anniversary is an opportunity to look forward as well as back. Our planet, and our nation, is facing unprecedented challenges. What should we, as an environmental organisation and as a country, focus on over the next years to make the most difference?

Who are we?

We are a small team who work with and support a network of Friends of the Earth voluntary local action groups and we also have supporters across Wales. Our mission is to strive for a sustainable future for our nation.

We are part of the wider FOE England, Wales and Northern Ireland organisation which in turn is part of FOE Europe and FOE International, the world’s largest grassroots environmental federation with over 70 national member groups worldwide. 

Often, we work in coalition with other organisations, and campaigners as well as people and groups from a wide variety of sectors.

How it all began

In 1981 Margaret and Robert Minhinnick embarked upon two campaigns to protect two sites near to where they live, Kenfig Nature Reserve and Merthyr Mawr.

After succeeding to save both Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), they launched Friends of the Earth Cymru in 1984. This was in response to a request from Jonathan Porrit, then director of Friends in the Earth, who attended the launch in Cardiff.

As Margaret explains, “our first campaign was a challenge to all local authorities in Wales to respond significantly to the ‘Wildlife and Countryside Act’ to protect all our Sites of Special Scientific Interest. This was before e mail, the internet and mobile phones.”

Margaret and Robert instructed local printers to use a recycled paper product, then volunteers to stuff envelopes and stick on the stamps.

“Now a national organisation,” says Margaret, “FOE Cymru functioned from a bedroom in Porthcawl – telephone number Porthcawl 5185. The phone started ringing day and night about everything you could imagine and some you could not.” 

Early years

Our organisation became a hub for environmental activists in Wales. In the 1980s we took a lead role in creating greater awareness of the problem of acid rain, helping to bring about reductions in polluting emissions in Wales.

We were also an early advocate of recycling, helping to transform attitudes and policy. Wales is now one of the top recycling nations in the world.

In the 1990s, alongside a growing network of local groups, we worked with local campaigners to gather evidence of the Sea Empress oil spill and helped prepare a legal case. We were delighted when the Environment Agency took up the case and successfully prosecuted the Milford Haven Port Authority in 1999.

At the same time, we worked with the Friends of Cardigan Bay to protect this rich marine habitat, forcing the UK government to require environmental impact assessments for oil and gas drilling in all UK waters.

Growing up

In the 2000s, our campaign to keep Wales free of genetically modified crops and support environmentally friendly farming was unanimously backed by the then Welsh Assembly.

We also campaigned for local food and renewable energy, busted myths about wind power and took on the climate change deniers.

After our persistent lobbying and shortly after the global Paris COP agreement, the Senedd passed legislation committing Wales to cutting greenhouse gas emissions, and the climate action plans that followed included many of our recommendations.

Friends of the Earth local groups around Wales led the campaign for a charge on single use plastic bags, with many groups producing their own reusable cloth bags to give away to shoppers in their communities. Working with the local communities in Merthyr and Rhymney Valley, we also stopped a massive waste incinerator being built.

We successfully campaigned for the introduction of a new Action Plan for Pollinators and started the Bee Friendly scheme, the first national practical community level scheme to help bees and pollinators anywhere.

More recently

Over the past ten years, we have worked with communities to ban fracking, persuade pension funds to shift millions of pounds out of fossil fuels and campaigned alongside others to stop coal extraction at Nant Llesg, Ffos y Fran and Glan Lash.

Decades of community and individual campaigning against incinerators finally paid off when Welsh Government introduced a moratorium on any new incinerators in Wales. We’ve long campaigned for Wales to become a zero-waste nation and have supported the move to a circular economy vision for Wales. 

We’ve also helped shape groundbreaking policies and legislation such as the Wellbeing of Future Generations Act. The ‘Beyond Recycling’ strategy includes many things we’d been calling for a long time, and Welsh Government’s transport strategy ‘Llwybr Newydd’ took on board many of the recommendations from our transport report. With Healthy Air Cymru, we helped secure lifesaving clean air legislation. And working as members of the Fuel Poverty Cymru coalition we’ve campaigned to prioritise home energy efficiency and ensure warm homes for all.

Present situation

The climate and nature emergencies are still the most urgent issues facing our planet.

The UN warn that over 1 million plant and animal species are at risk of extinction. Plastic pollution in its many forms has given rise to a truly global disaster with micro and nano plastics found in every part of our planet and now also inside human tissues.

2023 was the hottest year on record at 2.12 degrees above the 20th century. Heat waves, drought, famine, wildfires, floods are becoming ever more frequent and at a pace even faster than predicted. Even scientists are shocked at how quickly our climate is breaking down and climate tipping points, if triggered, could set in motion a self-perpetuating cycle of environmental collapse.

What are we doing now?

We may have been campaigning for over four decades, but our work is far from over. Here are some of the things we're focusing on right now.

We’re striving to stop coal extraction and get justice for communities

With our local groups, we continue to fight for climate and environmental justice and solutions to help people and the planet. Now (as of December 2024) we’re working with local communities to stop coal extraction at Glan Lash and to ensure old industrial sites like Ffos y Fran are kept safe and restored.

Welsh Government has taken positive steps to commit to a fossil-free future for Wales. Yet its coal policy allows coal to be extracted in “exceptional circumstances”, a loophole that can be exploited by climate-wrecking companies. That’s why we are calling for Welsh Government to introduce a ban on all coal extraction.

We want industrial legacy sites to be made safe and restored

Communities living near coal tips must be kept safe. A publicly controlled and funded scheme is the best way to ensure people’s safety. UK Government must provide enough money for this to happen. Safety is the number one priority, but remediation can’t be an excuse to resurrect a coal industry, damaging to nature, climate, and communities.

We want to help protect communities from contaminated land

The impact of contaminated land, forever chemicals and toxic waste on the health of people and wildlife is also a growing concern among affected communities. We are started to work with campaigners and want to support communities to act. We look forward to working with the Senedd and Welsh Government to ensure forthcoming legislation on environmental governance is fit for purpose. It’s important that people know if they are living close to contaminated land or other kinds of pollution that could affect their health and environment. And if they feel they are directly impacted, they must be able to do something about it.

We want to reduce harmful pollution you can’t see

Protecting people and wildlife from pollution has always been important to us. Some of our current campaigns focus on pollution you can’t see – in air, water, and soil. Alongside Healthy Air Cymru, we continue to campaign to ensure the air we breathe is clean and healthy and that the new clean legislation is strong and implemented as swiftly as possible.

Did you know that clothes made from nylon and polyester shed microfibres when we wash them? With Sustainable Clothing and Textiles Cymru, we’re calling for Wales to be ‘a sustainable fashion nation.’ Addressing the growing problem of microplastics, which is affecting our wildlife and our own health, is an important part of this campaign.

Rising to the challenge

Over the past forty years, we’ve helped make Wales a greener and a fairer place, thanks to local groups, supporters, and everyone else we’ve worked with.

As we look ahead to the 2026 Senedd elections and beyond, we look forward to focusing our efforts on where we can make a real difference in these challenging times.

If you would like to join us, we'd love to hear from you. As the saying goes, many hands make light work.