PRINCIPLES FOR A JUST RECOVERY

The report 'Principles for a Just Recovery' by Friends of the Earth International argues that the COVID-19 pandemic is a consequence of a capitalist, patriarchal, and racist system that prioritizes profit over people and nature. The document proposes a transformative system change based on four core principles: abandoning neoliberalism and austerity, enhancing international solidarity, strengthening democracy and human rights, and addressing the root causes of multiple systemic crises (climate, biodiversity, food, and care). It calls for the redistribution of wealth, the cancellation of Global South debt, and a transition away from fossil fuels and industrial agriculture toward energy and food sovereignty.

• Friends of the Earth International identifies the root cause of the COVID-19 pandemic and other socio-ecological crises—including climate, biodiversity, food, water, economic, and care crises—as a system designed for 'capital accumulation and neoliberal, corporate-led globalisation'.
• The organization proposes four guiding principles for a just recovery: abandoning neoliberalism and austerity in favor of justice and ecological limits; enhancing multilateral cooperation and internationalist solidarity; strengthening democracy and human rights; and pursuing a transformative system change to address the root causes of systemic crises.
• To ensure a just recovery, the report demands that governments stop providing public bailouts to transnational corporations, particularly those in the mining, fossil fuel, agribusiness, and airline sectors, or those based in tax havens. It suggests that public services and key economic sectors should instead be nationalized or placed under community or co-operative ownership.
• The document calls for significant international financial reforms, including the total cancellation of Global South debt and the provision of non-refundable grants from the Global North. It argues that the Global North owes a 'historical ecological debt' and should provide financing for the Global South's energy transformation.
• The report advocates for a transition from industrial agriculture to food sovereignty by supporting peasant, family, and artisanal producers. This includes implementing holistic agrarian land reforms, ending intellectual property rights on seeds, and phasing out agrotoxics and antibiotics in meat production.
• A just recovery requires a transition to a 100% renewable energy future that is state or community-owned. The report emphasizes the need to dismantle intellectual property systems to allow for the sharing and local adaptation of low-impact energy technologies.
• The document highlights the need to address the 'care crisis' by establishing free public care systems for children, the elderly, and the sick to end the disproportionate burden of care work placed on women by a patriarchal system.

APA

Friends of the Earth International (2020). PRINCIPLES FOR A JUST RECOVERY. https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/FoEI_just_recovery_principles_english.pdf

Chicago

Friends of the Earth International. PRINCIPLES FOR A JUST RECOVERY. 2020. https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/FoEI_just_recovery_principles_english.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Friends of the Earth International |title=PRINCIPLES FOR A JUST RECOVERY |date=August 2020 |url=https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/FoEI_just_recovery_principles_english.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{friendsoftheearthinternational2020principles, author = {{Friends of the Earth International}}, title = {{PRINCIPLES FOR A JUST RECOVERY}}, institution = {Friends of the Earth International}, year = {2020}, month = aug, url = {https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/FoEI_just_recovery_principles_english.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }