Friends of the Earth International’s pathways to system change

Friends of the Earth International argues that the current global crises—climate, biodiversity, and social inequality—are rooted in a capitalist model, industrial agriculture, and patriarchal relations. The organization advocates for a transition toward a 'new economy' based on solidarity, food sovereignty, and community-led energy and forest management. It emphasizes the necessity of dismantling corporate power and oppression to create a world where human rights and planetary boundaries are central to governance.

• The organization identifies the dominant global systems as the capitalist economic model, industrial agriculture, the fossil fuel energy system, and patriarchal relations, asserting that these systems prioritize profit over people and nature and are built on racism, colonialism, and imperialism.
• A just energy transition requires moving away from market-based solutions and corporate control toward a public and 100% renewable energy system characterized by energy sufficiency and community ownership.
• Food sovereignty and agroecology are presented as essential pathways to systemic change, emphasizing the right of peoples to define their own food production and distribution systems and the use of holistic, non-industrial farming practices.
• Community-based forest management is advocated as a more effective method for protecting biodiversity than conventional conservation, noting that Indigenous Peoples and local communities currently manage approximately 21% of the world's land mass.
• The document calls for a new economic paradigm that replaces the pursuit of growth and profit with a focus on planetary boundaries, tax justice, debt cancellation, and the scaling of cooperatives.
• Gender justice is framed as a necessary component of system change, requiring the dismantling of patriarchy and the creation of a feminist care economy to address the intersection of resource exploitation and violence against women.

APA

Bradbury, A., Cadena, L., Cossar-Gilbert, S., Drago, M., Nansen, K., Rojas, I., & Shaw, S. (2023). Friends of the Earth International’s pathways to system change. Friends of the Earth International. https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/50-FoEI-Pathways-Pamphlet-ENG-rhr.pdf

Chicago

Bradbury, Adam, Lucy Cadena, Sam Cossar-Gilbert, Martín Drago, Karin Nansen, Isaac Rojas, and Sara Shaw. Friends of the Earth International’s pathways to system change. Friends of the Earth International, 2023. https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/50-FoEI-Pathways-Pamphlet-ENG-rhr.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Bradbury |first1=Adam |last2=Cadena |first2=Lucy |last3=Cossar-Gilbert |first3=Sam |last4=Drago |first4=Martín |last5=Nansen |first5=Karin |last6=Rojas |first6=Isaac |last7=Shaw |first7=Sara |title=Friends of the Earth International’s pathways to system change |publisher=Friends of the Earth International |date=June 2023 |url=https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/50-FoEI-Pathways-Pamphlet-ENG-rhr.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{bradbury2023friends, author = {Bradbury, Adam and Cadena, Lucy and Cossar-Gilbert, Sam and Drago, Martín and Nansen, Karin and Rojas, Isaac and Shaw, Sara}, title = {{Friends of the Earth International’s pathways to system change}}, institution = {Friends of the Earth International}, year = {2023}, month = jun, url = {https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/50-FoEI-Pathways-Pamphlet-ENG-rhr.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }