Our History
Friends of the Earth Scotland (FoES) started in 1978 by a group of passionate people motivated to fight for environmental justice. With just a small group of volunteers in a basement room, FoES has evolved into Scotland’s leading environmental campaigning organisation, consisting of a 20-strong staff team based in a city centre eco-office. All of this has been made possible by our fantastic loyal supporters.
| 1969 | David Brower founds Friends of the Earth in San Francisco as a radical splinter of the Sierra Club |
| 1970 | FoE UK is born and local groups spring up across the country |
| 1971 | FoE UK’s first campaign action – returning thousands of empty bottles to Cadbury-Schweppes to promote re-use |
| 1972 | First Scottish FoE local group formed in Edinburgh |
| 1977 | First joint meeting of all Scottish local groups |
| 1978 | Board of FoE UK gives formal approval to an independent organisation in Scotland and an inaugural meeting is held on 16 December, thanks in large part to efforts by Mairi MacArthur, FoE Edinburgh member and first Chair of FoE International. The Scottish public votes against devolution in a referendum – FoES will have to wait 21 years before it has the chance to work with the Scottish Parliament |
| 1979 | First full time Co-ordinator is appointed. First national campaign launched – to protect the otter |
| 1980 | FoES becomes legally independent from FoE Ltd, now known in the network as FoE EWNI (England, Wales and Northern Ireland) |
| 1981 | Campaigns launched to protect endangered species and against nuclear power |
| 1982 | FoES takes lead on FoE International campaign on acid rain |
| 1984 | Scottish Freedom of Information Act campaign launched with our support |
| 1987 | Xanthe Jay becomes first full time campaigner. Campaign win stops the planting of 759 acres of non-native conifers in Perthshire |
| 1989 | CFC-free campaign launched by dumping old fridge on steps of Scottish Office |
| 1991 | Kevin Dunion appointed as first Director of FoES |
| 1992 | Scotland’s largest tropical hardwood importer suspends dealing with its major supplier following FoES’s exposure of malpractice in Brazil |
| 1994 | Campaign launched to stop super-quarry at Lingerbay in South Harris |
| 1995 | Campaign launched to stop Scotland from being world’s nuclear dustbin |
| 1998 | Residents in village of Greengairs discover toxic PCBs being dumped in a local rubbish tip. With our assistance, campaign launched that will result in improvements in every Scottish rubbish tip |
| 1999 | Environmental Justice and GM Free Scotland campaigns launched |
| 2000 | Our support helps campaigners in Kirknewton shut landfill that has been operating without planning permission |
| 2002 | First Minister Jack McConnell pledges to address Environmental Justice in his key-note speech |
| 2003 | Duncan McLaren takes over as Chief Executive. Our Green Office website and handbook launched |
| 2005 | FoES launches appeal for £30,000 to take Scottish Ministers to court over their decision to over-rule the independent inquiry that recommended that the M74 extension should not be built |
| 2007 | UK Government publishes draft Climate Bill after Big Ask campaign led by Friends of the Earth. FoES launches Communities Reducing Excess Waste (CREW) project |
| 2009 | FoES celebrates success of Big Ask Scotland campaign as the Scottish Climate Change Act – the strongest climate legislation in the industrialised world – receives Royal Assent |
| 2010 | Power of Scotland research published demonstrating that Scotland can generate all of our electricity needs from renewables – months later the Scottish Government announces 100% renewable electricity by 2020 target |
| 2011 | Our intervention in a Supreme Court case leads to an important change in Scots law on who can take public interest cases to court |
| 2012 | Together with many other organisations and campaigners we succeed in stopping a new coal-fired power station at Hunterston |
| 2013 | Dr Richard Dixon returns to Friends of the Earth Scotland as the organisation’s new Director. After years of targeting RBS for its financing of fossil fuels, the bank bows to pressure and stops financing companies mining coal by mountain-top removal. We launch a major new Air Pollution campaign. |
| 2014 | We fight Dart Energy’s plans for coalbed methane extraction at Airth in a public inquiry alongside the local community |
| 2015 | The Scottish Government announces a moratorium on shale gas fracking and coalbed methane thanks to huge community resistance and our campaign |
| 2016 | The Scottish Government announces plans for a new Climate Change Act to deliver the Paris Agreement and to deliver a Low Emission Zone by 2018, they also ban Underground Coal Gasification |
| 2017 | 60,000 people tell the Scottish Government they want fracking banned |
| 2018 | We took over Edinburgh’s streets for Car Free day to highlight better ways to use our streets, intervened in the court case to fight for Scotland’s fracking ban and built support for fossil fuel divestment |
| 2019 | Youth Climate Strikers take to the streets; Young FoE Scotland goes from strength to strength and Extinction Rebellion captures the media attention. The UN Climate Talks are announced to be coming to Glasgow. The Scottish Parliament passes a new Climate Act for Scotland, at the time the strongest climate legislation in the world, committing to 70% cuts in emissions by 2030 and net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2045. |
| 2020 | We begin to campaign on a Just and Green Recovery after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic |
| 2021 | The COP26 Climate Talks come to Glasgow in November, seeing the largest ever climate march in Scotland and the UK. People power forced the oil giant Shell to pull out of the Cambo oil field, leading to the project being paused. The Scottish Government backs away from its ‘drill every drop’ policy. |
