Young Friends of the Earth A network for young climate and environmental justice activists

The Environmental Justice Collective (EJC) is a six-month leadership programme for young people aged 18 - 30 who are passionate about environmental and climate justice.

We exist because the climate crisis isn’t just about carbon emissions – it’s about injustice. It's rooted in systems like racism, colonialism, ableism, classism, and exploitation.

Right now, the EJC programme supports 16 young people to organise, speak out and build power for a fairer, greener world. Check out manifesto here.

What we do:

• Planet Over Profit campaign: we take on corporate power in the fight for a just economic system that puts people and planet before profit. Right now, we're creating a zine that highlights Indigenous land defenders across the world and exposes how the supply chains of UK based companies are causing harm to communities and nature in the Global South.
• Storytelling for justice: storytelling is powerful, it connects people, raises awareness, and inspires change. But too many stories go untold, especially those of disabled people, activists in the Global South and young people fighting for environmental justice. That’s why we’re being trained in filmmaking because when young people share their truth, it shifts narratives and demands action.

Watch us in action: at Unilever’s AGM in 2025, we stood in solidarity with land defenders in Indonesia, demanding the company be held accountable for the harm caused by its palm oil supply chain. Watch this short film featuring EJC members made by us on Instagram.

A network of young disabled and neurodivergent people and allies, who campaign on the intersection of climate justice and disability justice. 

In action:

• Groups in Leeds, Nottingham, and Derry, Northern Ireland have developed disability justice manifestos. We’ll soon be creating a manifesto for the whole of Young Friends of the Earth. You can check out the group manifestos here.
• The network has been involved in Friends of the Earth's work on the National Adaptation Plan, which is campaigning for disabled people’s rights to be protected during extreme weather events. Check out EJC member Nayyan speaking about the High Court case.
• Look at this resource developed by youth network member, Yaomin, while he was a mentee on the Climate. Youth. Society. programme, on how the environmental movement can make spaces more inclusive for autistic people.
• EJC group member Tamara was commissioned by Friends of the Earth to write a piece for Disability History Month and recently published her first article for The Big Issue on the intersection of climate and disability justice.

My World My Home is a year-long leadership development programme for young people between the ages of 16 - 24, in association with Friends of the Earth and Students Organising for Sustainability (SOS-UK).

During the course, participants learn how to plan and organise a local community campaign that’ll positively benefit their local environment. 

In action:

• Students at Queen Elizabeth Academy and All Saints Academy campaigned to save a school bus subsidy that was to be cut by Nottinghamshire Council. Their campaign raised awareness on why public transport is important in minimising air pollution.

At Friends of the Earth, our Youth Team believes that true solidarity means taking practical action to support individuals, groups, and organisations working on climate, environmental, and social justice, whether or not they're a part of our network.

Ubele Initiative

The Ubele Initiative is an African diaspora-led infrastructure organisation, empowering black and minoritised communities in the UK to drive social and economic change.

Over the past year, we’ve partnered with Ubele to support their Young Emerging Leaders Collective (YELC) to design and deliver a campaign tackling environmental racism. We funded and coached a senior member of our own Youth Network to take up a peer leadership role within YELC, stepping up from participant to Peer Leader. She facilitated a two-day residential on political education and campaign skills, followed by a series of monthly workshops to guide the group through their campaign development.

Our Youth Action Fund exists to resource campaigning on climate and environmental justice led by young people who are racialised, working class and/or disabled. 

Open to individuals and youth-led groups across England, Wales and Northern Ireland, the fund offers up to £500 to support travel to events, start-up costs for new groups or project costs for campaigning.

By prioritising young people who face systemic barriers to accessing traditional funding, the Youth Action Fund helps make vital youth-led action possible where it otherwise wouldn’t be.

More information on our Youth Action Fund and how to apply can be found here.

Our Youth Action Fund supported Daphne Frias, a 26-year-old disability rights activist based in the US, when a funder withdrew support after she disclosed she would be speaking out on Palestine. 

Daphne is the former NY State Director for March For Our Lives and founder of Box The Ballot, which helped collect nearly 470,000 absentee ballots in the 2018 US midterms. She also serves as the UN Regional Focal Point for Sustainable Development Goal 16, representing youth voices in global peace building. 

During her time in the UK, Daphne worked on a documentary exploring the experiences of disabled young people living through heatwaves across continents. We provided a £500 grant to help ensure her work in London could continue and supported her to access further funding for her trip.