We're committed to
- Each generation enjoying an environment that’s getting better; a safer climate, abundant nature, healthy air, water and food.
- A growing and diverse network of people coming together to transform our environment into one which is flourishing, sustainable, and socially just.
- A peaceful and sustainable world based on societies living in harmony with nature.
- Our staff, our wider network and the work we do must be free from discrimination and harassment.
Friends of the Earth is a company and a charity
Friends of the Earth Limited is a not-for-profit limited company limited by guarantee, company number 1012357.
We own the Friends of the Earth trademark and grant local action groups a licence to campaign under our name.
We're known as Friends of the Earth England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and have teams that work in Wales and in Northern Ireland. We also have a sister organisation in Scotland.
A substantial part of the funding for our charitable campaigning comes from our sister organisation Friends of the Earth Charitable Trust, which is a registered charity, No. 281681.
The charity works to raise funds and provide grants to organisations whose activities further its charitable objectives. It's regulated by the Charity Commission and registered with Companies House.
Our income and spending
We're transparent about the income we receive, mostly through our charitable trust, and how we spend it, mostly through our limited company.
Our leadership
Executive Director: Asad Rehman
Asad previously worked at Friends of the Earth for 11 years and was our head of international climate campaigning until 2017. He then took on the role of Executive Director at War on Want until he returned to Friends of the Earth in 2025. He's also previously held positions with Friends of the Earth International and Amnesty International UK. Asad has nearly 4 decades of experience in campaigning for environmental, social and racial justice, with a deep understanding of how these struggles are inextricably linked.
Senior Leadership Team
Niamh Neville – Director of Income Generation (interim)
Raakhi Patel – Director of Finance (interim)
Victoria Marsom – Director of Communities and Networks (interim)
Board
We're governed by a Board of Non-Executive Directors. They're responsible for the overall strategic direction and oversight of the organisation, ensuring regulatory compliance, monitoring and evaluating risks, and approval of the annual budget and audited accounts.
We're proud that our Board has won Conservation and Environment Board of the Year at the Board Awards, for the biggest impact on diversity and inclusion within environmental conservation.
For our Memorandum and Articles of Association, please see our filing history with Companies House.
Our Board members
Barry Johnston, Chair
Barry is a Founding Partner at Purpose Union advising clients on advocacy, partnerships and philanthropy, including the likes of Jamie Oliver, Malala Fund, Unilever and WaterAid among others. Barry has worked on campaigns influencing public and policy debate in Ireland, the UK, EMEA and the Americas with experience across communications, advocacy, social marketing and stakeholder management. He's worked across a variety of complex issues including climate change and sustainability, food and nutrition, public health and education. Prior to founding Purpose Union, Barry was Director of Advocacy at Malala Fund, closely advising Nobel Prize winner and UN Messenger of Peace Malala Yousafzai. He led the organisation’s global advocacy including overseeing all of its engagement with the UN system. Previously he spent a decade leading national coalitions in the UK and Ireland on topics ranging from climate change and tax transparency to mental health and LGBT rights. Originally from Ireland, Barry studied at the National University of Ireland, the University of London and Dublin City University and has worked as a freelance food writer as well as founding the campaign group Emigrant Manifesto.
Jeana Malhi, Vice Chair
Jeana was our first youth Board member for Friends of the Earth, and now sits as Vice Chair and Safeguarding Lead. She's motivated by climate justice and opposing the capitalistic and colonial structures responsible for climate change. She wants a variety of different youth perspectives and intergenerational knowledge to be heard during her time on the Board. Jeana currently works for Community Energy England as a graduate intern and has volunteered for Sheffield Renewables, a community energy organisation, since 2014. Jeana is also a collective member of Verse Matters, an intersectional feminist arts collective who organise and provide supportive spaces for spoken word events in Sheffield.
Monye Anyadike-Danes
Monye has nearly 40 years’ experience as a corporate and commercial lawyer and as a practising advocate. She's practised in Northern Ireland since 1997 and was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 2007. She's a member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, qualified as a Mediator in 2002 and is CEDR accredited. Monye is on the committee of the British and Irish Commercial Bar Association and is an active member of the Bar Council’s pro bono committee. She has extensive experience in construction, commercial, company law and public procurement law and also has a well-developed human rights and judicial review practice.
Jeanette Wong
Jeanette is a qualified chartered accountant (ICAS) and is currently the Finance and Sustainability Director of Abel & Cole, an organic online grocer, which is on a mission to do food right for people and planet. After qualifying from Ernst & Young in 2008, she's spent the last 15 years working in retail, ecommerce and FMCG for high-growth businesses in a number of commercial and operational finance roles. Jeanette holds a degree in Classics, Latin and Greek from UCL and is an active member of the B-Corp Community, where she's currently the co-chair of the Finance Director working group. She's passionate about equality and inclusivity and in her spare time acts as a mentor for Blueprint For All (formerly the Stephen Lawrence Charity Trust.)
Sandy Ruthven
Sandy Hore-Ruthven MBE is the CEO of Severn Wye Energy, one of the UK’s largest charities tackling fuel poverty and climate change through our energy system. Sandy was the Green Party mayoral candidate for Bristol in the elections of 2021 and received 44% of the vote, the largest green vote outside of Brighton. He's been Chair of Children in Need in the South West and has held a number board positions, including the Chair of Youth Action Network and VOSCUR and a board member of the Quartet Community Foundation. He was a founder member of the Bristol Mayor’s "One City" board, where he initiated the plans to reach net zero by 2030. Sandy has cycled in many places across the globe including the Andes, the Tibetan Plateau, the Himalayas and Central Africa. He has 2 adopted children who are now grown up and making their way in the world.
