Media

The resources here are specifically designed for the press and media. They are arranged by type:

Briefings
Reports
Press Releases

Briefings

Mining Madagascar - forests, communities and Rio Tinto's white wash
(PDF† 63K) October 2007
This briefing highlights how, contrary to the claims of Rio Tinto and the World Bank, Rio Tinto's mining project is in fact creating economic insecurity, social upheaval, and environmental destruction in Madagascar, depriving local people of their land and livelihoods while yet to demonstrate any real benefits in return.

Shell. Wildlife Destroyer of the Year?
(PDF† 60K) October 2006
This briefing outlines some of the impacts that Shell is currently having on wildlife, as well as highlighting the hypocracy of Shell sponsoring the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition.

Corporate Conquest
(PDF† 150K) September 2006
Why the UK and its EU partners must stop forcing Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) upon developing countries.

Broken Promises
(PDF† 79K) June 2006
This briefing outlines how Shell's non-compliance with the OECD Guidelines harms people and the
environment, and why voluntary self regulation is not enough to protect them from the activities of companies like Shell.

UK Government ignores environment at WTO
(PDF† 24K) December 2005
This media briefing looks at how trade policies being discussed at the WTO will encourage further environmental damage and increase poverty.

What's wrong with world trade?
(PDF† 215K) September 2005
This briefing looks at the world trade system and explains why Friends of the Earth believes it is fundamentally flawed.

Market access v sustainable development
(PDF† 163K) July 2005
This briefing looks ahead to the WTO's December 2005 Ministerial meeting when Non-Agricultural Market Access is on the agenda. It argues that a major rethink is needed if trade is going to play any part in the fight against poverty and climate change.

How Public Money Funds Oil
(PDF† 88K) October 2004
This briefing explains how UK taxpayer fund oil extraction projects overseas with case studies of new BP and Shell developments.

Oh Mandy
(PDF† 108K) October 2004
As ex-MP Peter Mandelson stands poised to take over the EU trade brief, Friends of the Earth explains why we think democracy is taking another body blow from spin and big business.

Every Little Hurts: Why Tesco needs to be tamed
(PDF† 60K) June 2004
This briefing sets out some of the growing evidence that Tesco's success is coming at a high price to local communities, UK farmers and overseas workers, in stark contrast to the Tesco's claims.

Cadbury's chocolate and palm oil
(PDF† 119K) May 2004
Confectionary giant Cadbury-Schweppes considers itself an international leader in corporate social responsibility, however this briefing shows that their use of palm oil can leave a bitter taste.

HSBC - financing forest destruction and social conflict
(PDF† 156K) May 2004
This briefing reveals that customers and shareholders of HSBC are unaware that through their mortgages, overdrafts and shares they have unwittingly financed companies destroying rainforests and damaging communities in Indonesia.

AGM Season 2004
(PDF† 133K) April 2004
An introduction to Friends of the Earth's activities at Annual General Meetings throughout Spring 2004. Contains a list of the companies being targetted and the reasons why.

GATS in Wales: Understanding the General Agreement on Trade in Services
(PDF† 140K) April 2004
This briefing looks at how GATS will affect the powers of the Welsh Assembly and what action the Assembly can take to protect its ability to regulate in the public interest.

Rio Tinto - What's yours is mine
(PDF† 114K) April 2004
A media briefing looking at two examples of the company's activities which clearly illustrate why concerns about the company's greenwash persist.

UK plc in Latin America
(PDF† 766K) September 2003
The EU, backed heavily by the UK, continues to push hard for a new WTO investment agreement while British multinationals plough on with the kind of investment such an agreement would promote. Friends of the Earth exposes the plans, demands the accountability of those responsible, and shows up the WTO investment agreement myth.

Open wide, this won't hurt a bit
(PDF† 162K) July 2003
This briefing explains what a WTO investment agreement would look like and why we don't need it.

Investment and the WTO - Busting the myths
(PDF† 425K) June 2003
This briefing aims to explode some of the myths surrounding FDI and the 'benefits' of establishing an investment agreement in the WTO.

WTO: Cancun con?
(PDF† 135K) June 2003
This briefing sets out the main issues relating to the WTO that are of concern to Friends of the Earth and explains what we will be doing at, and in the run-up to, Cancun.

WTO: Check up in Cancun
(PDF† 111K) June 2003
This briefing sets out why Cancun represents a crucial health check for the seriously ailing WTO and it's free trade experiment.

GM trade war looms
(PDF† 241K) May 2003
The WTO's Dispute Resolution Mechanism decides who wins and who loses in international trade wars. This briefing exposes how it works, and explores what may happen following the US complaint against the EU over GM food.

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Reports

Undercutting Africa
(PDF† 1392K) October 2008
This report shows how Economic Partnership Agreements threaten forests and biodiversity in Africa, and the livelihoods of forest-dependent communities.

Development recast?
(PDF† 1.67M) October 2007
A review of the impact of the Rio Tinto ilmenite mine in Southern Madagascar.

Shell: Use your profit to clean up your mess
(PDF† 2M) February 2007
Report on how Shell should fund local solutions for environmental and social destruction caused by its projects

The Happy Planet Index
(PDF† 1664K) July 2006
A new global measure of progress, the ‘Happy Planet Index', measures the environmental cost with which countries deliver lives of different length and happiness to reveal for the first time that happiness doesn't have to cost the Earth.

A Big Deal? - Corporate Social Responsibility and the Finance Sector in Europe
(PDF† 353K) December 2005
This report discusses the limitations of Corporate Social Responsibility and proposes an alternative agenda that is far more likely to deliver greater accountability and lasting sustainable development.

Hidden voices: Corporate lobbying and sustainability in the UK research report
(PDF† 536k) June 2005
This report is about business lobby groups and their influence over Government policy.

Easy Listening - a research summary of the above report
(PDF† 340K)
This summary shows why the Government needs a new playlist featuring more than the CBI's old favourites.

Lessons not learned- the other Shell Report
(PDF† 505K) June 2005
This report tells the real story of living on Shell's doorstep around the world, that Shell's reports fail to mention.

BAT in its own words
(PDF† 238K) April 2005
This report uses BAT's own internal documents to expose how it uses Corporate Social Responsibility to make a profit at the expense of people, their health and the environment.

Xposé Awards 2004 Ceremonial Brochure
(PDF † 537K) September 2004
Full details of all companies and lobby groups nominated for Xposé Awards at the Labour Party Conference in Brighton 2004.

Xposé Award Winners
(PDF † 150K) September 2004
Details of the award-winning companies and lobby groups at the Xposé Awards.

Behind the shine - the other Shell report
(PDF† 840K) June 2004
Highlights Shell's poor performance in the area of corporate social responsibility using accounts from people who live next door to Shell around the world.

BAT's big wheeze
(PDF † 900K) April 2004
The alternative British American Tobacco social and environmental report.

GATS: its local impact in England
(PDF† 830K) January 2003
This report examines the aspects of GATS that relate to five key areas of activity for local government in England - planning, regeneration, green procurement, environmental protection and transport - to identify the potential impact.

Towards sustainable economies: challenging neoliberal economic globalisation
(PDF† 60K) January 2003
Friends of the Earth International paper setting out guidelines for developing fair and sustainable economics.

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Press Releases

View all Friends of the Earth's press releases.

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