Andy Atkins today (Monday 21 July 2008) becomes Executive Director of Friends of the Earth. Andy has worked in a wide range of international development charities and has a strong track record of campaigning on environmental and social justice issues.
 
Andy’s previous role was as Policy and Campaigns Director at development charity Tearfund where he oversaw the establishment of policy and campaigns work as a core focus for the organisation. He initiated Tearfund’s work on climate change and championed climate change as a poverty issue among UK development NGOs. He was a key organiser and spokesperson for the Make Poverty History campaign, and became a Board member of the Stop Climate Chaos coalition.
 
Andy has also worked as Campaigns Coordinator and then General Secretary of the Chile Committee for Human Rights, Coordinator of CAFOD's Working in Partnership Programme and Latin America Desk Officer at the Catholic Institute of International Relations (now Progressio).
 
Andy Atkins, Friends of the Earth’s Executive Director, said: “Friends of the Earth is one of the most trusted and influential organisations in the UK and I am absolutely delighted to take on the role of Executive Director.
 
 “I am looking forward to working with Friends of the Earth’s tens of thousands of committed supporters and our vibrant international network to take Friends of the Earth’s fantastic track record of winning green campaigns to the next level.
 
“Climate change and the depletion of natural resources are fundamental and urgent threats – and Friends of the Earth has the tools to drive positive political change and bring about real solutions.”
 
Tony Juniper is standing down after 18 years at Friends of the Earth. Among many other achievements, he headed up Friends of the Earth’s Big Ask campaign, which with the support of over 200,000 people has led to a world-first climate change law.
 
Under Andy’s leadership, Friends of the Earth will continue to push for political action to tackle global environmental challenges. The charity’s work will focus on climate change and biodiversity loss, championing a fairer society and an economic system that works for everyone.
 

Notes

1.     Andy Atkins has spent the past seven years as Policy & Campaigns Director at relief & development agency Tearfund. He was part of the original group of charity campaigners who started the high profile Make Poverty History campaign in 2005.

Andy has been a leading advocate of the need for the development sector to understand the critical importance of environmental issues. Under his leadership Tearfund became the first major UK development NGO to campaign on climate change.

Andy previously worked on human rights issues, including Chile under the Pinochet dictatorship, and in other Latin American countries. Andy's first campaign at Tearfund involved working with Honduran communities to successfully halt plans for a hydroelectric dam which threatened the livelihoods of thousands of indigenous people and vast areas of rainforest.

After joining Tearfund as the organisation's first Public Policy Adviser, Andy has pioneered its policy and campaigns work, with the result that Tearfund is now regarded as a major advocacy player among the big UK development NGOs.

Andy, 47, is married to Sarah, a solicitor, and they have three children. He is a keen amateur painter.

Read more about Andy at: www.foe.co.uk/living/articles/andy_atkins_10803.html
 
2. More than 200,000 people have taken action in support of The Big Ask, Friends of the Earth's campaign for a strong climate change law. The Climate Change Bill is currently passing through Parliament and is expected to become law in the autumn.

It will set legal targets for cutting UK carbon dioxide emissions; the first national legislation of its kind anywhere in the world. Friends of the Earth welcomes the new law but says that it should be stronger. The law must include the UK's share of international aviation and shipping emissions and aim for carbon dioxide cuts of at least 80 per cent by 2050 (the draft target is 60 per cent).

For further information on The Big Ask visit www.thebigask.com/.
 
3. Tony has agreed to be a special advisor to the Prince of Wales’ Rainforest Project and a senior associate with the Cambridge University Programme for Industry. Tony continues to consider other roles that he could play in tackling climate change and environmental degradation by using the skills and experience he gained during his time at Friends of the Earth.
 
4. For further information about Friends of the Earth's successes, visit www.foe.co.uk/resource/success/foe_successes_juniper.pdf .