Media Releases

December 18, 2004

Poorest Lose Out At Climate Change Talks

Friends of the Earth International

BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA, December 18, 2004: A deal was reached at United Nations (UN) climate change talks that ended in Buenos Aires today, only two months before the UN Kyoto Climate Treaty enters into force.

December 15, 2004

Litigation Warms Up Climate Talks

Friends of the Earth International

Buenos Aires, Argentina, Dec 14, 2004 -- Legal cases to combat climate change are not on the official agenda of the United Nations (UN) talks on Climate Change in Buenos Aires where ministers representing 189 nations meet December 15-17. But they are a hot issue behind the scenes.

5 November, 2004

Delays expected to cost millions and set back operation start up

Justice David Lloyd from the Land and Environment Court today handed down a decision invalidating consents and permits issued by the Department of Environment and Conservation to destroy Aboriginal objects on the proposed electricity transmission line (ETL) for the controversial Lake Cowal Gold Project.

October 23, 2004

At 5pm today, peaceful protestor from around Australia joined Wiradjuri Elder, Neville Williams to take the Sacred Fire of Peace and Healing to the site office of Barrick Golds’Lake Cowal Gold Mine.

October 22, 2004

International Coalition to protect Lake Cowal are gathering in an ancient sacred ceremony for peace and healing at Lake Cowal, 47 km north-east of West Wyalong, central western NSW. There will be three days of ceremony and actions beginning on Friday 22 October with the serving of the Notice to Quit operations at Lake Cowal to Canadian mining company Barrick Gold.

Tuesday 12 October 2004

The report on the second consecutive annual increase in greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide marks a clear warning that climate change can no longer be avoided as a priority environmental and social issue.

October 8, 2004

In the last days before the election it is clear that the Coalition has profoundly failed on almost all key environmental issues. The Prime Minister's announcement on forests was an enormous disappointment. Taken more broadly, it mirrors the Coalition's failure on most environmental issues: amongst other short-comings they have failed to adopt strong greenhouse policies and only committed one third of the water that scientists agree is needed to help restore the Murray River to health.

September 14, 2004

Friends of the Earth Australia is disappointed that the Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum currently running in Melbourne has delivered nothing new for the people and environment of Australia.

September 7, 2004

The Australian Labour Party today pronounced its energy policy at the World Energy Congress claiming it is a decisive response to our decreasing supply of oil by proposing Australia diversify our energy supply.

August 6, 2004

Hiroshima Never Again

Hiroshima Day March Friday 6 Aug 6pm Town Hall Square, Sydney

Fifty-nine years ago today, without warning, the US dropped a nuclear bomb on the city of Hiroshima, followed three days later by one on Nagasaki.

August 1, 2004

Geneva (Switzerland)/Brussels (Belgium)/ Washington D.C. (US). After negotiators reached an agreement late yesterday in Geneva to rescue World Trade Organisation talks, Friends of the Earth International, the world largest grassroots environmental network, said that the deal for a negotiating framework was the result of undemocratic procedures and intense pressure that rich countries exerted on developing countries.

July 16th 2004

Fifty students will depart from Melbourne on Saturday morning travelling from Adelaide to Woomera on Sunday to meet with indigenous communities and celebrate the Howard government back down over the nuclear dump.

July 8, 2004

Missile Defence A Security Risk Say Peace Groups

Friends Of The Earth Australia
Australian Peace Committee
Campaign For International Cooperation And Disarmament (CICD)

Friends of the Earth Australia, the Australian Peace Committee and CICD believe that Australia is making a big mistake in signing up to Star Wars. The groups believe that the net effect of Australia's involvement in the scheme will be to decrease not increase, Australia's security.

June 23, 2004

The oil giant Shell, already under scrutiny for overstating its oil reserves, stands accused of polluting communities, damaging wildlife habitats and failing to live up to its promise of environmental and social responsibility in a new report launched by Friends of the Earth today (Wednesday 23 June), ahead of the company's annual general meeting (AGM) [1].

May 26, 2004

Environment group Friends of the Earth (FoE) have expressed deep concern at WMC’s ever expanding ‘waste-line’, in response to today’s announcement that the company plans to invest $50 million over two years to determine whether to expand their Olympic Dam uranium mine in South Australia.

April 27, 2004

Newcrest’s Indonesian mining violations challenged

Vigil 28 April 8.30am
Newcrest Office- 600 St Kilda Rd, Melbourne

On Wednesday 28 April, Friends of the Earth and the Mineral Policy Institute will hold a vigil outside the headquarters of Newcrest Mining company (600 St Kilda Rd Melbourne) to protest against human rights violations and breaches of environmental law in North Maluku, Indonesia.

March 24, 2004

Environment groups are calling for urgent government action following a radiation incident that today shutdown Energy Resources of Australia’s controversial Ranger uranium mine in Kakadu.

February 17, 2004

Friends of the Earth notes with interest that the Queensland government has been severely criticised for its lack of intervention in what appears to be an impeding energy crisis. Queensland is highly dependent on one fuel source, coal, which ensures chaos when electricity systems are not maintained. However a more pressing issue is whether the environment is sustained in the quest for energy security.

February 16, 2004

Peace Groups Urge Govt To Back El Baradei Call On Nuclear Proliferation

Friends Of The Earth Australia
Australian Peace Committee
Campaign For International Cooperation And Disarmament (CICD)

Friends of the Earth, Australian Peace Committee, and CICD today called on the Australian government to back the call by Mohamed El Baradei , former head of the IAEA, to start with the elimination of the nuclear arsenals of the established nuclear weapons powers when pushing for action to end nuclear proliferation at the upcoming NPT Prepcom in New York in April.