Oh dio!

There is a problem, problems… so many problems. You could probably pull it all together into one simple all encompassing phrase, which may or may not be enlightening, but a'int nobody got time for that. Back to the point though, problems. 

The sheer number of worrying environmental issues from deforestation, to overfishing, to climate change leaves one at a loss of where to start. Even once you choose something to focus on you have to determine where the leverage points are, and which one you want to go after, and how, and it can become simply paralyzing. WHAT IS THE RIGHT ANSWER?!?! What should I do?! Where can I be effective?! 

Take one look at the huge number of environmental NGOs and you'll see all/many/most of those options exemplified. All of the NGOs take on different arenas, issues and methods, with different views on what is important and effective and what is not. To illustrate this I will consider the tip of the ice berg and compare three separate NGOs and briefly discuss their focus, their plan of attack. The three I will look at are: Young Voices for the Planet, Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth.


Young Voices for the Planet, uses film to inspire. This NGO creates short films with young people who are actively working on reducing the carbon footprint of their communities, schools, homes and states. The idea is that showing stories of young people taking action will illustrate that playing an active and effective environmental role is possible; and will inspire others to do be more active. Young Voices for the Planet screens their films and assists and encourages groups to replicate the stories they see in the films. Young Voice for the Planet is the smallest of the three NGOs that I am looking at, and it shows how NGOs operate on different levels. 

The infamous Greenpeace. The name Greenpeace ignites thoughts of a kind of rogue green militia stealthily moving through the night on missions to take on environmental wrong doers. And there is some of that, but Greenpeace is certainly much bigger than a collage of rogue attacks. Greenpeace is an international organization who fight environmental issues in a variety of areas including whaling, climate change, deforestation. Any envionmental issue that is percieved as being a serious threat is taken on by Greenpeace. A key note about this NGO is that they do not accept funding from governments or corporations, rather they receive individual contributions from their members around the world.


Last but not least I consider Friends of the Earth. Unlike Greenpeace which takes more of an activist approach, Friends of the Earth takes a more political approach. They advocate for policy changes, with an emphasis on fighting for changes that may be percieved as uncomfortable. They, like Greenpeace are an International organization. Friends of the Earth place a lot of emphasis on economic and development aspects of environmental issues

These three NGOs have clear differences in approach and scope. They differ in their opinion on strong leverage points and effective techniques. I think this is good. As Donella Meadows says so astutely in her article on Leverage Points the most powerful is the ability to transcend paradigms. To be able to step outside of the whole crazy system and realize that there is no 'right' answer, but something must be done all the same, and I'm glad there are all of those NGOs out there doing their thing.