Friends of the Earth Ireland Statement on Ukraine

This week the people of Ukraine have experienced a devastating attack on their freedom.
Friends of the Earth Ireland stands in solidarity with the people of Ukraine - and all who are opposing this terrible war. Along with our colleagues in Friends of the Earth International, we want to express our solidarity with all who have been impacted or forced to flee for their lives - as well as those who have been forced to witness atrocities in the place they call home.

War and conflict has devastating impacts for people and the planet.

Friends of the Earth Ireland supports a peaceful and diplomatic solution in Ukraine. We strongly urge those in power to listen to and support the Ukrainian people’s demands for peace and freedom and not to escalate the situation further. We appeal to the international community to uphold and defend the rights of the peoples to live in peace and freedom in Ukraine, and in other countries and territories currently experiencing war and occupation around the world. Our thoughts and solidarity is with the people of Ukraine, those resisting war in Russia and people struggling against oppression, occupation or conflict in Palestine, Syria, Yemen, Somalia, Colombia and in other places across the world. We want to acknowledge these situations and encourage people to do what we can to stand with the most impacted while looking after each other and ourselves too.

Fridays for Future Ukraine has called for a Fridays for Future protest globally, this Thursday, 3rd March, for peace and an end to war and the fossil fuels that help fuel it. Read more in their Twitter thread here. The International Peace Bureau is also hosting a webinar on 3rd March “Peace Movement in Action: Peace Voices from Russia & Ukraine” which you are welcome to join. It takes place at 18.00 Irish Time - please note that the 19.00 start time stated on their website is  Central Europe time. To learn more about this webinar and to register visit this webpage.

The "Peace Voices from Russia and Ukraine" webinar is now over but you can watch the recording back here at this link

We've also been supporting Ukrainian environmental organisations to get their messages into the Irish media - you can read about their concerns re nuclear energy and their calls for a fossil fuel non proliferation treaty in the Irish Independent here. We will continue to look at ways we can reflect, take action and show our solidarity with the people of Ukraine and those in Russia who are calling for peace.