Its advocacy programs focus on environmental, economic and social issues, highlighting their political and human rights contexts.

Additionally, FOEI also plans campaigns in other fields, such as waste and overconsumption, international financial institutions, ecological debt, mining and extractive industries, and opposition to nuclear power.

[10] FOEI claims that it has been successful as it has eliminated billions in taxpayer subsidies to corporate polluters, reformed the World Bank to address environmental and human rights concerns, pushed the debate on global warming to pressure the U.S. and U.K. to attempt the best legislation possible, stopped more than 150 destructive dams and water projects worldwide, pressed and won landmark regulations of strip mines and oil tankers and banned international whaling.

In 2021, a court in the Netherlands ruled in a landmark case that the oil giant Shell must reduce its emissions in 2030 by 45% compared to 2019 levels.

[13] In January 2025 when UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced plans to take on NIMBYs who block major infrastructure projects, such as nuclear power, roads, railway and wind farms, Friends of the Earth criticized Starmer, saying he was scapegoating people with "valid concerns about a project's impact".

However, roughly half of the member groups work under their own names, sometimes reflecting an independent origin and subsequent accession to the network, such as Pro Natura (Switzerland), the Korean Federation for Environmental Movement, Environmental Rights Action (FOE Nigeria) and WALHI (FOE Indonesia).