Friends of the Earth – (FOE) International Organization, a consortium of environmental organizations in nearly 75 countries around the world has elected Sri Lankan Environmentalist Hemantha Withanage as the organization’s chair.
He can be pointed out as the first person from the South Asian region to be elected for this position. Hemantha Withanage follows Karin Nansen of Uruguay, whose two terms as chair ended in June 2021.
Mr. Hemantha Withanage is the founder and board member of the Center for Environmental Justice (CEJ), a leading environmental organization in Sri Lanka, and until recently served as its Executive Director. He has been instrumental in environmental and legal fields presenting the country with a number of precedented and historic judgments.
A science graduates from the University of Kelaniya in Sri Lanka, Mr. Hemantha joined the environmental justice movement in 1990 as an environmental officer for the Environmental Foundation Ltd. In 2004, he co-founded the Centre for Environmental Justice – the most visible environmental organization in Sri Lanka today.
From 2005-2008, Mr. Hemantha was Executive Director of the Philippines based NGO Forum on ADB, a network of civil society organizations monitoring the Asian Development Bank – for which he has also been the elected International Convener a number of times. Mr. Hemantha has held leadership positions in number of other regional and international networks and is a leading environmental activist in the Asia Pacific region. Mr. Hemantha was an elected member of Friends of the Earth International’s Executive Committee from 2010-2018.
“I am honoured to be elected as chair of the world’s largest grassroots environmental justice organization which, for 50 years, has been leading the fight against polluters and natural resource exploiters for a just and equitable future. My priority for the next two years is to strengthen the member groups and Friends of the Earth International’s work with communities around the world fighting for a just society in line with our vision and mission.” said Mr. Withanage.