green movement

Collective term for the individuals and organizations involved in efforts to protect the environment. The movement includes political parties such as the Green Party and organizations like Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace. See also environmental issues.

Despite a rapid growth of public support, and membership of environmental organizations running into many millions worldwide, political green groups have failed to win significant levels of the vote in democratic societies.

In 1996, Real World, a new political group, was formed in the UK from a coalition of 32 campaigning charities and pressure groups, including Oxfam, Friends of the Earth, Christian Aid, and the World Wide Fund for Nature. Claiming more than 2.1 million supporters, its aim is to lobby to influence party manifestos, raise issues of the environment and international development, and recommend constitutional reform.