GLOBAL 2000: Austria's Environmental Watchdog

GLOBAL 2000, the Austrian member of Friends of the Earth International, campaigns on climate policy, pesticides, air quality and species protection from its Vienna headquarters. Its 'SOS Klima' petition helped push through Austria's 2011 Climate Protection Act, while a 1997 citizens' initiative against genetic engineering gathered 1.2 million signatures, making it the second most successful referendum in Austrian history. The organisation's Nationalpark Garten initiative has enlisted more than 1,000 private gardeners to convert plots into a 1.7-million-square-metre network of pollinator and wildlife habitat. Today GLOBAL 2000 is backed by around 250,000 supporters and a staff of roughly 74, financing about 80 percent of its work through individual donations.