FIELD prepares advice for groups ranging from poor communities to senior government officials. © Christoph Schwarte.
FIELD supports small island states in international environmental negotiations. © FIELD.
In 2009/10, The Rufford Foundation provided a grant of £20,000 to FIELD.
The Rufford Foundation provided support for core costs in 2009/10, which was very important to FIELD. For example, the funding helped maintain FIELD’s Internship Programme. FIELD is very proud of the programme, which allows young volunteer lawyers and advanced law students to spend three months working at FIELD. Former FIELD interns can be found in senior positions in many countries.
The funding helped maintain FIELD’s work in support of small island states and other developing countries in the international climate change negotiations and to begin addressing issues such as decision-making in international environmental negotiations following the difficulties at the UN Copenhagen Climate Change Conference.
Core funding is very important to an organisation such as FIELD, as it can provide time to fundraise for other projects, explore new ideas and respond to new developments. For example, when the United States submitted a proposal for a new ‘implementing agreement’ under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), FIELD released a well-received briefing note about experience with implementing agreements under the UN Law of the Sea Convention (available at www.field.org.uk/files/FIELDImplAgreementsBriefingNoteJune2009_0.pdf).
FIELD celebrated its twentieth anniversary in October 2009. More than 100 guests came to hear FIELD founders James Cameron and Philippe Sands be interviewed by environment correspondent Alex Kirby and a panel discussion chaired by John Vidal of the Guardian (www.field.org.uk/news/field-celebrates-20-years).
