The new boss of one of Britain’s largest environmental groups has agreed that membership has become too white and middle class, as he vowed to build a more diverse movement.
Asad Rehman, who this week has become the first person of colour to lead Friends of the Earth in its 54-year history, said anti-fracking battles had seen the organisation stand alongside working-class people in “left-behind, deprived” communities. But the self-described “reluctant environmentalist” said more needed to be done.
An analysis last year by the Race Report campaign found environmental and conservation groups were among the least diverse in the UK, with 4.5 per cent of their staff being non-white compared with 16 per cent in the working population overall.
