The global environmental movement is composed of diverse groups working toward a sustainable and healthy world. They run the gamut from legislative lobbying groups to local grassroots organizations, and each draws from an array of strategic tools, including nonviolence, to achieve their goals.

Nonviolence is a complex philosophy that has produced a diverse array of proactive practices, referred to as nonviolent direct actions, such as sit-ins, walk-outs, tax withholding, hunger strikes, slowdowns, stalling, noncooperation, delaying, withholding support, signs, speeches, marches, prayer circles, strikes, street theater, demonstrations, and civil disobedience (breaking the law). According to nonviolence scholar Gene Sharp, there are 198 methods of nonviolent protest and persuasion. Nonviolence is usually associated with local small groups reacting against decisions or actions by powerful groups and is often ...