There are distinctions between "green" parties and "Green" parties. Any party, faction, or politician may be labeled "green" if it emphasizes environmental causes. Indeed, the term may even be used as a verb: it is not uncommon to hear of "greening" a party or a candidate.
In contrast, formally organized Green parties may follow a coherent
ideology that includes not only environmentalism, but often also other concerns such as
social justice,
consensus decision-making, and pacifism. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation for world peace. The best-known statement of the above Green values is the
Four Pillars of the Green Party, adopted by the
German Greens in 1979-1980 (but forsaken since). The
Global Greens Charter lists six guiding principles which are ecological wisdom, social justice, participatory democracy, nonviolence, sustainability and respect for diversity.
Green movements call for social reform to cut abuse of natural resources. Examples include Green parties as well as Greenpeace, which was founded in the 1970s concurrently with many Green parties. Its aims agree with those of many green movements, though it approaches its objectives in different ways.