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September 30, 2009Our ship, the Arctic Sunrise, has spent the last months on an expedition to Greenland. We provided a platform for independent scientists researching climate change impacts, and independent journalists reporting on them.
During the journey, CNN filed this really lovely tour of the Arctic Sunrise. Kind of makes me homesick for the ship. :-)
Did you know that the average American produces three times the amount of CO2 emissions as a person in France? In this article from Yale Environment 360, a US journalist now living in Europe gives her insights in to why Europe is greener than the US.
From taking trains over taxis, and using a drying rack instead of a dryer, these are her observations. What do you think, agree or disagree?
Here's a fine piece of reporting from the field by one of our action specialists. John helped make possible our live feed from the Himalayas onto the big screen in New York City where Age of Stupid, Franny Alexander's new documentary film on Climate Change, made its premier. Some internal emails just beg to be shared, and this was one: when these things work, they look effortless, which really is a disservice to all the effort that goes into them.
Hi Actioneers,Just a quick report on one of the live broadcasts we did from the Himalayas for the "Age of Stupid" movie premiere this week.
After weeks of work against the impenetrable Indian bureaucracy - which is intended to thwart all but the most patient people - we got the go ahead in one of our preferred locations for the live shoot.
The one permission we forgot though, was from Shiva, the owner of these mighty mountains, he kept flicking our helicopters away like bugs.
This week Newsweek released its assessment of the green policies and practices of top 500 US companies. It makes interesting reading, with some surprising results.
Unsurprisingly tech companies dominate the top with 1 HP, 2 Dell, 4 Intel, 5 IBM.
Of course we’ve criticised HP recently on delaying toxics phase out from its products, which is noted in the Newsweek ranking. Our very own Guide to Greener Electronics is due out next week so you can compare and contrast how these tech companies are doing against their non US competitors.
Two big tech companies who don’t come out so well are Google 79 and Apple 133. Both are secretive about relevant company data that competitors do publish. At least Apple took a step up in that sense by finally publishing its total emissions data yesterday.
There’s a few good quotes in the background story on the Newsweek site:
"One of the purposes of this is to improve the transparency of corporations…and encourage them to provide an even higher level of disclosure," says Thomas Kuh, KLD's managing director.
This is also one the aims of our Guide since August 2006. And of course something we are familiar with, the controversy:
Rankings inevitably provoke controversy—and we welcome that. Our hope is to open a conversation on measuring environmental performance—an essential first step toward improving it.
The best analysis I’ve read is over on greenbiz.com, I my opinion Joel is right that of course the ranking is imperfect (they always are) but rather than pick it apart:
I'd rather step back and admire this first effort, however imperfect, and salute the team for doing what hadn't previously been done, or done well: brought together a wealth of data on a broad spectrum of the world's biggest companies to provide a snapshot of the green business world.
And he speculates on what might be hopefully happening as a result:
I suspect that as you read this, scores of senior sustainability professionals are getting calls from their overlords in the C-suite, asking tough questions about why their companies fared more poorly than hoped, and demanding answers. And for that reason alone Newsweek's rankings are a beautiful thing.
Finally we wouldn’t be doing our job if we let those tech firms rest on their laurels at the top of the Newsweek ranking. When it comes to being strong climate advocates and providing real climate solutions, HP, IBM, Intel, Dell and others still have much work to do in our Cool IT Challenge.
A common idea to deal with the various resource crisis hitting the planet is not to reduce our consumption, but just find technical fixes. We don't need to adjust, we just need to have brighter ideas!
This principle has been used and reused in fisheries. Industrial trawlers have been encouraged by governments; more modern fleets are a staple of speeches. How has that been working so far? Not so well. Stocks of bluefin tuna are on the brink of collapse. Some fisheries have been wiped out. What are we doing with the stocks that haven't collapsed yet? This:
The UK Times newspaper is looking for questions for Google boss Eric Schmidt by this Friday. With the vital UN Copenhagen climate meeting fast approaching high profile business leaders really should be starting to make their voices heard for a strong deal.
Previously Google's climate expert skipped this question on the Guardian discussion, and the BBC didn't pick this one to ask the Intel CEO, Paul Otellini but maybe 3rd time lucky?
Here's a suggestion:
Will Google publicly support the 25% cuts in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 needed in the US to help ensure a strong climate deal is reached at the vital UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen at the end of this year?
Post your version on the Times page here before Friday, September 25.
Rex has been over here in Amsterdam for the last few days, and I've been lucky enough to hear him speak twice now. He's one of the greatest story tellers in an organization full of great story tellers, and a wealth of institutional history and perspective. I managed to capture his speech to our staff meeting on Friday on my iPhone and cut it into two videos.
On the Esperanza, Tereapii, or Tere as we call him for short, is the bosun - one who supervises the deckhands and helps the first mate in maintaining the ship. He is from the Cook Islands, where they depend largely on ocean resources for food and livelihood. He is one of the four Pacific activists on board.
Tere grew up on a Rarotonga Island, a place of beauty with a clean environment, which he proudly calls home.
He joined Greenpeace 11 years ago.
“My journeys and travels took me to all the corners of the world. I was able to see amazing places but sadly also saw a lot of environmental destruction."
"I joined the Esperanza 2 months ago and for the first time I saw the effects of climate change right at my doorstep. We have fallen victim o sea level rise, our home is sinking along with everything else, now I am campaigning against illegal tuna fishing im my own region.”
In Chinese culture, the number 8 is considered a lucky number, as the word for eight sounds similar to the word meaning ‘prosper’ or ‘wealth’ . I am pretty sure the Chen family network of companies had this in mind when naming their fuel tanker, the MV Fong Seong 888. For them, it means good fortune and prosperity.
However, on the high seas the tanker means bad fortune and poverty for the Pacific nations.
© Greenpeace/Paul Hilton
The fuel tanker Fong Seong 888 refueling the purse seiner MV American Legacy. Both are owned by the Taiwanese Chen family network of Companies.
For Marco Ferraz, being a crew member of the Esperanza is a dream come true. He had always wanted to work for Greenpeace and by a stroke of good luck, he was able to join the ship in Cairns just in time for the first leg of Defending our Pacific Tour. The 29-year old Brazilian took to work on deck like fish to water.
Read on as Marco shares with us how his passion for the environment began and continues to this day.
I used to think that I was passionate for animals, forests, all the beauty we can see and feel in nature. Until I discovered that we are all just one; nature, humanity, planet Earth, are parts of a single thing.
Today, I know that I am passionate about life.
Activists on board the Rainbow Warrior hit the water today to demand immediate action to protect the endangered Mediterranean bluefin tuna from commercial extinction. They deployed buoys marked "Crime Scene" around cages holding bluefin tuna which are being fattened up for harvesting to then be sold for export -- mostly as luxury gourmet Sushi.
The action comes just days after the European Commission announced its support for a ban on trading North Atlantic and Mediterranean bluefin tuna, under rules governing the trade of endangered species. That's a great move, long overdue, but why, people, why do we continue to let the threat of extinction be the only really powerful regulator that the fishing industry has to face? What we really need, if we want fish for tomorrow, is Marine Reserves today.
Alright, alright, so we've all heard about the polar bears. But now it seems their cousins to the south, the grizzlies and black bears, are also under serious threat.
From Willie, one of our oceans campaigners in the UK
Breaking news just in from Brussels - despite all the doubts and concerns some of us have harboured over the past few weeks, it seems the EU Commission is throwing its weight squarely behind the call for an international ban on the trade of Atlantic bluefin tuna!
This is big news - actually let's make that BIG NEWS.
It means that for once, the interests of fishing have been trumped by environmental concerns in the EU. If the member states agree to support this proposal (which they will need to do by a ¾ majority at a meeting of the CITES* Management Committee on September 21st), it means that a block of 27 countries will have voted both for a ban on international trade, and to have the species officially listed as 'threatened with extinction' at the next CITES meeting in Doha, in March.
This is part of a series of short news updates beyond Greenpeace-specific news. World environmental events in a blurb:
Focus on Solar Energy:
While China invests in the world’s biggest solar project, the recession could cut the solar industry in half by 2010.
The Information Network, a market research firm, announced that 50 per cent of solar panel manufacturers might not survive next year. While the cost of solar panels is going down, making solar panels more accessible for the private sector, the economic recession is making business tough for the manufacturers. (Could we be looking at a solar energy oligopoly in the near future?)
Meanwhile, First Solar Inc., a U.S.-based renewable energy company, just announced it will build the world’s largest solar power plant in China as the country plans to increase non- polluting electricity generation.
This is part of a series of short news updates beyond Greenpeace-specific news. World environmental events in a blurb:
The Dirtiest Oil on Earth
On Thursday, Native American and environmental groups filed suit in federal court in San Francisco, challenging a proposed tar sands oil pipeline that would bring the dirtiest oil on Earth from Canada to the United States.
The Alberta tar sands have made headlines and television news for months but reached a high last month when the U.S. State Department approved the Enbridge Energy's Alberta Clipper pipeline, permitting 450,000 barrels of tar sand oil per day to be pumped from northern Alberta, Canada to Wisconsin, U.S. for refining.
Wednesday marked the end of this year's Climate Camp in London, but it seems the "swooping" is not over. Activists recruited by the Camp for Climate Action organised various protests, ranging from a Climate Casino at the European Climate Exchange to the "embellishment" of the Barclay's Bank HQ with post-it notes. Now the organisation is preparing to stage what they call "The Great Climate Swoop" in order "to close one of the UK's biggest coal fired [sic] power stations, E.ON's Ratcliffe-on-Soar in Nottingham." The event is scheduled for 17-18 October.
Three days in the high seas, and the Esperanza has already made some disturbing discoveries:
A black dot.
Peering through the binoculars, that's how the Taiwanese fishing vessel appeared - a black dot silhouetted against the horizon.
In the past few days, activities have been like tricks from a magician’s hat – you never know what the hand will pull out. Just yesterday, we fished out a banned fish aggregating device (FAD). Today, during a routine reconnaissance, we chanced upon two fishing boats transferring tuna from one to the another.
The United Nation’s leading man, Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, has seen the melting of the Arctic circle, and he's sending a message the world leaders, climate scientists, and to YOU.
Over the last few days, Ban Ki-moon put on a winter coat and visited the Arctic Circle in Norway to see the effects of climate change for himself. Ban said he witnessed rapid ongoing changes and was alarmed by what he saw (see video below).
The following blog was filed by Inge Wallage:
The Warrior’s current mission is part of our global plan to protect our oceans by zoning off 40% of them as marine reserves. The Med is one of the areas that is especially vulnerable to overfishing and climate change
Currently less than one percent of the Mediterranean Sea is protected, vital fish stocks such as Mediterranean bluefin tuna are being fished to their limits and monitoring of pirate vessels is patchy at best. What we’re promoting is a rescue plan -- not a “don’t fish” plan, but a solution that will mean fish for tomorrow by creating marine reserves today.
Well ask the BBC to ask Intel's CEO about climate leadership - he's being interviewed this week on the BBC and they are soliciting for questions.
Here's mine:
As Intel stands to profit from IT solutions to reduce carbon emissions will Paul Otellini be making a public statement about the vital need for a strong deal at the Copenhagen Climate summit in December?
Here's how Intel is doing in our Cool IT leaderboard, hardly a stellar perfomance so far.
There's no info about when the interview will be on the BBC but add a question today on the BBC site before it's too late and if you see the interview lets us know in the comments if it was raised.
They have only been out on the high seas for a couple of days and already they are taking action to defend the great fish of the Pacific. Here's the latest from Mary Ann, on the Esperanza.
We arrived a few days ago in the High Seas of the Pacific. Since yesterday, we have been on constant watch, scanning the horizon by day, the radar by night, diligently on the look-out for FADs and fishing boats.
Up in the bridge, Gabriel was the first to go on FAD watch at 8 in the morning.
And lo and behold …you guessed it…he spotted the very thing we were looking for, a FAD!
For the unfamiliar, FAD stands for Fish Aggregating Device, designed to attract tuna then caught by industrial purse seiners. But these devices not only attract tuna but also a host of other species, such as sharks, turtles and other fish. These FADs float at sea until they have attracted a sizable enough population of tuna. After which the tuna and all other accumulated marine life is scooped up in a huge net, in one fell swoop. It’s a very wasteful way of fishing.
The irony of the situation is that we have found this FAD right in the middle of a two-month ban, from August 1 to September 30. The ban was declared by the Pacific Tuna Commission, which manages tuna fishing in the international waters of the region.
So there I was walking around, a sleepy zombie, however I snapped awake when someone informed me that we had found a FAD. There was a general hubbub going on around me. Deckies were by the inflatables, getting ready to launch them. The divers were checking their dive equipment and gearing up in the wet room. Breakfast was a distant memory of wolfing down one buttered toast as I hurried to catch the action. It was the same general excitement when I went up the bridge, the campaign team were complete and two binoculars were trained on the bobbing FAD,
The African Queen (one of the inflatable boats) sped to the bobbing FAD. Our divers soon discovered that schools of fish have already gathered around it.
A guest blog by Aslihan Tumer, Nuclear Campaigner at Greenpeace International
I've got a nuclear energy riddle for you:
What is dangerous, costs 5.5 billion euros, and may end in bankruptcy?
The answer:
French nuclear giant AREVA's Olkiluoto 3 reactor, currently under (severely-delayed) construction in Finland.
The OL3 is an amazing construction project in so many ways: 4 years into the construction it is already suffering an amazing delay of more than 3 years, the costs have doubled from 2.5 billion EUR to the amazing amount of 5.5 billion EUR, and the OL3 project has single-handedly wiped out AREVA's half year profits. Yet - amazingly! - Areva is now demanding extra money on top of the agreed price from Finland.
Let's look at the situation from a different angle:
The European Union has finally outlawed 100W incandescent lightbulbs -- the pear-shaped bulbs invented by Edison you'd use as the main light in a room. Other inefficient household lighting will follow between now and 2012, as the supply of modern bulbs (efficient halogens, CFL and LED) increases.
It's frustrating to see how slowly the authorities and lightbulb companies are moving. But today's milestone provides a good opportunity to think back over the lightbulb campaign (2007-2008 mostly), and what lessons it might hold for other climate campaigns.
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