Organic cotton farmers in India

Reyes, a scientist working on our sustainable agriculture campaign, explains the latest controversy surrounding organic cotton in India:

Life is hard for the thousands of organic cotton farmers in India, but it's much harder for the millions of genetically engineered (GE) cotton farmers in the country. These farmers in India continue to amount huge debts in order to afford the expensive GE seeds and the chemicals that come with them. And as we travel along the cotton growing regions of Andhra Pradesh, we also find many organic cotton farmers who rely on cheap, locally available resources - instead of GE seeds and chemicals - making a better living with less debt.

The recent news about the GE contamination of organic cotton in India highlights a serious situation that is hard for farmers and complex for anyone else to grasp fully. The genetic contamination could come from many sources: from illegal or ‘fake’ GE seeds to negligence during the processing of the cotton. People in the cotton fields of Andhra Pradesh believe this contamination happens far away from the farm - when middlemen deceptively sell the abundant GE cotton at the premium rates paid for organic cotton. It is impossible to point to one single culprit. And there are thousands of committed organic farmers growing top quality organic cotton in India that are now at risk.

Seed and agrochemicals shop in Andhra Pradesh, India. Indian farm shops sell only GE cotton seeds. © Greenpeace/ Peter Canton

Read more »

Posted by Lisa at 5:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

This is part of a trial series

AP reports that the EU has officially set out its emissions-reduction target at 20 percent below 1990 levels by 2020. It has promised to cut its emissions by 30 per cent, but only if the world's two biggest polluters, the U.S. and China, also cut back. The article states that Greenpeace says the EU must set an example by making bigger cuts.

The Guardian reports that Greenpeace has invited some of the UK's leading architects to design an "impenetrable fortress" to be built on land earmarked for the third runway at Heathrow. Greenpeace bought the parcel of land last year and then distributed ownership to more than 60,000 supporters around the world. The small individual plots will create a legal headache for any government trying to push ahead with the expansion plans.

AAP reports on the Greenpeace statement that the frequency of forest fires will triple in Australia if no action is taken on climate change.

Read more »

Posted by Sasha at 12:26 PM | Permalink

One of our communications managers, Dietlind Lerner, wrote the following remembrance of Historian Howard Zinn, author of A People's History of the United States:

Yes, I did feel a bit silly asking Howard Zinn to pose for this souvenir picture, but if it bothered him he was kind enough to pretend it didn't. Zinn is of course the handsome white-haired man on the left, I am the woman in purple on the right and my friend Philippe the man in the middle.

This picture was taken in 2005. Philippe and I lived in Paris and had traveled to the States to make a movie about the US anti-war movement for ARTE.

We wanted to know if the American people were really as apathetic about the war in Iraq as the European press had been reporting.

Read more »

Posted by Brian at 5:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Apple's new tablet PC -- the awkwardly named iPad -- has much of the internet's gadget and IT bloggers in a frenzy today. It looks like an oversized iPhone to me, but there's much more to the iPad than the device itself.

There are already a few stories about the environmental impact of Apple's shiny new gadget. CNet was first out of the blocks with this green angle, and Inhabitat asks "Still, few people are likely to replace their iPods or laptops with the iPad. So we have to wonder -- is this really anything more than an unnecessary luxury item?"

Kate Mackenzie wrote an Obligatory iPad-emissions post on the Financial Times website this morning. Mike Gaworecki in our US office was even faster off the mark with this blog post last night. They both move beyond the e-books versus paper debate, to the less obvious concern of energy use in production of these gadgets and in the data centres which support them. Definitely worth a read!

Read more »

Posted by Eoin at 12:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

This is part of a trial series

The biggest Greenpeace-related news of the day is the coronation of pharmaceutical giant Roche and the Royal Bank of Canada as the two worst enterprises of the year at the Public Eye Awards in Davos, Switzerland - Roche because it uses the organs of executed prisoners in its medical testing and RBC because it facilitates the extraction of oil from the Albertan tar sands. This story received widespread European coverage.

In Obama's first State of the Union speech, the American President devoted more time to climate change than had been predicted, renewing his promise to create clean energy jobs, but held out little hope that Congress would pass a climate change bill this year. The Guardian reports that environmental groups such as Greenpeace welcomed Obama's commitment to create clean energy jobs as a priority for this year.

EFE reports that scientists from Australia and New Zealand launched an expedition to prove that it isn't necessary to kill whales to research them and thus discredit the Japanese view. The article states that Greenpeace prefers to try to change public opinion in Japan so that Japanese citizens themselves force their government to ban whaling.

AFP reports that Greenpeace awarded Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono the "World Cup of Forest Destruction" on Tuesday as the real football Jules Rimet Trophy passed through Jakarta.

Read more »

Posted by Sasha at 10:19 AM | Permalink

This is part of a trial series

AFP reports on Greenpeace's call for a moratorium on industrial activity in the Arctic. The article quotes Greenpeace's Mads Flarup Christensen, who said that while such activity could in the short term provide jobs and economic growth, it could destroy the delicate ecosystem and affect local communities.

In Czech news, the decision on whether or not to 'modernise' the country's Prunerov power plant after an objection by Micronesia has once again been postponed by serveral weeks.

The Guardian reports that British government officials have labelled environmental campaigners extremists and listed them alongside dissident Irish republican groups and terrorists inspired by al-Qaida in internal documents. Greenpeace's Ben Stewart said, "The climate movement has never once sought to further its political aims by using violence, which is something that Jack Straw, foreign secretary during the invasion of Iraq, can most certainly not claim. His Ministry of Justice would be better occupied reminding itself that peaceful direct action has a long and noble history in this country."

Read more »

Posted by Sasha at 9:58 AM | Permalink

This is part of a trial series

There has been further coverage of the action in Cherbourg, France, in which Greenpeace activists chained themselves to train tracks to block a shipment of nuclear waste heading to Russia. The action was picked up by AFP and has received widespread coverage in France and Switzerland. It was also picked up in Finland.

AAP reports that the political and business elite heading for the Davos forum this week have been told to leave their polluting limousines behind. Under a new climate change initiative, the World Economic Forum is blocking the fuel guzzling cars that normally clog the roads around the congress. The article quotes Bruno Heinzer of Greenpeace Switzerland, who states that "It's really just to give [the WEF] a good image."

Indian paper The Hindu reports that Greenpeace has welcomed the position taken by Ministers of BASIC, the grouping of Brazil, South Africa, India and China, who met in New Delhi on Sunday to continue negotiations to clinch a fair and ambitious climate agreement within the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change. However, Greenpeace emphasised that such an agreement should be legally binding. In a statement, Greenpeace said it was encouraged by the willingness of BASIC to support vulnerable countries, by ensuring their participation in open and transparent negotiations and providing them with technological and or financial support. However, the BASIC countries must make their support more tangible by the time of its next meeting to be hosted by the South African government in April 2010. Pointing to the further consolidation of the BASIC countries as a group, Greenpeace urged them to assume the responsibilities concomitant to an alliance of such influential economic powers.

Read more »

Posted by Sasha at 10:16 AM | Permalink

This is part of a trial series

Reuters reports that environment ministers from the BASIC countries (Brazil, South Africa, India and China), which helped broker the Copenhagen Accord along with the United States, met in New Delhi in a bid to work out a joint strategy to push forward stalled international climate talks after setbacks in Denmark last month. Greenpeace China's Yang Ailun is quoted, stating that "China is reluctant to make its carbon intensity pledge internationally binding, and it is hard to predict what China is going to present to the world as its mitigation actions." Also quoted is Greenpeace India's Siddharth Pathak: "Basic will have to fill the vacuum of leadership on climate left by the developed world and ... must take into account the consequences of global warming for other developing countries."

Also reported by Reuters, a draft letter to top UN climate official Yvo de Boer shows that the European Union will stick with its lowest offer for cutting carbon emissions under a UN climate accord, fulfilling the wishes of industry. The 27-nation bloc has committed to unilaterally cutting carbon dioxide to 20 percent below 1990 levels over the next decade but will keep open its offer to deepen those cuts to 30 percent if other rich countries make similar efforts. The article quotes Greenpeace campaigner Joris den Blanken, who states that "Tackling climate negotiations with the same strategy as trade negotiations will simply get them bogged down like the current Doha round of trade talks."

AFP reports that four Greenpeace activists chained themselves to train tracks in Cherbourg, France on Sunday night to block a shipment of nuclear waste heading to Russia. The activists have all been removed.

Read more »

Posted by Sasha at 11:25 AM | Permalink

This is part of a trial series

In an exclusive feature in El Mundo, the Director of Greenpeace Spain, Junatxo Lopez de Uralde, reflects on the Red-Carpet action, stating he generally thinks that it was a success in giving a voice to those who those who don't have one.

Film Director Peter Mettler offers us a silent, 43-minute montage of aerial shots, taken from a helicopter flying over the Athabasca river in Alberta, Canada, which together make one of the most profound statements on this issue to date. His film, Petropolis, is at once a quiet meditation on the transformation of serene forest into industrial nightmare and an unabashedly-presented-by-Greenpeace political statement, soaked in a subtext of shame, writes the Canadian newspaper National Post.

Read more »

Posted by Teresa Belkow at 12:03 PM | Permalink

This is part of a trial series

Hopes for stronger world action in 2010 to curb climate change have dimmed after the U.S. Democrats lost a key Senate seat to a Republican opposed to capping emissions, experts said on Wednesday. The Independent describes the Democrats' loss to the Republican Scott Brown in Massachusetts as humiliating. Scott Brown's win in the special senate election in Massachusetts means that the Democrats' grip on the senate loosens. That prospect was already ringing alarm bells beyond America's borders as governments around the world consider whether they will be willing to go further on curbing emissions if the likelihood of the US playing its part is further diminished. "On the international front, China is constantly looking to the U.S. on climate bills ... This is definitely bad news. It doesn't bring new confidence to international negotiations," Ailun Yang of Greenpeace in Beijing said to Reuters.

Read more »

Posted by Teresa Belkow at 11:22 AM | Permalink

This is part of a trial series

The elite of Switzerland gather behind closed doors in an annual meeting in Rive-Reine. The 40 most powerful Swiss company bosses, political leaders of the governing parties, a lone union leader, two priests and two Federal Councils meet this week. Security is tight and the agenda confidential. Public Eye, the Anti World Economic Forum protested supported by Greenpeace and Forum for the Berne Declaration, projected a laser on the facade of the building, reading:"public eye is watching you".

Read more »

Posted by Teresa Belkow at 11:35 AM | Permalink

Sony is the first electronics company to appear in the Guardian's you ask, they answer environment series. So drop in on the Guardian site and ask a question about Sony's environment policy and practice.

As for suggestions - here's our assesment of Sony in our latest Guide to Greener Electronics. Or you could ask:

When will Sony be putting PCs free of worst hazardous substances on the market like Apple and HP already have?

Will Sony be publicly supporting the Japanese Government's emissions reduction target?

Will Sony be supporting a stronger law (RoHS) on toxic chemicals in Europe?

Why does Sony not score better in our Cool IT Challenge?

Questions end Friday, you can see Sony's answers so far here

Posted by Tom at 4:10 PM | Permalink

Copyright Greenpeace/Greenpeace activists on a crane of the Electricite' de France's (EDF) proposed new European Pressurized Water Reactor (EPR) on the second day of action against the construction site.

The story of the Federal States of Micronesia taking on Czech utility company, the CEZ Group has been featured in The New York Times. “Climate change is real and it is happening on our shores,” Andrew Yatilman, the director of Micronesia’s office of environment and emergency management, told Reuters. “It’s a matter of survival for us. If you look at the map of the Pacific, we’re just dots in the middle of the ocean.” The continued emissions from the power plant in Prunerov, the largest single source of carbon dioxide emissions in the Czech Republic, could threaten Micronesia’s existence in the future. The action is supported by Greenpeace that demanded last month that the Czech Republic decommission the plant by 2016. Czech paper Hospodarskie Noviny commented on the legal procedures of the case.

In Russia, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin signed a government decree that would allow the Baikal Pulp and Paper Mill (BPPM) once again to produce pulp, RIA Novosti reports. This activity used to be prohibited in the Baikal ecological territory, and an appeal is likely to come from a larger group of environmentalists to President Dimitry Medvedev. "We are shocked by this regulation. It means that waste production is resumed” said the spokesman and campaign director of Greenpeace Russia, Ivan Blokov.

Read more »

Posted by Teresa Belkow at 11:15 AM | Permalink

This is part of a trial series

Copyright Greenpeace/Greenpeace staff Junichi Sato (seated left), Toru Suzuki (seated right), and their lead counsel, Yuichi Kaido (seated centre) face reporters at a press briefing following their first pre-trial arrangement hearing at Aomori District Court, Japan.

Greenpeace International Executive Director Kumi Naidoo has an appearance on the hard-hitting flagship news programme shown on BBC World News and the BBC News channel, HARDtalk. If you are in the UK you can access the interview on BBC iPlayer.

The European Commission has cast doubt on research commissioned by the Federal Government that questions the need to have laws to block illegally logged timber imports. The EU has also questioned the research's estimates on the value of illegal timber imports into Australia and found that timber in furniture is not included. A Greenpeace forestry campaigner, Reece Turner, quoted in The Sydney Morning Herald, said it was time for the Government to fulfill its 2007 election promise to ban illegal timber. ''The European Commission has exposed the Government's attempts to fudge the figures on illegal timber imports,'' he said.

Read more »

Posted by Teresa Belkow at 11:21 AM | Permalink

Copyright Greenpeace/Organic potatoes grown in Kristianstad Sweden

Two Greenpeace activists dumped a basketload of potatoes at the feet of the German Federal Minister for Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection, Ilse Aigner, as she was praising German agricultural products. The activists also shouted "Stop the cultivation of genetically modified potatoes!" and unfurled a banner. They were temporarily detained for trespassing and disruption.

Greenpeace opposition is barely mentioned in an opinion piece in The Australian. Instead it states that the reasons for the continuation of whale hunting are tradition, identity and whales still being categorised as fish by the Japanese and the argument that they live a long happy life in the open ocean. It highlights that they see nothing more morally wrong with whaling than with slaughtering pigs and that the conflicts are merely a result of Western political hypocrisy.

The company Offsetters, the "official supplier of carbon offsets to the 2010 Olympic Games", is preparing to open an innovative souvenir kiosk at Vancouver International Airport. Productive. Greenpeace and "some of the other more-irritating environmental groups that seem to make more noise than supply solutions" are being encouraged to take Offsetters's example by The Vancouver Sun.

Read more »

Posted by Teresa Belkow at 12:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Thrilled to be here, it’s been a long winding journey. Originally from Russia and Peru but brought up in Sweden, from there it was a hop and skip to London, where I got stuck for a few years and have now washed up on the mainland in Amsterdam. I have actually just recently given in to my lifelong love to nature and contribute to saving and preserving it.

Posted by Teresa Belkow at 12:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Today in videos, we'll look at videos about forests. Greenpeace Switzerland just released a new one, really powerful, quick and effective. I don't think you need to speak German to understand the point that was made there.

Read more »

Posted by Juliette at 10:21 AM | Permalink

Switzerland has the dubious honour of hosting every year the World Economic Forum in Davos - so it is only fair that Swiss human rights and environmental organisations should use the occasion to name and shame global corporations who have been negatively impacting people and the environment around the world.
Along with the Bern Declaration, Greenpeace Switzerland is awarding the Public Eye Award to the nastiest corporate player of the year:

Public Eye reminds the players of the global economy who impact people and the environment with destructive business practices that actions have consequences – in this case for the image of the company. We present shame-on-you-awards to the nastiest corporate players of the year.

Read more »

Posted by Juliette at 3:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Read more »

Posted by Tom at 11:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Diving into our videos on YouTube, I look at which ones have been the most popular. Here are the top 10 most watched videos on our YouTube account, with explanation:
1) Naked people on a glacier.
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a YouTube video in possession of the word "naked" in its title, must have lots of views. Such is the case for the video recounting how hundreds of people stripped naked on a Swiss glacier for a Spencer Tunick art installation. I find it a bit sad that the human mind must be so easily drived by nudity, more than many other urgent needs, but so be it.
This art installation had for goal to draw attention on Climate Change on the dramatic melt of Alpine glaciers - and drive attention it did.

Read more »

Posted by Juliette at 10:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

This is part of a trial series

Copyright Greenpeace / Daniel Beltra

The red-carpet four remain in the news, though coverage has died down a little. Spanish paper El País has published a feature on Joris Thijssen, which quotes him as saying that climate is the most important issue of our generation and that if someone can do something about it, it is Obama. A columnist for La Razon has essentially called the Danes fascists.

The release of the movie Jagdzeit, which follows the Greenpeace ship Esperanza on its journey to intercept whaling ships in the Southern Ocean, has been covered in Germany.

AP reports that three environmental groups, including Greenpeace, are going to court to try and stop a particularly contentious timber sale of old-growth trees in America's largest national forest. The groups filed the lawsuit Monday in U.S. District Court in Anchorage. It alleges that the U.S. Forest Service failed to comply with federal environmental laws in approving the Logjam timber sale last year in the Tongass National Forest.

Read more »

Posted by Sasha at 10:14 AM | Permalink

In today's edition of good video finds, here is a classic of the genre:


As hilarious as this fake interview is, it does highlight the misconceptions about what the environment can and cannot sustain.

Read more »

Posted by Juliette at 2:06 PM | Permalink

This is part of a trial series

Copyright Greenpeace

The red-carpet four are back in the news today as Danish news reports that the Copenhagen police have admitted to two illegal wiretaps during the summit. The Chief prosecutor confirmed previous evidence of at least 15 known wiretaps which were later approved, but the two illegal ones will now be reviewed by the Attorney General - they details will not, however, be divulged to the press. The known interceptions are stated to have mainly been implemented against Greenpeace. The article states that a Greenpeace lawyer, Jacobs Arrevad, has stated that wiretapping was used to apprehend "his client, a Dutchman" (Joris Thijssen, presumably). Juantxo has reappeared in Spanish media, having responded to questions from ABC readers. The article quotes the Greenpeace Spain director as saying that the far greater crime, the destruction of the earth, remains unpunished. An opinion piece in Norway states that both the red-carpet action and the activities of Sea Shepherd have derailed the environmental struggle. (Note: Greenpeace and Sea Shepherd are not affiliated.) The New York Times environmental blog Green Inc. reports on the red-carpet incident and the detention of the activists. The blog quotes Nora, who said, “I don’t think that the authorities’ reaction reflects what we actually did. The action was relatively innocent, and I am not opposing the people who say that we are being punished for exposing poor police work. But I hope and believe that the system in the end will be just and give us a fair trial," adding, "It was very frustrating for us, that the leaders went to a dinner party instead of working on a solution.”

Read more »

Posted by Sasha at 10:41 AM | Permalink

One of my favourite video channels on Youtube is owned by Peter Sinclair, alias greenman3610. His specialty is to take any rumor spread by Climate Change contrarians and to demolish it - and demolish he does. Take this one from last year in which he debunks the rumor saying (in short) colder than usual temperatures mean Climate Change stopped right there (highly relevant this year too!):

Read more »

Posted by Juliette at 3:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Not many things are certain but you can be sure the agri-chemical industry likes to distort the truth about genetically engineered (GE) crops. We're not surprised that they're up to their old tricks again. Back in November our Executive Director, Kumi Naidoo, was interviewed by German magazine Der Spiegel, which included the following question and answer (our translation from German):

Der Spiegel:

"Genetic technology has come forth with Golden rice, which can provide undernourished children with vitamin A and protect them from blindness. What would an African head of Greenpeace have against this?"

Kumi's response was:

"I thought about this matter for a whole weekend. I don't have a scientific background and for this reason I'd like to have another look at all of our scientific positions. We must be certain that we are not passing up any new, good developments."

Several websites connected to the GE industry are now reporting that Mr Naidoo said the following:

"In view of developments like Golden Rice, Greenpeace must reconsider its position with regard to GMOs. We must make sure not to dismiss new and important developments."

Adding insult to injury they even used headlines like Greenpeace Backing Down on GMOs".

And despite the fact that there was another article in Der Spiegel clarifiying our position on GE - the story is still showing up on a few web sites and confusing a lot of people.

To be completely clear - we remain firmly in opposition to genetically engineered (GE) crops. These crops can inter-breed with closely related plants thereby contaminating non GE crops and environments in unforeseeable and uncontrollable ways. The release of GE crops into the environment is “genetic pollution” and as such a major threat both to the environment and to the livelihood of farmers globally.

Read more »

Posted by Lisa at 11:02 AM | Permalink

This is part of a trial series

Oddly enough, coverage of the red-carpet four has suddenly ceased. The biggest Greenpeace news is now the release of version 14 of the Greenpeace Guide to Greener Electronics, which was featured in The New York Times blog Green Inc., as well as in Latin America, Europe and Indonesia.

The Australian reports that a poll by Japanese video-sharing website Nico Nico Douga following the sinking of Sea Shepherd's ship showed 67 percent of respondents believed Japan needed to promote itself better "as a whaling country", and only 9.1 percent thought that hunting should now stop. The article states that this is disheartening for Greenpeace Japan, who is "trying to run a hearts-and-minds campaign against whaling". (Note: Despite some confusion on Twitter and in the blogosphere, Greenpeace and Sea Shepherd are not affiliated.)

Saudi newspaper Al Jarida reports that oil is a finite commodity and that renewables will meet future needs. The article quotes Greenpeace UK's John Sauven on Britain's switch to renewable energy.

Read more »

Posted by Sasha at 10:09 AM | Permalink

Following up on Lisa's entry about what inspired us in 2009, Greenpeace offices everywhere are looking back on what happened in 2009 in video. Here are a few that I found:

Greenpeace Russia has the coolest garbage can you've ever seen:

Read more »

Posted by Juliette at 5:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Just after New Year's I asked "What is your most inspirational memory from in 2009 - something that restored your faith in our ability to make the future greener?" on twitter and got the following responses...

@sspcampsie:
visiting Cuba. Cuba can teach the world about sustainability.

@ViikBonu:
Hillsong United

@pluviosity:
when I saw one of Greenpeace Fundraiser in a mall,tiredlessly explaining the same thing over and over again to different people

@mdbergfeld:
my most inspiring moment in 2009 is seeing so many people at the demonstration in Copenhagen on December 12th

@ksdulin:
getting accepted into the Sustainability Development Programme at the University of St. Andrews

@KickboxingWay:
When I saw Isha Yoga center planting trees in BIIIG NUMBERS

@allyska:
the various blogs on ethical living and everyday people trying to make a change

@Midpark:
I teached my grandfather who to be ecofriendly

@eduardgrebe:
Unfortunately, nothing has restored such faith.

@chinkatie:
'09 Memory: Watching James Hanson & Bill MiKibben be issued citations w/ 100+ students in the Boston Common w/ @TheLCampaign

@FloraBernard:
PowerShift & the Capitol #Climate Action. Finding out all kinds of folks are ready and willing to fight for climate justice.

@modelemme:
realizing God wants the same, making it possible.

Heartening to read these and congratulations to @ksdulin for getting into St. Andrews!

For me personally - many things spring to mind. But the stories from a group of women I met in New York really stand out. They have experienced and continue to be affected by the worst impacts of global warming and they have refused to sit by and accept it. But they don't waste time complaining - they have become agents of change - tirelessly fighting from the frontline. Their stories are truly inspirational.

I hope @eduardgrebe will take time time to read about them!

And of course - the myriad of Greenpeace actions over the year have been pretty astounding. See a slideshow of the highlights.

What about you? What has inspired you over the past year? Were you involved in something that you think might inspire others? Tell us about it by submitting a comment below.

Posted by Lisa at 12:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

This is part of a trial series

Copyright Greenpeace

The leading Greenpeace news is still follow-up on the red-carpet four. The coverage is concentrated in Spain and Switzerland but remains strong in Denmark and has also traveled to Norway, Colombia and the UK. Spanish papers are running features on Juantxo, many of which detail the time he spent in prison. El País has called the activists' detainment "Killing a fly with a cannonball". La Vanguardia has stated that repression of peaceful protest creates martyrs and has deemed Denmark undemocratic. A cartoon in El Correo Digital depicts Juantxo as the Cheshire Cat standing trial in front of the Danish Queen of Hearts. Many Spanish papers contend that the real crime is that leaders did not take the appropriate measures to combat climate change. Christian Wetzikon has been featured in several Swiss papers. Both Tages Anzeiger and Blick have published feature articles on his time in prison. Christian states that the success of the action has left him with a sense of accomplishment. A journalist for Danish paper B.T. has called the activists' imprisonment "hysterical" and disproportionate to the offense. News agency Ritzau reports that the Danish police has explained that the "blunder" was a misunderstanding between the officers at the gala and the Foreign Ministry representative. Another Ritzau article states that, while official relations between Denmark and Spain remain unharmed, Denmark's reputation among ordinary Spaniards has declined sharply. Norwegian paper Aftenposten reports on last week's announcement by Spanish Prime Minister Zapatero that he hopes this never happens again. Colombian paper El Colombiano contends that members of NGOs such as Greenpeace have become a sort of universal consciousness. The Guardian has published an editorial by Greenpeace International's Jasper Teulings, in which he states that "It is in the interest of all of us to make sure that prolonged preventive and pre-trial detentions are not used to stifle freedom of expression and that they remain the exception."

The release of version 14 of the Greenpeace Guide to Greener Electronics has been featured in the print version of The International Herald Tribune, reported by EFE, AFP, DPA and ANP, and has traveled internationally.

Read more »

Posted by Sasha at 12:13 PM | Permalink

In today's edition of "Greenpeace video I never heard about and discovered in a random news scan", here is Greenpeace Germany's version of the iceberg:

Read more »

Posted by Juliette at 11:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Jasper Teulings, general counsel at Greenpeace International, writes about the release of our 'Red Carpet Four'. He says the restriction of peaceful protest against a problem as pressing as climate change is a serious threat to democracy. An edited version of this article was also published in the UK's Guardian Weekly.

Whether the failure of the Copenhagen Climate Summit has dealt a mortal blow to the process of international climate negotiations in their current form is an important question currently under debate. A broader issue that is receiving attention in a handful of European countries is the future of civil disobedience, especially in the fight for 'climate justice’.

On December 17, three Greenpeace activists made a special appearance at a banquet hosted by the Queen of Denmark for Heads of State attending the UN climate summit in Copenhagen. Juan, dressed in a tuxedo, and Nora, decked out in an H&M red floor-length gown, were waved through the high security cordon in their three-car convoy. They were ushered up the red carpet and, arriving inside, unfurled two banners reading "Politicians Talk, Leaders Act". They were arrested, along with two other activists, Christian and Joris. On January 6 - after substantial international public and diplomatic pressure - the "Red Carpet Four" were finally released.

The theoretical roots of civil disobedience are usually traced to Henry David Thoreau's 1849 essay Civil Disobedience. Thoreau believed that the individual, who grants the state its power in the first place, must follow the dictates of his conscience in opposing unjust laws. (His ideas on civil disobedience reflected time he spent imprisoned for his refusal to pay a poll tax that supported the Mexican-American War and slavery.) Today civil disobedience is generally defined as a public, non-violent and conscientious breach of law undertaken with the aim of bringing about a change in laws or government policies.

What the Red Carpet Four did was classic civil disobedience.

Before her arrest, Nora told an interviewer that she was aware of the possible consequences of what she intended to do: "It's a personal risk of spending a couple of days in prison.... you have to compare it to people who are affected by climate change and if we can do just a little to support them in this way then I am happy to do it".

Read more »

Posted by Lisa at 6:30 PM | Permalink

This is part of a trial series

Copyright Greenpeace

The biggest Greenpeace story continues to be the release of the red-carpet activists. This has made international news, though most coverage is coming out of Spain and Denmark. Spanish paper El Periódico features video footage of the press conference on the Rainbow Warrior that followed the activists' release, and another article refers to Danish excess, stating that the Danish reaction was unwarranted and completely disproportionate. Danish paper B.T. reports that Spanish Prime Minister Zapatero has stated he hopes this never happens again. An AFP piece with the title "Greenpeace says made to 'pay' for climate summit failure" has traveled in France and Switzerland. The article quotes Juanxto, who stated that "We were made to pay for the anger of the Danish government after the problems of the Copenhagen summit" and that "[w]e were very shocked by the way in which we were treated." He continues, "If it was not for all the support which we received, I think the intention of the Danish authorities was to keep us in jail for a long time. I don't regret anything, on the contrary. I think if I had the same opportunity, at such an important moment, when there were 120 world leaders gathered at the same place, I would do it again to try to pass on a message urging them to do something about climate change. All four of us are very proud of what we did." The Guardian features the Greenpeace video "The Story of the Red Carpet Four" and quotes Joris Thijssen: "We did it because at the time there was only 24 hours left for world leaders to reach a global agreement. It was like a building was burning and we wanted to put out the fire. Yes we did something a bit naughty but we felt it was proportionate. We did something naughty to try to stop climate change becoming climate chaos. The judge needs to trade off the act we did against the bigger crime we were trying to prevent. We thought it justified."

Read more »

Posted by Sasha at 4:58 PM | Permalink

This is part of a trial series.

© Klaus Holsting / Greenpeace The Red Carpet Activists released yesterday from prison in Denmark.

The major story at Greenpeace this morning is of course - the release of our four red-carpet heros - after a grueling 20 days in Fængsel Vestre Prison in Copenhagen. At the same time, Spanish media reported, a vigil was held at the Danish embassy in Madrid. Images of a relieved and happy-looking Juan were accompanied by comments from the activists, "they treated us like dogs" (de Uralde) and their treatment was "completely disproportionate" and outrageous (Nora Christiansen). GP Spain's Miguel Angel Soto was quoted asking the Danish embassy in Madrid "what all this has served?"

Read more »

Posted by Melissa Wilson at 11:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

This is part of a trial series.

© Pedro Armestre / Greenpeace Mobilization continues around the world in support of the activists' release.

Coverage in Spain and European free dailies continued yesterday on the campaign to release the four red-carpet activists in Copenhagen. Spanish news documented the condition of Juan Lopez de Uralde in prison as "thinner than usual", with a quote from Kumi Naidoo referring to conditions as "harsh and disproportionate". Reports described a cell with only a mattress and security camera.

Read more »

Posted by Melissa Wilson at 2:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

2009 should have been the year that governments and the market clearly signaled that the transition to a low carbon economy had begun in earnest on a global scale. It wasn't however, and the IT sector will have to do better in 2010 to turn things around.

Copenhagen FAIL

The failure of world leaders in Copenhagen to deliver a fair, ambitious, and legally binding agreement is a setback to global efforts to respond to the urgent threat of climate change--and kick start the low carbon global economy.

While governments have said they will be back to strike a deal at the UN climate summit in Mexico in 2010, Copenhagen's "outcome" clearly begs the question--Which countries will overcome the status quo voices of their fossil fuel industry, and put the necessary policies in place to commit their nation to climate protection and economic growth from a low carbon 21st century economy?

Read more »

Posted by Eoin at 12:08 PM | Permalink

This is part of a trial series

Copyright Scanpix / Jens Norgaard Larsen

The strong coverage of the detained red-carpet activists continues in Spain and Denmark. Spanish media report that Greenpeace Spain unfurled a banner reading "Liberdad para Juantxo" (Freedom for Juantxo) from a building in the Puerta del Sol, one of the busiest squares in Madrid. The newspaper El Mundo reports that the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior will deliver 16 kilos of letters demanding the release of the activists to the Vestre Faengsel prison, while El País speculates about the outcome of their January 7 trial, stating that Greenpeace worries the Danish court might try to use his case as a warning to future activists. Meanwhile, Danish paper Jyllands-Posten reports that the country's queen has praised the Copenhagen police for their efforts during the climate summit, which has reportedly been the cause of some resentment, due in part to the treatment of the detained activists. Ekstra Bladet reports that the Copenhagen police have admitted to some mistakes during the summit, one of which was the admittance of the Greenpeace activists to the queen's gala. The article calls the action funny and spectacular but calls into question the claim that it was dangerous. The detainment of the activists was also mentioned in Australia, though with little detail.

Read more »

Posted by Sasha at 10:19 AM | Permalink

I know that the Greenpeace International jobs webpage is easy to find already, and if you're reading this then you probably won't need directions. But perhaps you could go and see if there's something there for somebody you know who hasn't visited that page recently?

You could also send them a link to our page of vacancies in Greenpeace offices (and ships!) around the world: http://www.greenpeace.org/international/about/jobs/jobs-around-the-world

Read more »

Posted by Eoin at 8:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)