25 March: Special "sight"-seeing

The GE-bus driving through the European countryside

You could think we were collecting signatures, photos and videos all the time and had no possibility at all to get to the must-see parts of the city. That is not at all true; the must-see part we have seen. Maurice showed us some important places of the capital: the most famous rock of Luxembourg, where they have projected the film The World Accoring to Monsanto last autumn; the monumental building in which on 22th March 2009, the safeguard clause (the ban) on MON810 was made, but we had seen viaducts, castles, rivers and valleys as well. All amazing, I have to say!

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Posted by Teresa Belkow at 3:05 PM | Permalink

25 March: First morning in Luxembourg

Maurice proved to be really precise and phoned us not to oversleep. That was smart of him. I do not remember the breakfast very well, maybe because it was the usual intercontinental one You can get in any hotels of Europe, but also because we were briefed by Maurice about the importance of each meeting during breakfast. Everyone thought that Luxemburg is much smaller, but we travelled to so many places today – all the time in a hurry to meet busy allies and members of NOGM, the GMO-Free Luxembourg coalition.

Largest number of directors at one place – at the same time

Kumi Naidoo, Executive Director of Greenpeace International (Front) and Sarah Burton, Deputy Programme Director (right), board the GE Free Bus showing their support for a GE-Free Europe.

Luckily Greenpeace directors from all over the world met in Luxemburg this year, so we surprised them right after their breakfast and introduced our bus and the purpose of it to them. This was a really good rehearsal as well, to see if the crew can realize what we discussed and practiced last night.

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Posted by Teresa Belkow at 2:27 PM | Permalink

On Monday we took action at Dell offices in India, Denmark and the Netherlands. While Dell’s major competitors like Apple, HP and Acer have been acting by selling more PC’s free of the worst toxic chemicals, Dell has been all talk and no action.

Monday should have marked an end to the talking with an internal meeting with Michael Dell to approve a plan outlining how Dell will bring PCs on the market free of the worst toxic chemicals. However at the end of Monday we heard just more talk and no action, with the meeting apparently postponed.

Even two Indian PC companies are showing Dell that action speak louder than words. Wipro and HCL have both recently released PCs free of toxic PVC and BFRs.

As well as putting greener computers on the market we are asking all electronics companies to use their influence to advocate for the phase out of BFRs and PVC in legislation. Again Dell is being left behind by companies like HP and Acer who have publicly stated their support for stronger legislation.

Michael Dell’s ambition for Dell to be the “greenest technology company on the planet” seems more and more to be an empty marketing phrase. If I was in Michael's shoes the strongest shade of green would be envy at progress from the competition.

Posted by Tom at 1:05 PM | Permalink

Greenpeace activists do a die-in protest at the gate of the Cilacap coal power plant (Indonesia), to expose the true cost of coal.

Your internet server can have a huge negative impact on the environment (contributing to climate change), or it can begin going up the ladder towards a green revolution, which is sadly, at the moment, not the main priority for companies like Facebook.

Yesterday Greenpeace released a report on the negative impact that the Internet and big data centers have on the environment (Make IT Green: Cloud Computing and its Contribution to Climate Change). As explained by The Independent , "the vast amount of digital data that we upload and access via social networks and on websites such as YouTube is stored in what the internet industry calls the 'cloud', by which it means a vast numbers of computers owned by the likes of Google, Yahoo and Apple. These computers are housed in 'data warehouses' where electricity is generated mainly at coal-fired power stations."

The story has spread all over the online media raising concerns amongst users of Apple for instance, and sites such as Facebook, which recently announced the construction of a coal powered data base in Oregon. Join our mission to get Facebook off coal here (which has now more than 370,000 members).

Now is the time for big names such as Microsoft or Google to use their influence to lead greener practices by monitoring their carbon footprint and switching to renewable energies.
Companies like Facebook and Google can do better.

Have a look at Greenpeace’s Cool It Challenge.

Photo credit: © Greenpeace / Oka Budhi

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Posted by Almudena at 10:31 AM | Permalink

Willie, from Greenpeace UK, wrote this wrap up of the CITE meeting. Remember this is the year of biodiversity.

I've tried several times to write a 'wrap-up' blog for this year's CITES meeting. But usually I end up just banging my head against the keyboard in despair.

This CITES meeting was a turning point – the governments in the room decided that they weren't there to restrict trade to protect species, but rather there to protect trade as best they could. Nowhere was that more evident than the marine proposals.

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Posted by Juliette at 9:26 AM | Permalink

The politics of the future of the Arctic Ocean are way too important to leave them to politicians. That is, unfortunately, exactly what is happening. Despite hopes of multilateralism which had been brought by the Arctic Council, the five Arctic coastal States are meeting behind closed doors in Canada to decide how the oil cake is going to shared between the five of them. No observers are invited. Not from other States, not from Arctic indigenous communities, not from NGOs.

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Posted by Juliette at 4:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Our GE-free bus is currently on tour around Europe - calling for a moratorium on all genetically engineered produce in the EU in order to protect consumers, farmers and the environment.

The GE Free Bus leaves Greenpeace International Headquarters in Amsterdam

24 March: GMO bus tour leaving Amsterdam

Green light to risky GMOs? No way!

It was an early spring afternoon when the Greeenpeace GE FREE FUTURE campaign bus left Amsterdam, saying goodbye to people waving and shouting their best wishes to the 4 crew members of the bus. Many memberstates, farmers and consumers had the hope that the new European Commission is really going to take to the will, choice and worries of citizens, farmers and concerned Memberstates. That they will finally revise the authorization of Genetic engineered (GE) crops as Memberstates asked for it at the end of 2008. It did not. They authorized a GE potato instead with their first decision in an undemocratic way. A potato which could cause antibiotic resistance, so could reduce the efficiency of certain important medicines. A potato which could mean threat to health, environment and to economy. And that is not all - many more GE crops could still to come, which are already waiting for approval.

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Posted by Teresa Belkow at 2:40 PM | Permalink

Monday morning - Greenpeace activists go to work

03/29/2010, Greenpeace 'clean- up' up Dell offices in Amsterdam, Netherlands

Greenpeace activist are blocking the Dell HQ in Amsterdam this morning. They are putting foam in front of the office trying to send Dell a message: they should do a spring clean of their processes by eliminate toxic substances from production.

Electronic devices are a complex mixture of several hundreds of materials. These dangerous substances cause serious pollution and put workers at risk when the products are produced or disposed of. Of particular concern is the exposure of children and pregnant women to lead and mercury. These metals are highly toxic and can harm children and developing foetuses even at low levels of exposure.

Three Finnish Greenpeace activists have climbed up Olkiluoto nuclear power plant construction crane demanding an end to the construction of the plant, reports IS-STT. Nuclear power is neither a necessary nor a beneficial part of a sustainable energy strategy and runs an unacceptable risk to the environment and to humanity. You can read more here.

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Posted by Teresa Belkow at 10:58 AM | Permalink

Land clearing operations carried out by Sinar Mas for palm oil production in the rainforests near Danau Sentarum National Park.

Things are moving: Sinar Mas, the Indonesian palm oil supplier at the heart of our ongoing campaign against Nestlé, has announced that it plans to appoint several independent groups to “verify” what we have said about the company, as the Jakarta Globe reports this morning.

There is no doubt, though: Sinar Mas is breaking Indonsian law by clearing protected forests for palm oil plantations that are pushing into carbon-rich peatlands and rainforests. Not only are these areas key habitat for orangutans, their destruction is also a major cause of Indonesia’s rocketing carbon emissions.

It’s no wonder Sinar Mas isn’t amused. After we exposed the links Nestlé has to the palm oil producer in a damning new report, the Swiss-based food giant immediately announced its intention to end contracts with Sinar Mas. Yesterday, more good news came our way as Cargill, another of Nestlé's suppliers, said it was also reviewing its relationship with Sinar Mas (the Financial Times reported).

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Posted by Daniel at 11:39 AM | Permalink

This is the last update by John Frizell from the CITES meeting that has just ended. You can read the first here and the second here.

The bird is back. Yesterday there were two very small ones flying around the room. Today a larger one, that looked like the one seen last week, made a brief appearance. It looked well fed and active. Perhaps it is not lost at all. Perhaps it has a nest or burrow amid the ceiling fittings 12 meters above our seats.

Below, on the floor of the meeting, the final hours of the meeting played out. Last ditch attempts to gain protection for the hammerhead shark were defeated in the name of economic need. And the one small victory, the listing of the Porbeagle shark was overturned. Not a single marine species got any protection despite being depleted to 20% or even 10% of their natural abundance.

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Posted by Juliette at 2:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Greenpeace activists block the gate to the French Embassy in Moscow, Russia in a protest against nuclear waste import from France to Russia.

From Russia to Indonesia via the Czech Republic, Greenpeace activists are making noise – and the media is taking note.

French and Russian newspapers are reporting on our anti-nuclear action outside the French embassy in Moscow and the French consulate in St Petersburg. Greenpeace activists yesterday chained themselves to barrels marked 'Radioactive' in a protest against nuclear transports from France to Russia.

They were arrested in both cities, but the message stuck: “Russia is not a dustbin.”

Nestlé isn't off the hook

The angry apes we let lose on the headquarters of Nestlé in Jakarta made it into the media in Mexico, Germany, Portugal, Thailand and Indonesia, where the Jakarta Post and the influential business newspaper Bisnis Indonesia ran stories showing our activists dressed as orangutans.

The pressure is still on for Nestlé to go all the way and cut all forest-destroying palm oil producers from its supply chain completely.

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Posted by Daniel at 12:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Greenpeace activists dressed in orangutan costumes held a protest at Nestlé's Jakarta headquarters today.

Neste is giving some ground and, no, there shouldn’t be the letter l in that name. We’re talking about Neste Oil, a Finnish energy company that uses palm oil as the main component for its supposedly environmentally-friendly bio diesel.

We have been telling Neste for some time that its large-scale use of palm oil leads to massive deforestation and contributes to global warming. Today, the company has taken a step in the right direction and has asked one of its main suppliers of palm oil – IOI Corp of Malaysia – to have a good look at how it actually gets the stuff (as Reuters reports).

Sounds familiar?

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Posted by Daniel at 1:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Two baby orangutans play at the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation (BOS). The species, which is already endangered, is being pushed to the brink of extinction by the expansion of palm oil and pulp and paper plantations.

Our campaign to get Nestlé to stop using palm oil from forest-destroying producers keeps making waves. Today, media in Poland, Malysia and Belgium ran stories on our action last week - and Nestlé's response to it, which is widely seen as rather ill-advised (as the Miami Herald points out again today). If you haven't seen the hugely popular Kit Kat video that's causing all the buzz (700 000 visits and counting), watch it here - and spread it.

Prunerov chimney climbers cause a stir

Czech media have widely reported yesterday’s Greenpeace action at the Prunerov power station in the Czech Republic. As we wrote here yesterday, twelve Greenpeace activists climbed the coal-fired plant's 300m chimney and hung a banner saying: “Global Shame”. Check the video of our activists published by online paper Novinky. A collection of videos shot by our climbers can also be seen here.

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Posted by Daniel at 11:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

With proposals to protect Corals also failed, Willie from the UK oceans team looks at CITES so far...

CITES agreed to protect a salamander at the weekend. I'm very happy for the salamander. But in the great scheme of things this meeting is hardly turning out to be a ringing endorsement of global conservation in action.

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Posted by Jo at 10:01 PM | Permalink

Greenpeace activists atop the Prunerov coal-fired power station in the Czech Republic.

Prunerov: a global shame

Last week, the environment minister resigned because of it; a whole island nation is up in arms about it. Today, twelve Greenpeace activists climbed the 300 metre high chimney of the coal-fired power station that won’t stop causing controversy until the Czech Republic’s government has taken the right decision: to stop it.

“The Prunerov coal plant is a global shame,” Greenpeace Climate and Energy campaigner Jan Rovensky, today said from the top of the plant’s chimney stack. “Plans to extend its life make a mockery of efforts to protect the environment, people and avoid catastrophic global climate change.”

Watch the activists on our live stream here.

Prunerov is the single largest source of Czech carbon emissions. Yet, rather than shut it down at the end of its life in 2015, its owner, the energy company CEZ, is pushing to extend its life using inefficient, outdated technology.

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Posted by Daniel at 2:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Following his last blog on the tragedy of bluefin tuna, here is John Frizell's lastest commentary on the mockery that governments are making of this year's CITES meeting.

Just as rivers have rapids and smooth stretches, so does CITES. When the meeting returned to work on Sunday, after the Friday/Saturday weekend, the ferocity of the bluefin tuna battle was forgotten and debate flowed smoothly again.

When Honduras put forward a species of iguana for listing, comments were calm and favorable. After all, there was a strong scientific case and evidence of a sharp decline which is clearly being driven by international trade. The same countries which on Thursday had said that a strong scientific case and evidence of a sharp decline which is clearly being driven by international trade did not matter in the case of bluefin tuna, joined in a consensus to list the species and others that followed.

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Posted by Juliette at 10:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

John Frizell is part of our oceans team currently in Doha, Qatar, for the CITES meeting. following the disaster for bluefin tuna yesterday, he sent this bittersweet update.

There is a small gray bird flying around the main conference hall. Just before the vote which rejected protection for polar bears it landed on the bar which supports the transmitters for our simultaneous translation headphones, prompting the Chair to say ‘The wildlife has arrived.’

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Posted by Juliette at 4:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Oceans Bluefin Tuna Action

"Stocks of Atlantic bluefin tuna, prized as a delicacy in Japan, have plunged more than 80% since 1970, according to CITES". Ok, that's clear.

Yesterday at the meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in Doha, 68 countries, opposed a proposal from Monaco for a trade ban, and 20 governments voted in favor. There were 30 abstentions.

Something is just not right.

"The abject failure of governments here at CITES to protect Atlantic bluefin tuna spells disaster for its future and sets the species on a pathway to extinction," says Greenpeace International Oceans Campaigner Oliver Knowles.

Japanese fish dealers have welcomed the ban (Japan consumes about 80 percent of the world's Atlantic bluefin tuna). They believe that the ban is "too drastic". According to Kazuhiro Takayama, a fish wholesaler at Tokyo's sprawling Tsukiji fish market (as reported by AP): "a lot of people depend on this fish for their livelihoods".

But no effective measures have been implemented so far, so this was the next logical step to avoid tuna becoming extinct (more details in Greenpeace's report here).

"It's wrong — people telling us what we can and can't eat," said Yukio Unagizawa, a wholesaler at Tsukiji market (again in the Reuters article).

But, what will happen when there is NO tuna left? What will the fishery industry say then?

Time magazine (which includes two videos of the decline of tuna stocks worthwhile watching) attempts to explain the inexplicable decision of the UN to reject the ban and concludes:

"With the start of the Atlantic bluefin spawning season just two weeks away, Mediterranean tuna fishermen — and sushi lovers — have been granted a reprieve. One that will last, however, only as long as the bluefin does."

Photo credit: © Greenpeace / Gavin Parsons

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Posted by Almudena at 11:23 AM | Permalink

Willie from Greenpeace UK's biodiversity team wrote this after the latest (bad) development in Doha.
Governments at the CITES meeting at Doha have voted AGAINST a trade ban on Atlantic bluefin.

Words cannot express how frustrating this is. The science and scientific backing is incontrovertible. The public will and pressure is immense. The species could be commercially extinct within just a few years. The managing body for the species is an international joke.

Yet here we are. It’s business as usual after the proposal by Monaco, and the ‘compromise’ proposal by the EU to list Atlantic bluefin on CITES Appendix I have been defeated. A vote was no certainty today, and it was pushed forward by Libya, one of the Mediterranean bluefin
fishing nations.

You should be angry about this, you are not being represented, and the interests of a small number of fishing interests are calling the shots on species of international importance.

Seriously, if we can’t get it right on a species as unarguably in need of protection as Atlantic bluefin – what chance have we got for the rest of them?

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Posted by Juliette at 3:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (11)

Forest Action against Nestle UK

Greenpeace's controversial video slamming Nestle's Kit Kat for using palm oil and contributing to the destruction of the Indonesian rainforests (and the Orangutans that live there) is beginning to make waves. So far the video has been described as ‘gory’ by the media, but eye-opening nevertheless.

It's bloody, but it's bloody right.

Nestle and Youtube pulled down the video yesterday claiming a ‘breach of copyright’ but, that has just made matters worse. For them, of course. The video has been posted and re-posted in many different languages in YouTube and in online newspapers such as Blick (Switzerland biggest tabloid).

Photo credit: © Jiri Rezac / Greenpeace

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Posted by Almudena at 11:37 AM | Permalink

Garabed is an oceans campaigner with Greenpeace in Lebanon. He is part of our team in Doha, following the CITES meeting that could save or fail bluefin tuna

Perplexity was the word of CITES Day 5. The morning had started with reporters roaming the corridors of the Sheraton asking environmentalists their reaction to the sharks proposal being defeated in the closing hours of Day 4. Oliver was interviewed by Al-Jazeera to clarify the fact that the proposal in concern was put forward by the CITES Secretariat to try and provide greater transparency in the shark fishing industry and conduct further research into its impacts. The conclusion was indeed disappointing but on no account affects the proposals of listing several endangered shark species on Appendix II, which are still to be discussed next week.

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Posted by Juliette at 10:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The video Nestlé don't want you to see. Want to put your own copy of our video on your favourite video sharing site? Download the file now and be our guest! The more copies out there, the more interesting it will be for Nestle.

Dear Nestle's PR department,

Hey! How are you doing? I know that when we highlight the damaging effect your business is having on the Indonesian rainforests, it must be a bit annoying. I hope you understand that we're only trying to get your attention because using unsustainable palm oil in your products is such a very bad thing. You see, we just can't afford to let the Indonesian rainforests go up in smoke to provide land for palm oil plantations.

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Posted by Jamie at 8:08 PM | Permalink

Rice farmers from the Yunnan Province

Despite that the Chinese government has not yet approved the commercial cultivation of GM rice, a Greenpeace study released on Monday found genetically modified rice in supermarkets in China, such as US retail giant Wal- Mart (watch video here). The study was conducted last October and November in the supermarkets of eight Chinese cities and revealed the existence of transgenic rice in Chinese supermarkets under the brands of Maoya and Xueyou. "The DNA transgenic fragments were found in rice sold at both supermarkets. The Maoya sample is, as tests showed, a pest-resistant BT variety," Wang Weikang, spokesperson of Greenpeace's food and agriculture programme said on Monday. A report has also been submitted to the Ministry of Agriculture. A member of the Chinese bio-safety committee, Huang Dafang said to China Daily: "I don't think their survey is trustworthy but the ministry is open to such inquiry on the precondition that it's based on sound scientific data. China has laws and designated establishments to oversee and regulate GM food and we've never heard of such a case from these sources."
The story, which has splashed all over the Chinese media, raises concerns of consumer trust when shopping for foods, that without their knowledge, could have serious long-term unpredictable consequences.

Photo credit: © Greenpeace / Bai Yunxian

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Posted by Almudena at 12:16 PM | Permalink

Olly Knowles is an oceans campaigner with Greenpeace. He is currently in Doha, Qatar, following the CITES meeting that could save or fail Atlantic Bluefin Tuna.

CITES COP 15 is now properly up and running and it’s a veritable quagmire of lobby and counter-lobby, I can tell you. The big issue on the table is of course bluefin tuna – and not just for Greenpeace. It’s a key item for the CITES secretariat as well which means it's very high profile. Most of the other NGOs here are also working very hard on the issue – all of this combined is making bluefin a big media story, not least in the national Qatari press, which is useful because delegates are getting free copies every morning.

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Posted by Juliette at 9:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Illegal Hotel in National Park Action in Spain

Concerns over censorship and freedom of speech in Spain as the coasts collapse

There is an ongoing debate in Spain after the Spanish government yesterday decided to censure 2 min footage of a TV series that exposed severe coastal damage in Spain. The story was published in Spanish national newspaper El Pais (after being picked up by newswire EFE). Today the Ministry of Environment has apparently given the go ahead to the series after causing a stir in Spain, raising concerns over censorship and freedom of speech. What is not clear is whether the polemic footage will appear untouched. The article opens with the following line "the Ministry of Environment had a very complicated day yesterday." But the complications have just begun. Pilar Marcos, head of Greenpeace Coast, said the case was "just the tip of the iceberg of the many policies of coastal management that have been paralyzed".

You can see a summary of the controversial chapter of the Spanish series 'Banks of the Sea'.

Coast destruction in Spain has remained latent for many years with land speculation taking over the coast. Last year sixty Spanish activists from Greenpeace covered the illegally built hotel El Algarrobico which was constructed in protected in a conservation area. It’s license is still being discussed. Click here for more details.

Photo credit: © Greenpeace / Mario Gomez

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Posted by Almudena at 12:20 PM | Permalink

Greenpeace supporters and local farmers are harvesting the black rice variety of organic rice in Ratchaburi. © Greenpeace / Athit Perawongmetha

Last week was a tough one for companies pedaling GE crops across the world. Monsanto admitted their GE cotton is creating resistance in bollworms to the toxins engineered into the cotton, and entered a meeting on agriculture and competition with farmers complaining about their expensive seed. As if admitting your technology is not working isn’t enough, on Monday the third verdict against Bayer for their contamination of US rice supplies was reached in Arkansas, and the jury awarded the farmer over US $ 1 million.

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Posted by Daniel at 10:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

New Greenpeace International Executive Director Dr Kumi Naidoo (centre)

Greenpeace's head Kumi Naidoo took centre stage this Sunday to address the issue of climate change skepticism in an interview with Andrew Maar in the BBC. He said that errors in the IPCC (International Panel for Climate Change) report on the consequences of climate change had been taken out of proportion whilst other facts, which are key to understanding the very basis of climate change, could have been downplayed. He said that this gave him a sense of 'deja vu' as scientists in South Africa (Kumi's homeland) actually denied the HIV Aids link." As a result we lost and continue to lose thousands and thousands of lives", he added. He also addressed the issue of the Tokyo 2 (the two Greenpeace activists that are on trial after exposing corruption in Japan's government funded whaling programme) after he was asked if climate change was shadowing other "traditional Greenpeace concerns" such as whaling. Kumi said that this is not the case and that it is important to understand that climate change is a reality which affects other Greenpeace campaigns, such as forests because deforestation can lead to CO2 emissions (for more information about this click here).

British newspapers picked up on his comments that breaking the law is justifiable when fighting climate change (if done in a peaceful manner, as Greenpeace does) carrying this on the headline and using an image of Kumi which clearly illustrates their point. Kumi's full answer was the following:

"Well Mahatma Gandhi broke the law, Martin Luther King broke the law, Nelson Mandela broke the law. All of these people are revered now. So sometimes it is necessary to get a message across when we are in a context where our children and grandchildren's lives are under threat."

To hear an extract from the interview click here and here for the full transcription.

Photo credit: © Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert / Greenpeace

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Posted by Almudena at 1:42 PM | Permalink

CITES, the Convention of International Trade of Endangered Species, is meeting this week in Doha, Qatar. The star of this meeting is Atlantic Bluefin Tuna - and the big question is whether or not CITES will be able to give this species the protection that regional fisheries management organisations (RFMO) have not been able to give.
Some major fishing nations, like Japan (who also happens to be the main consumer of the species) have been saying that CITES should not be managing fish stocks, that this is a job for RFMOs. They're right. CITES isn't going to be managing the stock, it's going to try to save it.

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Posted by Juliette at 10:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Allison is an assistant who has been in Aomori this week - supporting our "Tokyo Two" team. She's been blogging throughout the week - during Junichi and Toru's trial. Here's some extracts from her blog posts as a summary of this week's trial proceedings - along with drawings from the courtroom - by Jules, another one of our campaign assistants (her drawing on the left is of the lead Tokyo Two defence counsel, Yuichi Kaido, in court.)

March 8th, Witnesses and Tall Tales

It began with a testimony given today by former crew member (Mr. X) of the Nisshin Maru. He is entangled in this case because some of his “souvenir” whale meat was contained in the box of evidence discovered by Junichi and Toru.

Although he was a defense witness, Mr. X was not exactly thrilled to be in the Aomori courtroom and was considered a hostile witness. According to his own evidence, he must have taken far more than his “souvenir” allowance in 'unesu' or whale bacon as a crew member. His story has changed in regards to amounts, of whale meat he sent home in boxes, the types of cuts (young whale unesu or less valuable guts and fins).

Mr. X was unable to explain why more senior crew members leave with more “luggage” at the end of their journey, boxes and boxes of items loaded immediately by the processing crew onto to trucks after arriving to port. They would not have been able to acquire such a load from gift shopping at ports of call (there are no shopping malls in the Southern Ocean). He also couldn’t explain why a box of whale bacon worth thousands of dollars was labeled cardboard.

We hope that the Aomori District Court will get the message from our living statue who faced the cold and snow today. Justice is blind, and the judges should not weigh evidence one way because of government involvement.

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Posted by Lisa at 7:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Myrto, one of our agriculture campaigners, tells us what's wrong with genetically engineered (GE) crops - and what you can do to stop them.

The other night I had some friends for dinner and I decided to prepare for a starter - my Mum’s favorite recipe: eggplant dip. It is so easy and yummy. You grill the whole eggplant till it burns, you remove the skin, you blend it with olive oil, lemon, salt and pepper and serve it with fresh bread. Delicious!! I was explaining to my friends that all ingredients were organic and another reason I chose to cook this recipe was that I was so happy the Indian government recently put a moratorium on the commercialisation of genetically engineered eggplant.

“Why you care about Indian genetically engineered eggplants?” a friend of a friend asked while he was scooping the remnants of the dip. Silence followed...

My friends start smirking as they knew that I have been campaigning on the issue of genetic engineering and sustainable agriculture for the last 10 years - and they were waiting for my my boisterous response. “After all" he added "I read couple of recent articles that GE crops are expanding and will help developing countries to feed themselves.”

Right…(I thought to myself), if you know nothing about the GE issue, these articles sound very convincing…let’s see if I will manage to explain to my guest before serving the second dish of organic baked potatoes - why we should care how the food we eat is grown and if GE crops will help feed the hungry of this planet.

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Posted by Lisa at 5:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

It's been a long an intense week for the Tokyo Two in Japan. They are on trial and facing up to 10 years in jail for exposing a whaling scandal (read all about the scandal here). They are encouraged by all the supportive comments they have been getting - on facebook, twitter and our blogs.

Junichi asked me to post this response from him.

"I'm very happy and excited to receive all the warm messages from all over the world. The last 4 days of trial have finished, leaving the team here in Japan feeling very good. The court has asked two current crew members of the whaling fleet to come testify about the embezzlement of whale meat on May 14th. We are putting the whaling on trial and winning support among not only the judges but also the domestic media also. Thank you all for your support!"

Junichi and Toru are joined by half a million voices calling for justice! Have you added your voice yet?

Here's a message from both of them - to those of you who have!

Read the latest news on the trial.
-- First day of the trial
-- Whaling on trial - part 1
-- Whaling on trial - part 2

Posted by Lisa at 4:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Greenpeace activists protest against GE in front of EU-parliament.
© Greenpeace / Eric de Mildt

In Bulgaria the parliament has voted to ban GE crop cultivation. The decision comes as opposition grows to the EU Commission's "quiet" introduction of GE potato (Amflora), while debate in the European Parliament was blocked. Many countries have now taken national measures to prevent what was the first GE-approved crop in the EU for 12 years. In India, controversy continues over the proposed regulatory bill that would remove State-level powers to control GE, placing sole jurisdiction in a centralized authority. The Hindu reported a Congressional Committee of the State of Andhra Pradesh has said states should be allowed to decide on commercial release of GE crops and that State Agricultural Universities should be empowered to evaluate and assess scientific aspects of GE crops and accordingly decide whether to permit them or not. They have also called on the government to fix the price of Bt-cotton seed, and prevent any further increases which have hurt farmers.

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Posted by Melissa Wilson at 11:43 AM | Permalink

Greenpeace activists last night blocked a cargo of dupleted uranium going from France to Russia.
© Pierre Gleizes

Fifteen Greenpeace activists last night blocked a train carrying depleted uranium from leaving Val-de-Mar in France, calling for a moratorium on the export of nuclear waste. An AFP story reported the activists chained themselves at 01.00 to the railway tracks at the rear- and front-end of the cargo leaving the Areva nuclear plant at Pierrelatte (Drôme). Axel Renaudin of Greenpeace said they aimed to stay in place for ten hours to delay the convoy, which was otherwise headed to join the Kaptain Kuroptev bound for Russia. The activists were in place for nearly four hours. Areva claims the waste is going to Russia for reprocessing, to be returned to France, but critics say it is actually just waste. Over the past 15 years, Areva and Urenco (another, Brussels-based nuclear company) have dumped 140,000 tons of waste in Russia. Greenpeace France also took action to block a nuclear waste convoy 16 February this year. Learn about the campaign here.

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Posted by Melissa Wilson at 1:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Protests during the COP15 Global Day of Action in Copenhagen. IT companies such as Nokia have potential to be a big part of the solution to climate change, but many have failed to raise to the challenge. © Kristian Buus/Greenpeace

Nokia’s in the hot seat this week. The telecoms giant has agreed to answer readers’ questions on its environmental record at the Guardian newspaper’s website – what better chance to ask the company what it really thinks about the challenge of catastrophic climate change?

Until now, Nokia has been found a little wanting when it comes to speaking up about the most pressing environmental issue of our time.

Its CEO, Olli Kallasvuo, might have written an article ahead of the December Climate Summit in Copenhagen (Who didn’t talk about the climate in those days?), but these comments are still something of an exception. Until then, all we had were six words on the company’s website.

Our Cool IT ranking also shows that Nokia still doesn't offer much in terms of political advocacy on the issue; it scored just four out of 25 points here. When it comes to presenting solutions, all we could give was one meager point (out of 50).

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Posted by Daniel at 8:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I can still remember the glow on our teenage faces as we gathered around the Greenpeace logo, ready to discuss our first action as a newly founded 'Greenteam'. The issues then? Energy efficiency in our school and people who didn't recycle.

I’m no longer a teenager and the issues I’m concerned about have become more global, and, unfortunately, much more pressing, but Greenpeace is still one of the best places to tackle them.

Having worked as a journalist and writer in London for several years, I’m currently on board in Amsterdam, where I hope to make my contribution to a fair and sustainable future at this crucial point in time.

Posted by Daniel at 5:04 PM | Permalink

Greenpeace has called for a renewed moratorium ("GE-Free!") in Switzerland on GE crops.
© Greenpeace.

Following the "quiet" introduction of genetically-engineered potato in the EU Commission (BASF's Amflora), more opposition has been stirring. Earlier this week an open debate on the issue was blocked in the European Parliament, to which the Greens responded by holding up banners calling "for a GE-Free Europe" at their plenary session in Strasbourg. Members "denounced" the EU Commission President Barrosso's "rush" to introduce GE potato. Twelve countries have now moved to block its cultivation, including recently Austria and Malta. Barrosso responded to the Greens' protest by saying “I salute your group’s enthusiasm. You have a very strong position against GMOs, which is your right. Personally, I do not have a position either for or against." Barrosso said the Commission "goes by the opinions of the European Food Safety Authority” and that countries in the EU would have the right to choose. However, a Green party member responded "if we start putting a finger in nationalization, we won’t have a European policy.” Health concerns have been raised in particular because the crop contains a gene that is resistant to some antibiotics, which, if introduced to the environment could result in increased bacterial resistance to life-saving medicines.

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Posted by Melissa Wilson at 11:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Reyes, one of our agriculture campaigners in India, shares her immediate thoughts on this 'first-of-its-kind' admission by Monsanto

This was my Saturday's lyrics to breakfast in sunny Bangalore: Monsanto has decided to tell the truth about something: its technology doesn't work!, reports The Hindu. I'm going to need a second cup of chai to digest this, Monsanto speaking honest!? Indian farmers and scientist have been seeing this in their Bt cotton fields for a few years: pests become resistant to Monsanto's genetically engineered toxins and thus farmers apply huge amounts of pesticides. Monsanto has always denied this, has the recent massive rejection of its Bt brinjal in India woken up its senses?

For years Monsanto has been shouting that the main - read only - benefit of Bt cotton in India (the only genetically engineered crop planted here) was the reduction in pesticide use. Well, it seems they have just admitted this is not true. Pink bollworm, a serious pest for cotton farmers in India, is now resistant to the toxin in Bt cotton. Meaning that this bug is now sort of a super-pest that farmers will have to work harder and harder to avoid.

What is Monsanto's solution to this? Maybe you have guessed it: use Monsanto's next weapon – same technology - Bt cotton 2.0. With double the amount of toxins (and almost double the price of non-Bt seeds). Hmmm? I need another cup of chai! This is looking too much like an arms-race, which due to rapid pest evolution of resistance could reach a battle of infinite proportions... followed closely by Monsanto's profits, of course. Indigestible! -my stomach shouts-, because along with Monsanto's profits from selling their special seeds I see also the struggle of debt and the threats to the livelihoods of the many farmers I've met.

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Posted by Lisa at 2:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

A security guard tries to catch the banner as it floats up through the atrium. Photo: Greenpeace

AP reported three Greenpeace activists yesterday released a balloon-powered banner in the Senate Hart Office Building, on Capitol Hill, Washington, showing the face of Republican Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, reading "Lisa Murkowski, Happily matched since 2004," with the logos of Exxon, Chevron and Southern Co. on love hearts. Senator Murkowski is one of the politicians whose cushy ties to the fossil fuel lobby has been highlighted by www.polluterharmony.com - a mock dating website satirizing the condition of legislators on Capitol Hill 'in bed' with industry lobbyists. The direct action was picked up by The New York Times, Philly.com, The Miami Herald, Boston Globe and Seattle Post, citing Greenpeace US's Joe Smyth, who said the banner aimed to protest Murkowski's close ties to industry. The Alaskan senator's spokesman was quoted in response saying "this is another desperate attempt by an outside group to distract from the merits of the debate." However, the three activists, Rachel Humphreys, Alec Rothman and Samantha Corbin are all concerned US citizens. The peaceful direct action aimed to highlight the biased and undemocratic impacts politician's ties to industry have on real debate, which has been continually stifled in the US Senate thanks to lobbyists. Kert Davies of Greenpeace US said in a Huffington Post blog "Murkowski's continued counterinsurgency against Obama's EPA is part of a multilateral attack by corporations, corporate lobbyists and their friends in right wing think tanks and front groups." See more photos of the action here.

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Posted by Melissa Wilson at 10:59 AM | Permalink

This is part of a trial series

Canned Tuna in New World Supermarket, New Zealand
03/26/2009

New Zealand says ‘yes’ to commercial whaling

New Zealanders are against whaling. Even their own government opposes whaling. So then, why has John Key’s government supported commercial whaling during the International Whaling Commission (IWC) meeting this weekend? The response is to “work to reduce the number of whales that are killed”. How this works out is a mystery.
According to Greenpeace New Zealand oceans campaigner Karli Thomas "our national values are under increasing attack by John Key’s government. First mining in our national parks and now it’s supporting a return to whaling. What’s next on the list? Nuclear ships in our harbours?" To hear Key’s full response click here.
This decision could give Japan the go-ahead to whaling after its controversial hunting "strategies" were exposed by Greenpeace activists Junichi Sato and Toru Suzuki, known as the Tokyo Two. Over the next four days defense witnesses will back up Greenpeace’s claims on this issue. You can read the facts and join the whale trial pledge here.

But it doesn’t stop here. New Zealand’s destructive relationship with the sea fauna goes even further. Karli Thomas warned this weekend in New Zealand’s TV station TVNZ that scallop stocks in the country are on the verge of collapsing, which comes as news to New Zealanders, who believe that popular species found in their fish and chips are not endangered.

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Posted by Almudena at 1:04 PM | Permalink

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Glacier melt - proof of climate change

Exit Glacier in Alaska is said to be steadily melting, shrinking two miles over the past 200 years as it tries to strike a new balance with rising temperatures.

The great amounts of water stored in glaciers play crucial roles in river flows, hydropower generation and agricultural production, contributing to steady run-off for Ganges, Yangtze, Mekong and Indus rivers in Asia and elsewhere. But many are melting rapidly, with the pace picking up over the past decade, giving glaciers a central role in the debate over causes and impacts of climate change.

The "wrong" estimates made by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that Himalayan glaciers could all melt by 2035, an apparent typographical error that stemmed from using literature not published in a scientific journal, are coming back into focus. But now there is strong and overwhelming evidence that the glaciers actually are melting away very quickly. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said last month the government would establish a National Institute of Himalayan Glaciology in Dehra Dun in the north in order to more accurately study the changes of the Himalayan glaciers.

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Posted by Teresa Belkow at 10:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I guess I got sick of meaningless work very quickly (although I don’t remember ever liking it). So on the side, for the past two years I have been involved in various photographic and journalistic projects with NGOs, both in Madrid and London (mostly on a voluntary basis), and after being swallowed by my need to help others and due to my unconditional love to nature (which is what keeps me sane), one day I said to myself “I want more”.
So that’s how my hopes landed here at Greenpeace, on fresh green land.

Posted by Almudena at 9:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

This is part of a trial series

Greenpeace activists hold banners reading "Ban Bluefin Tuna Trade" during a protest to demand immediate action to protect the endangered Mediterranean bluefin tuna from commercial extinction.

The US gets behind the call to ban international trade of Atlantic bluefin tuna

The US said on Wednesday they would bring up discussions on the topic during the March 13-25 meetings of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) which will take place in Doha, Qatar. They will declare the commercial trade in Atlantic bluefin tuna a threat to the species' survival, an issue that has split the EU. "US support could make a huge difference with the EU in particular," said John Hocevar, the oceans campaign director at Greenpeace USA.

See the tuna photo story by The Washington Post.

Stocks of bluefin tuna are on the brink of collapse from overfishing and the methods of catching them are causing devastation to the entire marine ecosystem. Read more here.

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Posted by Teresa Belkow at 11:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

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Greenpeace stage an action with banners against the GE industry, in the hall of the EU commission building in Brussels. The action speaks out against methods used by GE companies to lobby the EU law.

Survey shows that three quarters of Germans are against GE - despite the resistance it is being approved

The International Herald Tribune and newspapers around the world report, that the European Union has approved the first GE crop for domestic growing, ending what had been a long wait for a backlog of GE crops awaiting cultivation approval.

This decision will allow farmers to grow the GE potato Amflora developed by chemical giant BASF. For now it will be grown in Czech Republic and in Germany, where a Greenpeace-comissioned survey showed that three quarters of Germans are against GE.

Along with that decision the European Commission announced that it will allow European countries to independently decide whether to allow GE within their borders. "It is shocking that one of the Commission's first official acts is to authorize a GM crop that puts the environment and public health at risk," Greenpeace spokesman Marco Contiero said to AFP.

Les Echos reports that about 50 GE plants are currently pending approval this year. Spanish El Periodico and El Pais both stress how big of a threat this decision is to the environment and human health. If you understand German there is a video clip here.

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Posted by Teresa Belkow at 10:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

This is part of a trial series

Greenpeace raises awareness of new nuclear plant plans

In Middelburg, Zeeland, the Netherlands, Greenpeace activists display an anti -nuclear banner at the city hall. The banner recreates cheerful people, smoking chimneys and a shining nuclear plant with text on the banner reading: "Greetings from glowing Zeeland". Beside the city hall a car is parked with a sound installation of waves breaking on the seashore. Greenpeace wants to raise awareness to the citizens of Zeeland at the choice they can make when they can vote either for or against a second nuclear plant in the province.

Japan will push for resumption of commercial whaling at the International Whaling Commission meeting

AFP reports that the main players in the feud over whaling will be gathering today to decide weather a compromise can be met during the International Whaling Commission meeting held in Florida.

There have been clear tensions on the topic between Japan and Australia. Japanese Fisheries Minister has confirmed that Japan will push for resumption of commercial whaling. "This would take us right back to the 20th century of commercial whaling," said Phil Kline, oceans campaigner at Greenpeace USA. "And after a 10-year period of doing this, there is absolutely nothing beyond that, so it just opens up the floodgates again," Kline said.

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Posted by Teresa Belkow at 1:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

This is part of a trial series

The online version of Chinese People's Daily focused on the report published by Greenpeace "Counting the Costs of genetic engineering". Polls show that 84.3 percent of the 50,000 asked had no sense of security in GE food.

GE crops have continuously brought problems to farmers and the environment all over the world where they have been grown. Greenpeace in China has called on the relevant Chinese government departments to re-examine the commercialization of GE rice and maize.

An anti GE action took place in Berlin yesterday, where around 550 Greenpeace activists unfolded a large banner outside the Brandenburg Gate. The Berliner Zeitung reported that the message read "Nein - zu gen-planzen!" (No to genetic plants!). Read more about the most recent developments on the battle against GE here.

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Posted by Teresa Belkow at 11:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)