Kumi

Volunteers: the soul of Greenpeace

Here's a post from Dietlind Lerner, one of our Communications Managers:

One of the best things about my job at Greenpeace International is getting to work on communications with our new International Executive Kumi Naidoo. Kumi is a natural leader who is happy to give advice - but also to take it thereby giving all of us a real sense of belonging to something big and important. As part of his job, Kumi spends a good part of his time meeting with business leaders and politicians, which is of course essential to the work we do. But my guess is that what Kumi prefers to do is meet with Greenpeace staff, volunteers, and supporters. Kumi was 15 when he first became politically active by joining the struggle to end Apartheid. Since then he has gone on to found new Non Governmental Organisations and join various national and international civil society organisations; his entire adult life has been about volunteering and being an activist. "It is the good men and women who dedicate themselves to doing the right thing and making the right choices who will decide the future of our planet" he often says. And so with every trip he takes, Kumi asks me if it’s possible for him to meet field staff, office personnel and volunteers. I often get email of thanks after these meetings, but have never been to one myself. For this reason I was very happy to receive this video of Kumi's visit to a Greenpeace Germany supporter event. I'd like to share it with you:

Posted by Brian at 1:12 PM | Permalink

TODAY: Brown blames COP-Flop on China, US; Mexican cars take a dive and Climate heroes spend Christmas in jail

This the first in a trial series

Unsurprisingly, the biggest story in environment and Greenpeace news this week has been the disappointing outcome of the COP15 summit as major NGOs are turning focus on Mexico in 2010. Only US media seems careful to judge the summit as harshly as the European Press.

There are some interesting new names for the Copenhagen summit floating around in the media. Which was first Hopenhagen is now Flopenhagen or Brokenhagen in French media.

L'Express reports that the last two weeks have seen "45000 accreditations, 12 days of negotiations and 46,200 tonnes of carbon only to lead to "a crime against humanity" the major NGOs have turned to Mexico in 2010, are angry after the flop of Copenhagen." Kumi Naidoo was quoted saying, The Copenhagen Accord has "holes so big you could cross them with the Air Force One!"

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Posted by Anne-Marije at 11:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

From yes we can to yes we have

Posted by Brian at 12:01 PM | Permalink

Congratulations on a well-deserved award

Congratulatations to René Ngongo, who receives the Right Livelihood Award (otherwise known as the "Alternative Nobel Prize") in Stockholm this evening. While we all hope we'd be ready to put our personal freedoms on the line for something we really believe in - like averting dramatic climate change - René was put to that test and passed.

During the civil wars that ravaged the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), René turned down several opportunities to leave the country. "Millions of people in the DRC count on the forests for their livelihood", René has said of his decision to remain. "I knew that if we didn't manage to protect the forests there could never be real peace because people would be left without homes, food and jobs."

René has worked tirelessly with grass roots organisations to save the forests from industrial loggers by helping communities to understand their rights. He has also created programs to give locals tools to fight "slash and burn" agriculture and develop income alternatives for local farmers.

René s skill at political negotiations, his expertise in forest conservation and his ability to work with people from all walks of life, have made him not only one of the foremost environmental leaders in DRC and Africa, but in the world, as evidenced by this prestigious award.

René likes to say that this award is for all of those in Congolese Civil Society who have continued to work for change under difficult conditions. Just days before the beginning of the UN Copenhagen Climate Summit, René's Right Livelihood Award signals the critical importance of saving the world’s forests, not only for the people who depend on them, but also for their role in averting catastrophic climate change.

Thank you René for making us all proud to be part of Greenpeace.

Posted by Kumi at 1:33 PM | Permalink

I am because you are

In several African languages we have the proverb “I am, because you are”. This means that your sense of being a human being is determined by the relationships you have with other people. This proverb has informed not only my thinking about human relationships, but also about nature and the environment. Unless we recognise that we must come together in communities, in rich and poor countries and cut across the range of divides that keep us apart, unless we recognise that we are all in this together, we will not be able to address the environmental challenges that we face and we certainly will not be able to address the problem of climate change.

Today we are at the cross roads. The future of our planet is at stake. The effects of climate change are being felt by millions of people across the world. We are at a time when civil society needs to be courageous and bold, peaceful and principled in coming together to ensure that we stop catastrophic climate change – the biggest challenge our planet has ever faced.

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Posted by Brian at 9:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (22)