One wears an impeccably tailored navy blue suit. The other sports a giraffe-print dashiki shirt. Meet the renewable-energy odd couple, the environmental activist and his onetime target, the chief of Italy’s largest utility. A year ago, Kumi Naidoo, the head of Greenpeace International, and Francesco Starace were sworn enemies, after the group said Enel SpA’s coal plants … [Read more...]
Scientists alarmed about ‘seismic blasting’ in the Arctic Ocean
Firing seismic airguns to find new oil reserves in the Arctic Ocean is ‘alarming’ and could seriously injure whales and other marine life, according to a new scientific review. The oil industry is increasingly looking towards the region as climate change melts large areas of Arctic sea ice. A Norwegian company operating off east Greenland recently began firing airguns that … [Read more...]
Will you join Pope Francis in the call for climate action?
Reacting to the Pope's Encyclical on the environment, Michael O’Brien Onyeka, Executive Director at Greenpeace Africa, said: "Greenpeace welcomes the valuable intervention of Pope Francis in humanity's common struggle to prevent catastrophic climate change. This first encyclical on the environment brings the world a step closer to that tipping point where we abandon fossil … [Read more...]
G7 calls for end to fossil fuel use by 2100
G7 leaders are committed to a goal of limiting the rise in average global temperatures to 2°C compared to pre-industrial levels, German Chancellor Angela Merkel says. German Chancellor Angela Merkel says the Group of Seven wealthy democracies have agreed that the world should phase out the use of fossil fuels by the end of this century. Ms. Merkel said on Monday that the … [Read more...]
Seattle ‘kayak-tivists’ take on Arctic oil drilling
Hundreds of kayakers in Seattle were preparing to go and “shake their paddles” in protest at a newly arrived 400ft long, 355ft tall Royal Dutch Shell oil rig on Saturday, with hundreds – perhaps thousands – more scheduled to attend on dry land. Kayakers, or “kayaktivists”, as they have sought to rebrand themselves, will be splashing their oars in Seattle’s port to protest … [Read more...]
Dirty coal shown red card by India’s Supreme Court
Green activists on Wednesday cheered the Supreme Court's decision to cancel 214 coal blocks across many states in India and urged the government to spare forest areas from mining while auctioning new blocks in future. Stating that the "dirty coal is shown the red card today", Greenpeace India that has been protesting against clearances to the Mahan coal blocks of Madhya … [Read more...]
Stop Eskom’s mega pollution application!
Right now Eskom is attempting to bypass pollution laws designed to protect our health. At some coal plants, Eskom is hoping to pump out eight times more pollution than the legal limit. Eskom says complying with the law would cost them too much, and that its coal plants don't affect human health – a claim that even Eskom's own research has rubbished. Findings show that … [Read more...]
Greenpeace ship returns to warm welcome
Greenpeace's Arctic Sunrise ship arrived home to a warm welcome in The Netherlands on Saturday, almost a year after it was seized by Russia during a protest against Arctic oil drilling. "It's great to have her back," veteran Greenpeace skipper Pete Willcox, who captained the Arctic Sunrise at the time of the seizure, told AFP by telephone. "We were missing a big member of … [Read more...]
Joining forces to protest Arctic seismic testing
Greenpeace and the Inuit have joined forces to protest Arctic seismic testing, warning that plans to gauge oil and gas reserves with high-intensity sound waves in Baffin Bay and the Davis Strait pose grave dangers to marine life. Inuit activists are staging a protest Wednesday in Nunavut's Clyde River, a tiny Baffin Island hamlet just above the Arctic Circle, a week after … [Read more...]
Deforestation in Indonesia ‘highest in the world’
The rate of deforestation in Indonesia is now the highest in the world, alleges the journal Nature Climate Change. The study claims Indonesia lost 840,000 hectares of forest in 2012 compared to 460,000 hectares in Brazil. In response, Forest Campaigner at Greenpeace Southeast Asia, Yuyun Indradi, said: “These findings are an urgent wake up call. Forest destruction is driving … [Read more...]
Great Barrier Reef mega ports approved
Five mega ports will be allowed along the Queensland coast, Australia, mainly in areas near the Great Barrier Reef. Abbot Point, one of the world's biggest coal terminals, has been declared a port development priority area. The declaration comes only six months after green groups lost a battle to stop 3m cubic metres of dredge spoil from being dumped in the reef marine … [Read more...]
UN Climate Talks kick off in Bonn
The UN Climate Talks got underway in Bonn Wednesday with negotiations re-opening on the design of the 2015 agreement and finding ways to raise the current level of global ambition to address climate change in the near-term. Meetings and negotiations around the UNFCCC’s ongoing work in its subsidiary, and a series of workshops, high-level meetings and special events also kicked … [Read more...]
Indonesian forest fire solution far from reality
Peatlands are perhaps the world’s most critical carbon stores and are typically saturated with water, but become prone to fire when cleared and drained for industrial scale plantations for palm oil and pulp and paper. Protecting Indonesia’s carbon rich peatlands is key to reducing the chance of fires responsible for the Haze Wave, but there is still no legal protection of … [Read more...]
