All but four of the Arctic 30, arrested aboard a Greenpeace icebreaker two months ago, have now been granted bail by St Petersburg courts, and 11 of the 30 have actually been released. But so far none of the six Britons involved has been able to leave detention. On Thursday, Frank Hewetson, a 45-year-old logistics co-ordinator from north London, and Iain Rogers, a crew … [Read more...]
Dutch ask sea tribunal to release Greenpeace activists
The Netherlands asked an international court on Wednesday to order Russia to release 30 people detained during a Greenpeace protest against oil drilling in the Arctic at a tribunal Moscow refused to attend. Dutch government representative Liesbeth Lijnzaad said Russia had "violated the human rights" of the activists who tried to climb onto Russia's first offshore Arctic oil … [Read more...]
Renewable energy held up by politics
Renewable energy has proven itself and the government should move ahead swiftly with implementation, an environmental organisation has urged. "It has been proven that there are no technical or economic barriers to renewable energy, leaving only the lack of political will as a barrier to RE," Ruth Mhlanga, Greenpeace Africa Youth and solutions campaigner told News24. She … [Read more...]
Carving up the Arctic
An environmental organization with a $350 million war chest, a giant protest vessel, 28 activists and a rubber raft have succeeded in drawing Russian President Vladimir V. Putin into a very public global dispute. Attention is now focused on the Greenpeace activists—who were arrested last month by Coast Guard agents for trying to hang a protest banner on an Arctic Ocean oil … [Read more...]
Greenpeace bail appeals refused as Brazil President speaks out
Appeals for bail by lawyers for Phil Ball and Kieron Bryan, both British citizens, were refused last week by the Regional Court of Murmansk. Phil Ball is one of 28 Greenpeace International activists who were arrested by Russian special forces after a peaceful protest at an Arctic oil rig operated by Gazprom. Kieron Bryan is a freelance videographer who was contracted by … [Read more...]
Eskom Gets an F for Science
Today in Stockholm, the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released the first installment of its Fifth Assessment Report (AR5). This report focuses on the science of climate change and provides further proof that human activities, through the production of greenhouse gases, are the cause of climate change. Burning coal for the generation of electricity is a leading … [Read more...]
A bike ride to save the Arctic
On September 15th, 80 cities across the globe will be participating in a historic event to help save the Arctic. As the Arctic ice is melting to record lows, oil companies see this melting, not as a warning, but as an opportunity for oil exploration and drilling. Oil spills will be impossible to clean up in the Arctic’s harsh, fragile environment. We are asking for … [Read more...]
U.S. Palm Oil Plantation Endangers Chimps in Cameroon
Endangered chimpanzees, other primates and forest elephants could lose stretches of their habitat in Cameroon if a U.S. company’s plan to establish a palm oil plantation goes ahead. Based in New York City, Herakles Farms, known as SG Sustainable Oils in Cameroon, has claimed that its palm oil project in Cameroon’s Southwest Region would convert an area of little conservation … [Read more...]
Safe drilling in the far North “a fantasy”
Commenting on Monday's ruling by a federal judge in Anchorage that Shell's oil spill plans for drilling in Alaska's Beaufort and Chukchi seas don't violate environmental laws, Greenpeace International Arctic campaigner Ben Ayliffe said: "Even a cursory glance at Shell's oil spill response plans shows that the company could not deal with an accident in these remote and … [Read more...]
Help save our tuna
Tuna is in trouble. It's is one of the world’s favourite fish, and the staple protein of millions, but it is overfished globally. The statistics are grim: 3/4 of the world's fish stocks are being harvested faster than they can reproduce. Ninety percent of all large predatory fish – including tuna, sharks, swordfish, cod and halibut – are gone. Scientists predict that if … [Read more...]
Volunteers work towards a sustainable future
Agog at the variety of participation in unifying Greenpeace’s Switch on the Sun, Renewable Energy (RE) campaign, here is a profile on the volunteers at Greenpeace. Since they come from diverse academic backgrounds such as law, engineering, literature, management, they brought in a potpourri of ideas to successfully awaken, enlighten and jerk people into saving the … [Read more...]
Gezi Park: a historic defence of democracy
"Find out just what people will submit to and you have found out the exact amount of injustice and wrong that will be imposed upon them." – Frederick Douglass, American ex-slave civil rights leader. The citizens of Istanbul now appear in control of Gezi Park, protecting one of the last and most treasured green spaces in Istanbul from conversion to a shopping mall. The … [Read more...]
Campaign Against BRAI Bill and GM crops launched in India
New Delhi, 25th June: The Coalition for a GM Free India along with various farmer unions, national political parties and diverse social and environmental movements, including Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan, Greenpeace-India, India Against Corruption, Bharat Swabhiman Trust, Volunteers for a Better India etc launched a nation-wide campaign demanding that the Biotechnology … [Read more...]
