NETWORKNewsletter for Greenpeace activists December 2008/January 2009

www.greenpeace.org.uk/active

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Activists take direct action to stop tuna fishing with destructive purse seine nets in an area of the Pacific that Greenpeace hasmarked out as a marine reserve.

Crew spray water to stop a Greenpeace activist taking direct actionagainst a tanker carrying 27,000 metric tonnes of crude palm oil.

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Tides of changeWillie Mackenzie, oceans campaign

Overfishing, destructive fishing practices and whaling continue to threaten theworld’s oceans. During 2008, Greenpeace took action to tackle unsustainable tunafishing and continued our work to bring an end to commercial whaling.

At the start of the year, we launched our Seafood See Life work. Celebrity chefs includingRaymond Blanc and Tom Aikens signed up to the campaign and we have been workingwith them to ensure that other key chefs, suppliers and restaurants understand andpromote the importance of sourcing seafood sustainably and supporting marine reserves.

Our work to stop overfishing for tuna continued throughout 2008. Internationally, theEsperanza and the Arctic Sunrise have been taking direct action to stop tuna fishing inthe Mediterranean and the Pacific. We also closed down tuna stalls at the Brusselsseafood industry Expo to stop them from promoting unsustainably fished tuna.

Back in the UK, we succeeded in convincing the organisers of the International SushiAwards in London to remove endangered bluefin tuna from the event’s menu. Greenpeaceactivists outside celebrity hangout Nobu sushi restaurant in London demanded that theytake endangered bluefin tuna off the menu. Although they have so far only agreed tolabel any bluefin on the menu as endangered, we will continue to work to get it off themenu completely. In the meantime, at least customers can order something different.

At the lower end of the market, Greenpeace tackled tinned tuna. Our league table rankedthe major tuna brands sold in the UK, revealing John West as worst. Many currentfishing practices for the skipjack tuna that ends up in tins, endangers juvenile and bluefintuna, sharks, rays and turtles, all of which get caught in huge indiscriminate nets calledpurse seines. We have been meeting with John West to get them to change their policies.

Our work to stop whaling started off successfully at the start of the year as we pursuedwhaling ship the Nisshin Maru in the Southern Ocean, stopping it from killing about 100whales. Then in May, two Greenpeace activists revealed that crew from the Japanesefactory ship were illegally selling the best meat cuts from its so called scientific research.Back on land, the scandal made whaling front page news, forcing Japan’s Prime Ministerto publicly defend whaling. The most outrageous part of the story is that the campaignerswho uncovered the scandal were arrested for stealing the evidence and face trial. Wewill be working hard to ensure that this trial, expected either this winter or in the spring,frees the two activists from jail, but also that it puts whaling itself on trial, forcing theJapanese government to bow to pressure to stop commercial whaling for good.

Forest newsMariana Paoli, forest campaign

Since Greenpeace exposed how palm oil is drivingdeforestation in Indonesia, we have managed to getUnilever, the largest global user of the commodity,to support a moratorium on further destruction ofIndonesia’s rainforests and peatlands for palm oil.We have yet to see the moratorium implemented,so we will keep working with Unilever and othercompanies to build a coalition to stop deforestationand will be pressuring them to cancel contractswith their worst suppliers. We will also exposecompanies that fail to support the moratorium.

In the Amazon, having successfully extended thesoya moratorium for a third year, we will begin tolook towards another driver of deforestation,cattle ranching. We will be putting pressure onBrazil’s government to agree ambitious targets toreduce deforestation.

Greenpeace’s new office in the Democratic Republicof the Congo (DRC) opened in November. We willbe focusing on supporting the new office in itswork to stop forest destruction and its devastatingimpacts on the DRC’s people and the climate.

In the run up to the UN Copenhagen climateconference in December 2009, Greenpeace will beusing our Forests for Climate proposal to helpdeliver an effective system to secure internationalfunding to protect tropical forests. We will beworking to build support for a strong deal withpoliticians, corporations and other NGOs. One ofthe most critical is ensuring that rich, industrialisedcountries like the UK fund forest protection as wellas, not instead of, reducing their emissions at home.

We will also work to ensure that the UKgovernment supports strong EU legislation to stoptimber from illegal and unsustainable logging cominginto Europe. So lots of work ahead. Watch thisspace for what you can do on these issues in 2009.

INTERNATIONAL

El Jones, Network co-ordinator forBirmingham and the Black Country

How did you first get involved withGreenpeace?I’ve been interested in environmentalism for along time – it was always part of my family life.Then, about a year ago, I was invited along tothe local Greenpeace group by a friend. I wasimmediately inspired to get more involved anddo something.

What were your best moments during thatfirst year?Definitely the Dove campaign! Getting out onthe streets and talking to people and takingphotos of them to show their outrage at Dovewas really inspiring. People were keen to getinvolved and join us in demanding that Unilever,the company that owns Dove, stops trashing theIndonesian rainforest for palm oil. And there wasthe CAT (Centre for Alternative Technology)skillshare weekend too. It was great to meetGreenpeace active supporters of all ages and hearreally good and challenging presentations on someof the latest climate science and forestcampaigns. Another good thing this year wasgoing over to Telford – birthplace of the industrialrevolution – to support local campaign groupTANC, Telford Against New Coal.

What are your plans for 2009?The thing that I most want to do in 2009 is tomake a real difference. I really want to raisethe profile of Greenpeace locally, draw in a lotmore activists and build on our core group ofactive supporters so that we are ready forcampaigning on the streets or wherever action isneeded in 2009.

If you are interested in getting active inBirmingham and the Black Country, youcan get in contact with El directly atgreentreewarrior@hotmail.co.uk

SPOTLIGHT

El is looking forward to an active 2009.

Heathrow: decision timeAnita Goldsmith, climate campaign

The year started with Greenpeace exposing the government’s fixed consultation onHeathrow expansion back in January. A dismal start to the year perhaps, but it shows usjust show far we have come in 2008 following a year of direct action and hard work.

In February, four Greenpeace volunteers grounded a British Airways London toManchester flight at Heathrow, wrapping a ‘Climate Emergency, No third runway’ banneraround the tailfin. That night, over 2000 people attended a rally at Westminster CentralHall, opposing the Government’s plans. And the ‘Make a Noise’ carnival in April saw over3000 people, from babies to pensioners, march around the perimeter of Heathrowairport in opposition to expansion. They then spelt out a giant human NO in Sipson, thevillage that will be bulldozed if the third runway goes ahead.

By working closely with local authorities and residents, as well as NGOs and MPs, wehave made huge progress. The recent Parliamentary Heathrow debate showed that theGovernment is now isolated in its support for the aviation industry. The oppositionparties and, increasingly, businesses are calling for a rethink on aviation policy.

In 2009, aviation expansion will continue to be central to the debate on how to makethe changes necessary to tackle climate change. If aviation is allowed to expand, it willbe impossible to meet the government’s new target of an 80% reduction in emissionsby 2050. With the decision on expansion of Heathrow due any day now, the imminentpublic inquiry over Stansted and increasing pressure to review the aviation White Paper,Greenpeace will be at the heart of the ongoing campaign, so be ready to get active.

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Cover: Climbers scale the Bank of England calling for Alistair Darling to kick start the economy by investing in a new greenindustrial revolution.Above: Greenpeace campaigners ground a domestic flight at Heathrow to oppose a third runway.

Banking on green investmentRobin Oakley, climate campaign

With an immediate global financial crisis on everybody’s minds, ensuring that the longerterm climate crisis remains a priority is of utmost importance. On the morning of theChancellor’s pre-budget report, four Greenpeace activists scaled the walls of the Bank ofEngland to tell the government that the long term solutions to the economic crisis are alsothe solutions we need to tackle climate change.

The UK needs a clean energy economy. Renewable energy and energy efficiency arewhere the jobs of the future are being created. The government needs to bring itselfup to date by kick starting clean energy in the UK to help pull this country out of arecession and tackle climate change at the same time.

Canonbury Villas London N1 2PN t 020 7865 8100 f 020 7865 8200 www.greenpeace.org.uk

Simon Clydesdale, policy and solutions unit

Throughout 2008, Greenpeace worked to shapethe Energy and Climate Change Bills, respondedto consultations, promoted solutions with newreports, lobbyiedMPs and MEPs, talkedtodecisionmakers on the Rainbow Warrior andpushed for change at party conference climateclinics. We also won an award from MPs andLords for ‘best environmental communicatorswith Parliamentarians’.

Both opposition parties are now against a thirdrunway at Heathrow and advocate anEmissions Performance Standard ruling outnew unabated coal. The full impact ofunsustainable biofuels is also now firmly in thepolitical consciousness.

Creating Ed Miliband’s new Department of Energyand Climate Change (DECC) is a long overduemove, but it remains to be seen if he can deliverpositive and sustainable energy solutions.

Greenpeace’s work within Europe this year hasprioritised ensuring that the UK governmentkeeps EU energy and car emissions legislation asstrong as possible.

Politics at the end of 2008 is transformedfrom the beginning of the year. Bush is onhis way out and UK polls are narrowing.International agreements and target setting willnot deliver change, but political will andpractical action can. In 2009 we will continueto push for the solutions needed to combatclimate change.

Activists prepare for a peaceful flotilla at Kingsnorth. The flotilla carries the flags representing 30 countries, the combinedemissions of which are equal to the expected CO2 emissions from E.On’s proposed new coal power station at the site.

CONTACT DETAILSgetactive@uk.greenpeace.org

Rachael King020 7865 8174rachael.king@uk.greenpeace.org

Jo Melzack (Scotland, North England& Northern Ireland) 0161 448 1929jo.melzack@uk.greenpeace.org

Malcolm Carroll (West)020 7865 8172malcolm.carroll@uk.greenpeace.org

Richard Martin (South England)020 7865 8178richard.martin@uk.greenpeace.org

ACTIVE SUPPORTER NETWORK OVERVIEWGreenpeace’s active supporter network is made upof network coordinators, local networks andindividual active supporters. Today we have 106Network Coordinators, 92 networks and 24,037active supporters.

TALKING POLITICS

Progress for clean energyJim Footner, climate campaign

At the start of 2008, the government was on the verge of consenting to the first of anew generation of coal-fired power stations at Kingsnorth in Kent. A lot has changed.Greenpeace has spent the year tirelessly lobbying ministers and opposition leaders toconvince them that giving the go ahead for new unabated coal would ruin the UK’s chanceof taking real action on climate change. A wide and powerful coalition now exists – peopleunited in their concern about climate change and support for clean energy solutions.

In March, we disrupted the coal industry’s annual conference to tell them the real effect ofcoal on the climate. Then, six Greenpeace activists were charged with criminal damage byshutting down Kingsnorth power station. Following evidence from the world’s leading climatescientist, Professor Jim Hansen of NASA and Conservative candidate Zac Goldsmith, thejury concluded that their actions to prevent emissions, and therefore the damage causedby climate change, were justifiable. Shockwaves from this decision are still being felt.

The new Energy and Climate Change department in government gives us real hopethat the government will finally take on board advice from the likes of Hansen,Professor Nicolas Stern, the Environment Agency, The Sustainable DevelopmentCommission and The Royal Society – and say no to Kingsnorth.

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Do you live near a proposed new coal-fired power station or coal mine?Find your local independent coal campaigning group at http://leaveitintheground.org.uk

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GET ACTIVE!

The volunteers who made it happenRichard Martin, active supporter unit

The Rainbow Warrior’s recent Give Coal the Boot tour included receptions for politicians,open boat days for supporters, direct action at Kingsnorth power station, fundraisingevents, a Kent climate impacts tour and an NGO joint declaration on coal.

The passion, skills and enthusiasm of over 200 volunteers enabled us to work withinfluential individuals near Kingsnorth, high level political figures in Westminster andstrengthen opposition to new unabated coal. Open boat days attracted over 3500visitors, raised £12,000 and brought renewed enthusiasm to the Southend network.