The Rainbow Warrior has arrived in Doha, Qatar - to challenge the World Trade Organisation (WTO) at its 4th ministerial conference. The Greenpeace flagship has sailed for nearly two months to reach Qatar, carrying an international crew.
No Environmental Trade-Off is the message that we bring, to any WTO member states considering U.S. and E.U. proposals for a new round of trade liberalisation.
The WTO must take into consideration social and environmental concerns before pushing to expand 'free trade'. Member states should respect existing international environmental agreements, and agree to a ban on the patent of life forms. They must reject all proposals for a new round of trade liberalisation.
No New Round Radio will broadcast independent media coverage of the WTO meeting, from 9th to 13th November, via the Internet, from The Rainbow Warrior. Wherever you are in the world, you can listen to alternative seminars, press conferences, testimonies and analysis - in English, Arabic, French and Spanish ﾖ and discover the frightening reality of the WTO agenda.
Local witnesses of the devastating environmental and social impact of WTO policies on communities around the world will also be speaking, from the Rainbow Warrior, about their personal experiences.
Ngarlejy Yorongar is an activist and politician from Chad who was brutally tortured for his opposition to the Chadian oil sell-off. Zeina Al-Hajj is an environmental campaigner from Lebanon, struggling to prevent her country from becoming a refuse site for Western waste. Thomas Kocherry is a Jesuit priest, lawyer and campaigner from India, fighting for the livelihoods of local fisher people. Tom Wiley is a farmer from the USA, suffering crop contamination from GM soybeans. Dave Batker is an economist, also from the USA.
The international Greenpeace delegation includes Gerd Leipold, the Greenpeace International Executive Director, Remi Parmentier, Political Director, and representatives from Greenpeace in France, the United States, Canada, Brazil, Lebanon and Germany.
"The WTO must stop promoting free trade at all costs," said Remi Parmentier, from the ship. "If in six days time there has been no new round, this meeting will have been a success, because it will force the WTO to change."
