July 2009

With around 80 per cent of fish stocks in trouble, species driven to extinction and ecosystems on the brink of collapse, it's time to rethink how we harvest our oceans. This new video shows how Greenpeace has been encouraging retailers to clean up their seafood shelves - by switching to a sustainable seafood sourcing policy they can change the world's fisheries and help to protect the world's oceans.

*Bluefin sushi will only be available for a limited period because bluefin will soon be extinct. © Ultimate Holding Company / Greenpeace

Bluefin tuna is an endangered species, and it's the oceanic equivalent of a tiger, rhino, or panda - yet it is still being served up as expensive sushi in restaurants. In London alone, there are dozens of venues serving up bluefin, although the celebrity hang-out Nobu is probably the most high-profile culprit.

Our politicians have failed on bluefin tuna, they ignore the scientific warnings, and continue to set quotas that are then ignored by the fishermen.

If we want to stop bluefin from becoming extinct in just a few years then we need to take action now.

This piece by Greenpeace UK executive director John Sauven first appeared on Comment Is Free.

Against the backdrop of the worldwide economic downturn, it is ironic that the area often said to have the least business certainty, the renewables sector, is one of the few success stories. Globally this industry is bucking the trends, creating millions of new green jobs, increasing countries' energy independence and reducing climate-changing emissions. So it is scandalous that the CBI should come out attacking the prime minister and the climate change secretary Ed Miliband's commitment to boosting this industry in Britain just days before the launch of a fresh government initiative.

Day two on the coal occupation in Italy. In Marghera, near Venice, the occupation continues, with activists on the coal conveyor and the chimney painting 'G8: LEAD OR LOSE'. More activists are also occupying the cranes on the wharf, stopping a coal ship – the Bulk Brasil – from unloading its cargo from South Africa.

Tell Ed Miliband what you'll do if he consents a new dirty coal plant at Kingsnorth in Kent: Sign up for The Big If

If you've ever tried to convince people down the pub about wind power and how it can help steer us away from climate catastrophe, you'll be familiar with the arguments used to dismiss it. The technology is too expensive; electricity bills will rocket; and (one that's often tripped me up) what happens when the wind stops blowing and the lights go out?

If that's the case, then for your next pub discussion arm yourself with a new study by energy analyst David Milborrow which successfully trounces all those claims and more. A joint commission by Greenpeace, WWF, RSPB and Friends of the Earth, it's being launched in advance of the government's renewable energy strategy that is expected next week.