April 2010

Nestlé's AGM has broken up and, while shareholders feasted on cup-a-soups and instant noodles (I kid you not), I spoke to Ian and Pat, two of our campaigners who spent all afternoon in the meeting.

According to Ian, the moment our banners popped down was perfectly timed. Nestlé's chair, Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, was explaining how well the company had performed over the last fiscal year when noises were heard up in the roof and leaflets began raining down, not at all unlike a shower of cash. The shrieks from those of a nervous disposition as the two banners were unfurled only added to the excitement.

In the latest addition to our Cut Trident video wall, comedian and impressionist extraordinaire Alistair McGowan muses on alternative ways to spend the £97bn that the government is currently planning to blow on new nuclear weapons.

As well as having Greenpeace people in the audience at Nestlé's AGM, we also had a couple of people in a more elevated position - in the rafters of the Lausanne Capitale Olympique, where a couple of climbers were waiting to drop a banner and a cascade of leaflets. According to Ian who's been texting me from the meeting, "everybody shrieked" when the banner dropped.

Meanwhile, outside our orang-utans were being dragged away by the police. Surely they're 'armless?

You've emailed, called and sent Easter cards but Nestle have simply not taken enough action to stop buying palm oil and other products from those companies destroying Indonesia's rainforests. So today we're asking you to send messages in to the heart of their annual general meeting in Switzerland where the shareholders will be gathered.

Add your message on Twitter (make sure you include a #nestle tag) or comment in the window below - our campaigners and activists at the AGM are directing shareholders to see your messages on our website.

For many people it seems that 'tuna' is synonymous with 'sushi'. And there's certainly no doubt that the demand for high quality tuna to feed the fashionable sushi restaurant demand has had a devastating impact on some tuna populations. None more so than bluefin tuna.

Both the Atlantic and Southern bluefin species are in dire trouble, trouble caused by overfishing, to satisfy a demand for the fatty red belly meat in expensive sushi, sold as 'toro'. It's a demand that has led to a fishing frenzy, in places like the Mediterranean , over the past few decades. It's a frenzy that has trampled over artisanal fishing methods and harvested bluefin tuna with little or no regard to the scientific advice, or the law. They are fisheries that have been so spectacularly mismanaged, it's not even laughable.

Today, in my inbox, was a letter from Whiskas parent group, Mars, gleefully telling us Greenpeace folk how committed they were to sustainability, saving the oceans, and other such buzzwords. The tone of the letter suggests a smug grin that would make the Cheshire Cat jealous. It goes on to tell us how they are, like, so committed, that they will be working with the Marine Stewardship Council and by the end of 2010 the MSC logo will be adorning fishy-flavoured packs of Whiskas and Sheba catfood.

A guest post from Laura at our international office in Amsterdam which was first posted on the Climate Rescue blog

Early on Sunday a fire destroyed part of the Climate Defenders Camp in Indonesia on Riau’s Kampar Peninsula. The flames were spotted by villagers across the Kampar river in Teluk Meranti in the early hours of the morning. Luckily the camp's caretaker was not there at the time and no one was injured.

Greenpeace volunteers monkey around outside Nestlé's headquarters in Jakarta © Abyan/Greenpeace

It's three weeks since we launched our Nestlé campaign and, thanks to the fantastic support we've received, it's going from strength to strength. Nestlé's Facebook page is still dominated by questions about where the company gets its palm oil from. It seems that every attempt by their admins to change topic is another opportunity to turn the conversation back to deforestation linked to palm oil and other ethically questionable practices. Meanwhile, our our Kit Kat video has sailed past an incredible 1.1m views.

But what's going on in Indonesia? After all, that's where the forests we're trying to protect are located. Well, the work our Indonesian team are doing is somewhat different. Rather than focusing mainly on a large consumer company, they're tackling suppliers directly, and challenging the government of Indonesia about deforestation.

The email updates coming from our colleagues in Jakarta show that we're having an effect in political circles.