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Greenpeace Blog

Ever wanted to stop an oil rig?

Posted by jamess — 3 November 2010 at 2:01pm - Comments

Now's your chance to stop an oil rig. Well, quite a few really.

Right now, in the corridors of Brussels, our politicians and civil servants are haggling over our future. Specifically the future of our oil consumption.

We know the vast majority of oil is used in transport, and that's why the forthcoming European decisions on emissions targets for vans and cars are so important to our Go Beyond Oil campaign.

Article tagged as: climate change, deep water, go beyond oil, oil

Sayonara, Nagoya: UN biodiversity summit closes

Posted by jamie — 1 November 2010 at 1:47pm - Comments

Nathalie Rey (pictured above briefing journalists) is an Amsterdam-based Oceans Policy Analyst who led Greenpeace's delegation in Nagoya for the CBD. She is the proud mother of two daughters, an avid coffee drinker and a surprised fan of Japanese food.

After two weeks of negotiations, this Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) has concluded and not without some last-minute drama. Unsurprisingly, a lot of the contentious issues were left to the last day. Delegates, media and observers were told that the Friday afternoon plenary discussion was to begin at 3pm. That meant that the 197 nations gathered here would have to agree a new Protocol, decide the future of protected areas on land and at sea and sign off on a new Strategic Plan for the CBD all in less than three hours.

For all of you out there who haven't sat through these talks for the past two weeks, I assure you that this seemed like an impossible feat when they announced it on Thursday.

Article tagged as: biodiversity, CBD, japan, marine reserves, oceans

How our Nestle campaign travelled around the web

Posted by jamie — 28 October 2010 at 2:20pm - Comments

Sinar Mas influence map

The Sinar Mas influence map by Salter Baxter

Is it a tube map for spiders? A diagram of the galactic core? No, it's an analysis of our ongoing Sinar Mas campaign, specifically the way it has evolved online.

Communication consultants Salter Baxter have tracked how our campaigns on Nestlé, HSBC, Burger King and their connections to Sinar Mas have been discussed on the web, how those conversations have interacted and what impact they've had on the campaign itself.

Article tagged as: deforestation, forests, indonesia, nestle, sinar mas, social media

Scientists criticise claims by logging and palm oil industry mouthpieces

Posted by jamie — 27 October 2010 at 10:25am - Comments

Scientists are objecting to claims made by industry lobby groups, including the amount of carbon stored in plantations compared to rainforests © Greenpeace/Behring-Chisholm

Big oil companies are not the only ones to engage in a spot of sneaky zeitgeist manipulation. The palm oil, paper and timber companies of South East Asia are also dabbling in these dark arts with various front organisations softly massaging public and political opinion.

Both Sinar Mas and Rimbunan Hijau - a Malaysian agribusiness giant - have strong links to Alan Oxley, who runs two groups, the World Growth Institute (WGI) thinktank and consultants ITS Global, both of which have been lobbying hard on behalf of their corporate benefactors.

Article tagged as: alan oxley, APP, deforestation, forests, indonesia, ITS global, rainforests, ribunan hijau, sinar mas, WGI

Cairn fails to find Arctic oil

Posted by jamess — 26 October 2010 at 3:41pm - Comments

One of Cairn's tugs, towing an iceberg out the way of its Arctic oil rig

Bing. Email received. Cairn Energy sent its “Greenland Operational Update” this morning at 7.05am with news to investors of its Arctic drilling. Despite its best efforts to put a positive spin on the news, the important words stood out:

“Plugged”, and “abandoned” for its first two drill sites. “Primary objectives were not reached” for number three, with “further re-entry work depending on the results of further evaluation”.

The media were more blunt, with headlines saying “Cairn Energy fails in Arctic oil drilling”.

Article tagged as: arctic, bill gammell, cairn, cairn energy, go beyond oil, oil spill

Greener TV gives Philips a boost in our latest electronics guide

Posted by jossc — 26 October 2010 at 10:36am - Comments

Philips have made progress in the latest version of our Guide to Greener Electronics - released today. The company's new Econova TV is the first on the market to be free of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and brominated flame retardants (BFRs), putting it well ahead of other TV manufacurers.

The guide ranks the 18 top manufacturers of personal computers, mobile phones, TVs and games consoles according to their policies on toxic chemicals, recycling and the climate impacts of their operations. There's also a detailed reports on each company's performance.

So just how green are big names such as Nokia, Microsoft, Sony and HP?

See full guide on our international site to find out »

Article tagged as: computers, green electronics guide, toxic chemicals

BP funding climate change deniers in US elections

Posted by jamess — 25 October 2010 at 2:18pm - Comments

In 2009, our US campaigners protested against Big Oil-funded spin which aimed to nobble the climate change debate

If you ever wanted to witness the grimy political hand of Big Oil, now's your chance: it's US mid-term election time.

The web of dirty money is global, with BP and other European companies complicit in funding climate change denier candidates for the US senate.

Article tagged as: climate change, go beyond oil, lobbying, us elections

Rainbow Warrior ordered out of Indonesia - rainforest destruction allowed to stay

Posted by bex — 25 October 2010 at 11:57am - Comments

Deforestation continues in Indonesia, as this image taken on 16 October of an area cleared for an Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) plantation shows (c) Sutton-Hibbert/Greenpeace

Being a part of a Greenpeace ship tour is never boring. Generally, you expect the unexpected, and then you're surprised. But even by ship tour standards, the Rainbow Warrior's recent 'tour' of Indonesia was an interesting one.

It started with high hopes that our peaceful campaigning ship would be able to support the Indonesian president's stated aims of ending deforestation in Indonesia. It ended with the Rainbow Warrior being denied vital supplies and being ordered - and escorted - out of Indonesian waters and well into international waters by two navy vessels, in breach of international maritime law.

Article tagged as: deforestation, forests, indonesia, palm oil, pulp and paper, rainbow warrior, rainforests, ships, sinar mas, sumatra

I've got criteria and I'm not afraid to use them!

Posted by jamie — 22 October 2010 at 5:50pm - Comments

Richard Page is an oceans campaigner with Greenpeace International, focusing on marine reserves and polar ecosystems. He currently has the pleasure of attending the UN's Convention on Biological Diversity meeting in Japan. 

So today is my last day in Nagoya doing my bit to try and make sure that the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) gathers momentum and that governments create a global network of marine reserves.  It is good to be in Japan again - the people of Nagoya seem especially friendly and helpful.

Two years ago, I was lucky enough to visit the Tokyo fish market at Tsukiji with Callum Roberts, the scientist with whom we worked to design the Greenpeace proposal for a global network of marine reserves and Daniel Pauly, who has done much to raise awareness of the dire consequences of overfishing.

Article tagged as: biodiversity, CBD, japan, oceans

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