Greenpeace Blog

Turning Japanese retailers onto sustainable seafood

Posted by Willie — 3 September 2010 at 3:41pm - Comments

Handing out sustainable seafood guides on the streets of Tokyo (c) Sutton-Hibbert/Greenpeace

There's a common comment in this part of the world, often repeated on the internet especially, about sorting out the seafood problem: namely, we have to change minds in Japan.

Whilst it's a simplistic generalisation, there is a lot of truth in that. Seafood is a global commodity and a global problem. The big markets for seafood are (perhaps unsurprisingly) North America, Europe, and Asia.

Article tagged as: bluefin, global, japan, oceans, sustainable seafood, tuna

Tokyo Two: whaling, activism and human rights

Posted by jamie — 3 September 2010 at 10:54am - Comments

Junichi (right) and Toru (left) working on their defence during their trial (c) Sutton-Hibbert/Greenpeace

Two years ago, Junichi Sato and Toru Suzuki exposed a scandal involving government corruption entrenched within the tax-payer funded Japanese whaling industry. They are on trial for theft and trespass, and are awaiting the verdict due this coming Monday.

This will be the first blog Toru and I have written together, as up until recently our heavy bail restrictions have meant that we could not be in the same room or even talk to each other without a lawyer present.

The verdict in our trial is approaching, and on Monday 6 September we will know what our fate is. We don't really know what the result would be, all we know now is that it is going to show the status of Japanese democracy. It's a long way from where it was when this case started - our investigation to end Japan's whaling.

Article tagged as: activism, japan, oceans, tokyo two, whales, whaling

Video: Esperanza to climb team, over

Posted by jamie — 2 September 2010 at 3:46pm - Comments

This was the scene on the Esperanza's bridge as Luke called through to Sim on the Stena Don for the last time, as the climbers prepared to leave the oil rig. Apologies for the audio which is a bit fuzzy, but here's a transcript:

Article tagged as: arctic, cairn energy, climate change, esperanza, go beyond oil, oil, stena don, videos

We got it our way! Burger King ditches Sinar Mas palm oil

Posted by jamie — 2 September 2010 at 2:39pm - Comments

The independent audit which Sinar Mas thought would absolve it of deforestation, peatland clearance and law-breaking is now exploding in front of its face like a firework in a munitions factory.

Greenpeace campaigners and supporters in the US have been demanding that Burger King drops Sinar Mas as a supplier until the group commits to ending deforestation and yesterday it did just that, announcing that "the report has raised valid concerns about some of the sustainability practices of Sinar Mas' palm oil production and its impact on the rainforest".

Article tagged as: burger king, deforestation, forests, palm oil, sinar mas, successes

"Well, that was dramatic" - watching our activists from the ship

Posted by jamess — 2 September 2010 at 11:10am - Comments

Ben writes about this morning's events from the Esperanza...

Well, that was dramatic. Yesterday afternoon, the seas started churning and our huge banner on the oil rig was twisting and flapping as a gale blew up. I spoke to the four activists under rig and they assured me they were fine. They had self-heating meals and water and were still doing interviews, telling the world about Cairn Energy’s plans to spark an Arctic oil rush.

I kept eyeing the scene through the porthole in my cabin with concern. The swell was heaving and the lips of the waves were breaking white across the stretch of sea separating the Esperanza from the rig. The weather forecast on the screen on the bridge looked ominous – lots of grim symbols over the coast west of Greenland – while a quick duck outside had my eyes watering with the cold.

Article tagged as: arctic, cairn energy, climate change, esperanza, go beyond oil, greenland

New deep sea drilling is not only irrational, our lawyers say it's illegal too

Posted by jamess — 2 September 2010 at 9:34am - Comments

BP's Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico

Today our lawyers sent a letter to the UK government threatening legal action over their decision to continue giving licenses for deep sea oil drilling even before we know for certain the causes of the Deepwater Horizon explosion.

Article tagged as: BP, climate change, deepwater horizon, go beyond oil, offshore drilling

Our oil rig occupation has ended

Posted by lisavickers — 2 September 2010 at 7:44am - Comments

Picture of Sim yesterday morning on the rig

It’s five in the morning Greenland time and the last few hours have been quite insane. Last night, with the Espy pitching and rocking, and cups flying all over the place, we knew we had to get Timo, Meteusz, Sim and Jens off the rig. The worst of the Arctic weather was closing in, and their tiny tents were not going to be enough to keep them safe.

Our friends had to climb up onto the rig. Due to the strong winds it took them a bit more than four hours to get up there, and when they did they were met by police and taken peacefully into custody.

Article tagged as: arctic, cairn, esperanza, go beyond oil

Video: update direct from the oil rig

Posted by jamess — 1 September 2010 at 5:46pm - Comments

Watch Sim talk about his "relatively comfortable" night dangling off the underside of Cairn's Stena Don rig. Our four climbers are still on Cairn's rig, stopping the company from continuing its dangerous drilling in Arctic waters.

Hanging in there - we're still on the Arctic oil rig

Posted by jamess — 1 September 2010 at 10:04am - Comments

One of the Greenpeace climbers hanging from the oil rig Stena Don in the Arctic

Our four climbers have spent the night in sub-zero temperatures, hanging off the bottom of Cairn's Arctic oil rig - the Stena Don. While we're attached to the rig, Cairn Energy can't continue their reckless drilling.

For live updates visit www.GoBeyondOil.org

Article tagged as: arctic, cairn, drilling, go beyond oil

Video: evading navy boats and climbing up oil rigs

Posted by jamie — 31 August 2010 at 1:49pm - Comments

In the last couple of hours, we've received this footage from the Esperanza from this morning's daring occupation of the Stena Don, the oil rig operated by Cairn Energy. It shows just what an amazing feat the guys and gals there have pulled off, not least evading the Danish navy and scaling the oil rig legs.

Article tagged as: cairn energy, climate change, go beyond oil, oil, stena don, videos

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