about

Our impact

Last edited 9 December 2010 at 6:35pm

Our first campaign - to stop nuclear testing - eventually led to The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. Since then, with the support of 2.8 million people worldwide, we’ve won hundreds of successes in our campaigns for a greener and more peaceful world.

Our successes

Greenpeace in the 2010s

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Russia puts an end to nuclear waste shipments; the biggest, most ambitious forest conservation deal ever is announced; Nestlé agrees to stop purchasing palm oil from sources which destroy Indonesian rainforests; plans for a third runway at Heathrow airport are axed; Europe bans the trade in illegal timber; the occupation of oil rigs and ships in the Arctic and the UK - and we're only just getting started...

Activists occupy the Stena Don oil-rig in the Arctic. © Greenpeace.

Greenpeace in the 1990s

Last edited 25 September 2010 at 8:35am

Winning a permanent, world-wide ban on dumping radioactive and industrial wastes at sea; the protection of Antarctica World Park for 50 years; more victories on CFCs and toxics; the start of our climate change campaigns; the launches of Greenfreeze fridges and fuel-efficient Renault Twingos; the establishment of an Antarctic whale sanctuary; the adoption of Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty; and the adoption of the Kyoto protocol. 

Police remove an activist from a railway blockade, in which Greenpeace successfully stopped a trainload of chemicals as part of a campaign against CFC's. 1992. © Greenpeace / Jaap Rumping.

Our history

Last edited 9 December 2010 at 6:39pm

In 1971, motivated by their vision of a green and peaceful world, a small team of activists set sail from Vancouver, Canada, in an old fishing boat. These activists, the founders of Greenpeace, believed a few individuals could make a difference. 


Crew of the Phyllis Cormack on the first Greenpeace voyage (Vancouver to Amchitka) in 1971. © Greenpeace / Robert Keziere.

Solutions

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We champion environmentally responsible and socially just solutions, including scientific and technological innovation. Our goal is to transform industries and to ensure an environmentally sustainable and equitable future for us all.

Taking action

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Nonviolent direct action is at the heart of our work. It always has been. Greenpeace was founded in 1971 by a small group of anti-war protesters taking nonviolent direct action against US nuclear weapons testing. Today, taking action is as important as ever to the way we campaign for a greener, more peaceful and equitable world.


“Once you have witnessed an injustice, you cannot claim ignorance as a defence for inaction. You make an ethical choice: to act or not.” - Ben Metcalfe, one of the original Greenpeace crew

Lobbying

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Decision-makers (like politicians or industry leaders) have both the resources and the responsibility to make positive change happen. 

In our lobbying work, we target and engage those in positions of power and pressure them to take the bold steps needed to protect the planet. We make sure that our campaign demands are clearly heard by decision-makers, and we ask them to translate these demands into real action that protects the environment.

Investigations

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We investigate, expose and confront environmental abuse by governments and corporations around the world. 

Email: Investigations.UK@greenpeace.org

Our investigations are a fundamental part of our campaigns. We expose those responsible for environmental crimes. We have a global reach, we have research teams and millions of supporters in countries around the world. This means we can investigate environmental crimes and impacts wherever they are happening, whether it is the middle of the jungle, or even, with the help of Rainbow Warrior and its sister ships, in the far oceans. 

Questions

Last edited 6 March 2017 at 5:59pm

If you have any questions about Greenpeace, our website or how you can get involved, please browse our frequently asked questions below.

If you can't find the answer you're looking for, please get in touch. We aim to respond to all enquiries as soon as we can but we receive a huge number of emails every day, so your patience is appreciated.

How we make change happen

Last edited 9 December 2010 at 5:10pm

We investigate, expose and confront environmental abuse by governments and corporations around the world.

We champion environmentally responsible and socially just solutions, including scientific and technical innovation.

Greenpeace intervenes at the point where our action is most likely to provoke positive change - whether this is intervening at the point of an environmental crime, targeting those who have the power to make a difference, engaging people and communities who can leverage change, or working for the adoption of environmentally responsible and socially just solutions. Usually, our campaigns involve elements of all of these tactics.

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