Climate Change

Greenpeace volunteers occupy Parliament to save the climate

Posted by jamie — 11 October 2009 at 3:33pm - Comments

Update, Monday 7pm: after nearly 28 hours on top of the Palace of Westminster, the remaining 31 volunteers have been been taken into police custody after ending their protest peacefully. Thanks to everyone who's been supporting them!

 

Update, Monday am: 31 volunteers are still ocuppying the roof this morning, 24 came down last night and were arrested and all have been bailed to return.

Fifty-five Greenpeace volunteers scaled the walls of the Houses of Parliament and are now occupying the roof to call for a new style of politics in Britain, one capable of rising to meet the challenge of climate change.

Tomorrow MPs return from their summer break and the government's own Committee on Climate Change will publish a progress report on UK carbon emissions. They make it clear that Britain is not doing enough to meet its commitments, and insist that a "step change" in emissions cuts is needed. With just 60 days go until the critical climate summit in Copenhagen - which faces a very real chance of failure as things stand - Britain has yet to show true commitment to making the process a success. We need politicians who are thinking about the next generation, not just the next election.

Watch the slideshow of images from parliament »

Tories will 'definitely' scrap Heathrow's third runway

Posted by jamie — 6 October 2009 at 4:39pm - Comments

Some promising news from the Tory party conference in Manchester, where they've pledged to dump plans for Heathrow's third runway as part of their election campaign package. "We are absolutely firm on our opposition to expansion at Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted," shadow transport minister Julian Brazier told the Evening Standard today. "It will definitely be in the manifesto."

It's great to hear their commitment being reaffirmed as it shows how isolated the government is on this issue. But there's a long way to go between promising to include it in the election manifesto, being able to form a government and then actually getting round to reversing the decision. Reports from the conference say that the Heathrow pledge in Theresa Villiers' speech received a polite smattering of applause, but her promise to crackdown on cowboy clampers roused the audience further still. Make of that what you will.

Update: Canadian tar sands action wraps up

Posted by jamie — 1 October 2009 at 11:10am - Comments

Yesterday's fantastic direct action at Suncor's tar sands complex in Alberta is over. Two giant conveyor belts were blockaded for 10 hours and a giant banner was floated on the nearby Athabasca river. You can still catch some of the footage from the live video feeds and there are some great images in the slideshow above.

Live: Greenpeace shuts down tar sands facility in Canada. Again

Posted by jamie — 30 September 2009 at 4:21pm - Comments
Streaming .TV shows by Ustream

Check this out. The video above is a live feed from a tar sands facility in Canada, where Greenpeace teams are shutting down a conveyor belt and blocking a bridge. It just started in the last half hour so details on this side of the Atlantic are scant, but keep an eye on the live feeds from the two locations (location one here, location two here) and keep up with the #stoptarsands tag on Twitter, helpfully Scribbled below.

Don't miss the Alistair McGowan railshow!

Posted by jossc — 29 September 2009 at 4:24pm - Comments

Impersonator extraordinaire, Airplotter and all-round funny man Alistair McGowan is shortly embarking on a nationwide tour of Britain, and he's going to great lengths to make it as green as possible. Alistair is a long-time Greenpeace supporter, and has committed himself to playing a key role in opposing aviation expansion by jointly buying the Airplot with us - the piece of land we acquired slap bang in the middle of the proposed new third runway development site at Heathrow Airport.

Video: Haunting icescapes from Arctic expedition

Posted by jamie — 29 September 2009 at 1:04pm - Comments

There's some stunning photography in this final video from the Arctic Sunrise's arctic expedition. Ice sheets, icebergs, glaciers and (yes) polar bears all feature in a kind of greatest hits package from Greenland and beyond. View it on Youtube for a larger, more panoramic version.

Pigs take flight as airlines claim they'll cut emissions by 50%

Posted by jamie — 22 September 2009 at 1:54pm - Comments

Startling news from Willie Walsh of British Airways who is preparing to lift the lid on a deal between aviation bosses to slash their emissions by 50 per cent by 2050. Wow, it seems like magic. Oh wait, it really does seem like magic - it's just some shifty sleight of hand as part of a PR offensive to persuade Copenhagen-bound politicos that airlines really do want to help with climate change.

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