kyoto protocol

Volunteers occupy tanker- Italy

Update: 18th July , 2001

Much buoyed by the ongoing occupation of the Exxon tanker near Genoa, our delegation spread out early this morning across the conference center, gathering information and position papers, and focussing on the details of the negotiations for their assigned groups.

Today is the last day that substantive progress can be made before the ministers start the political negotiations in earnest tomorrow.

17th July- Four Greenpeace volunteers boarded a tanker chartered by US oil company ExxonMobil (known as Esso in parts of Europe) in the port of Vado Ligure to stop the discharge of oil from the 80,000 tonne tanker Clare Spirit. The ship was carrying oil from the North Sea Forties field. The activists are aiming to prevent the discharge pipe from being connected to stop operations.

The action comes at the beginning of the renewed climate talks in Bonn and 3 days before the G-8 government leaders are due to meet in Genoa which will discuss both the climate treaty and the recently released G-8 renewable energy task force report.

walrus on iceflow

Update: 17th July , 2001

The big news at the conference today was Japanese Environment Minister Kawaguchi's press conference where she confirmed that Japan was here to negotiate seriously, and had a mandate to come to an agreement. We also understand that Japanese press is reporting the Prime Minister Koizumi has withdrawn his statements from over the weekend about no agreement in Bonn. It is clear that Japan is responding to public and political pressure from around the world. Unfortunately, inside the negotiations, they're backtracking and appear to be trying to wreck the negotiations - we'll keep you updated.

international climate talks 2001

On the 15th July Greenpeace releases a balloon with the banner saying "Bush and Co.= Climate disaster" above Argentina's glacier "Perito Moreno", the most important glacier in the Patagonian Andes, South Argentina.

Greenpeace is urging USA, Japan, Canada and Australia to support the Kyoto Protocol. The glaciers are victims of the climate change, and it is feared many will disappear by the end of the century unless global warming is brought to a halt.

This Perito Moreno glacier is the most visited place in the Patagonia region by international tourism. The glacier, a very emblematic area of the Argentinian Patagonia, is part of the "humanity treasures" of UNESCO.

international climate talks 2001

World governments met in Bonn for the international climate talks in July 2001. The talks took place against a backdrop of new scientific evidence that confirms what most have suspected all along, that the threat of climate change is even worse than was previously thought.

Public opinion polls around the world show overwhelming public support for positive action to combat climate change, and the European Union has pledged to go forward and ratify the Kyoto Protocol, the only international treaty to protect the climate. But on the other side stands the United States, George W. Bush and his corporate sponsors like Esso, Texaco, Chevron and the other oil companies, the coal industry, and the other US corporate polluters who put Bush into power and now expect some payback.

dont let us drown

Update: 15th July , 2001

As NGOs, press and delegates from around the world gathered in Bonn over the weekend, the tension started to build for what will be a very busy two weeks for everyone involved in the climate issue. The Greenpeace delegation, from over a dozen countries, and including over 20 US university students, arrived on Friday night and Saturday morning. We spent the time orienting ourselves, setting up our office here and finalising plans for the week. The first Climate Action Network meeting, with other NGOs from around the world, focussed on what we could expect from the US, how to go about putting pressure on Japan, and what the hell we're going to do about Australia and Canada, who seem to be lining up as the US mouthpieces in these talks since the US has rejected the Kyoto Protocol.