press releases

Responding to today's report by the ippr, which says that the opportunity to create up to 70,000 UK jobs in the offshore wind industry could be lost due to a lack of government support, Greenpeace executive director John Sauven said:

"The renewable energy sector - which could provide tens of thousands of jobs - received nothing in the government's fiscal stimulus package.

Top staff at nuclear energy giant Electricite de France (EDF) have been charged on suspicion of spying on Greenpeace.

Two security chiefs at the French government-owned company are accused of conspiring to hack into Greenpeace computer systems in France. Three others have also been charged, including a computer expert and the head of a private investigation firm. The computer expert has already admitted the charge.

OVER FIFTY THOUSAND British jobs could be created if the Government invested in an energy efficiency programme that would also help tackle climate change, according to a report released today.

The report coincides with research from nef (the new economics foundation) showing that new funding for greening the economy amounts to just 0.6% of the UK's total stimulus package. Gordon Brown recently claimed to the House of Commons liaison committee that around 10% of the UK package was directed towards ‘environmentally important technologies'.

Commenting on provisional figures suggesting UK greenhouse emissions have fallen by 2 per cent, Greenpeace head of climate and energy Robin Oakley said:

Responding to government plans to lend billions of pounds to PFI projects, Dr Doug Parr of Greenpeace said:

"Brown has forked out hundreds of billions of pounds to bail out the banks. Now he's found billions more to widen the M25.

"But the 21st Century industries and technologies, that will actually create sustainable new UK jobs, have so far been ignored.

The Icelandic government today faced criticism from environmentalists after refusing to reverse a last-day decision by the previous administration to recommence commercial whaling.

On his last day in office, former fisheries minister Einar Gudfinsson approved a quota of 100 minke whales and 150 endangered fin whales, to be hunted each year for five years.

The new minister, Steingrmur Sigfusson, did not repeal the decision, but did say that whalers should not automatically expect a quota after 2009.

Nuclear waste from the reactors likely to be built in the UK will be up to seven times more hazardous than that produced by existing reactors.

The admission was made in an 'environmental impact assessment' report by nuclear company Posiva. Posiva are responsible for managing the waste which will be produced by the European Pressurised Reactor (EPR) currently being constructed in Olkiluoto, Finland.

And an independent nuclear consultant has warned that this will increase the costs of nuclear energy, as waste storage and safety expenses will rise above expected levels.

Commenting on reports that the Government will tomorrow announce consent for a third runway at Heathrow, Greenpeace executive director John Sauven said:

Nearly 5,000 people have already become "beneficial owners" of a plot of land on the site of the proposed third runway at Heathrow airport, just hours after Greenpeace announced the launch of what airport owner BAA today described as a "clever" plan to block expansion at the airport.

A thousand people an hour are now signing up to the scheme by visiting the Greenpeace website, and on current rates Greenpeace expects the number to reach 10,000 by the end of the day.

Reacting to comments in this morning's Financial Times interview with Ed Miliband, in which he says the government will not rule out new coal plants that don't capture and bury their emissions, Greenpeace executive director John Sauven said: