climate change

Greenpeace welcoming the opening of the new international terminal at St Pancras last year © Will Rose/Greenpeace

Almost a year ago to the day, we went along to St Pancras to welcome the opening of the new international terminal with an enormous Yes! banner. Our point was of course that the UK doesn't need new runways, we need new high speed rail links; then, as now, there were at least 100,000 flights a year between Heathrow and destinations easily reachable by train.

Since then, the Tories have not only opposed the third runway at Heathrow, they've also warned companies that they "should be very, very careful" about getting involved in any contract for a third runway as the Tories were "absolutely determined" to stop the project.

A policeman pushes a Greenpeace climber down from the anchor chain of the Gran Couva © Greenpeace/Novis

An update from Indonesia: yesterday, the climber occupying the anchor chain of a ship carrying a cargo of palm oil was brought down, arrested and later released without charge.

Yesterday, we also received the intriguing photo above (later chosen by the BBC for its day in pictures). As it took us in the office a while to get our heads around what was happening, I thought I'd pass on Jamie's explanation:

The hoses are turned on a climber, attached to the anchor chain of the Gran Couva. © Greenpeace/Novis

The Esperanza in Indonesia

The small (wet) figure above is a crew member of the Greenpeace ship Esperanza. Darkness has fallen on the port of Dumai (Indonesia) since this photograph was taken several hours ago, but our climber is still there, in the dark, occupying the anchor chain and preventing the tanker from setting off to the Netherlands with its 27,000 tonne cargo of palm oil. As Jamie wrote on the Forests for Climate blog, it takes only one person to stop a giant palm oil tanker.

With the decision on Heathrow’s third runway expected this year (honest), the atmosphere in Westminster is heating up.

Both opposition parties have come out strongly against the third runway; rebel Labour backbenchers are increasingly joining the opposition; there are signs that the cabinet is split over the decision; and the new transport secretary Geoff Hoon has called for a parliamentary debate on Heathrow expansion next Tuesday.

All of which means there are now two new opportunities for us (by which I mean you…) to intervene and make the opposition felt in the corridors of power.

Backs against the wall: holding out the banner in the Kampar peninsula © Greenpeace/Novis

I’ve scrubbed and showered but there are still traces of mud sticking to me. It’s my own fault - I guess I shouldn’t have gone tramping around the peatlands here in Riau. But the picture above, that’s us: some of the Esperanza’s crew and several Indonesian volunteers pulling our banner tight against the forest wall, the straight line that separates the thriving ecosystem from the barren areas which have been cleared of trees. In case you’re wondering, I’m at the top of the P in ‘STOP’.

I've noticed a higher-than-expected amount of traffic going to our Obama press statement over the past couple of days, so it looks like people are interested in what we make of Obama's victory.

I think this image, on the homepage of the Greenpeace USA website, says it all:

See all Rainbow Warrior tour updates.

Sadly, all good things come to an end and, yesterday afternoon, the Rainbow Warrior hauled up her lines and left Canary Wharf, heading for mainland Europe to continue her campaign against coal.

As a thanks to the amazing crew - who've had maybe the busiest two weeks of their Greenpeace ship lives - we've put together a slideshow capturing the quieter moments inbetween the frenetic events, open days and direct actions. The photographs are all by Will Rose (onboard photographer and one of the Kingsnorth Six) and Kajsa Sjolander (Rainbow Warrior deckhand and garbologist, when she's not being a photo journalist).

The good folk at the Public Interest Research Centre (PIRC) recently made an inspired contribution to the anti-coal crusade that's springing up around the country - they've just launched an online map of all the places that the coal industry is planning to dig and build new opencast mines and new power stations. It's interactive, zoomable, and full of information about the sizes of the mines and power stations being planned. Worryingly, there are more than a few.

It's been a little while since I've updated here about the Esperanza's Forests for Climate tour of Indonesia, but continue it most certainly does. For our exploits crossing from one end of the country to the other and our stop in Jakarta, catch up on the Forests for Climate blog.

But we've arrived in Sungai Pakning, a small port on the coast of Riau in Sumatra, and the Esperanza is anchored in a wide, silty channel running between the mainland and two islands, Pulau Bengkalis and Pulau Padang. The soupy water flowing gently past the ship will be down to the Siak river, the mouth of which is just a few miles south.

Flashmob at Heathrow's Terminal 5.

Upcoming events for all those opposed to further airport expansion:

• 16 Nov: Direct Action Training in West London

• 17 Nov: Public Meeting in Chiswick

• 29 Nov: 'Are you listening Gordon?' Stunt in Hounslow

• 6 Dec: National Climate March